FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Curry County, Oregon

Three Trees Lookout Site

Siskiyou NF lookout in Curry County, OR: L-5 cab built 1934, replaced by an L-4 tower in 1940, staffed in 1941; the tower is gone and no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower reported gone; no source we read describes what remains at the site

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-5 cab (1934), replaced in 1940 by an L-4 towerThe designs: L-4, L-5 sources disagree
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
2,960 ft (902 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Siskiyou National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Curry County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.27437, −124.19921 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-three-trees

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.9 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1934 Built10 by 10 ft L-5 lookout cabSources: firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1940 Replaced by a new structureL-5 cab replaced by an L-4 tower on a spur about a mile WSW of the summitSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1941 StaffedStaffed 84 days; reported to the Gold Beach station by telephoneSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1941 and 1965
  5. 1965 EventUsed for an emergencySources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1965 and 2011
  7. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered April 21, 2011; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  8. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Three Trees was a lookout in the Siskiyou National Forest, in Curry County, Oregon, about 15 miles north-northeast of Brookings.1,2 The first cab, a 10-by-10-foot L-5, went up in 1934.2,3

According to the register, the 1934 cab gave way in 1940 to an L-4 tower set on a spur roughly a mile west-southwest of the summit.1 Rex's Fire Lookout Page gives the same two dates.2 In 1941 the site was manned for 84 days, and reports went by telephone through West Coast Telephone Company to the Gold Beach station.3

The tower was used in an emergency in 1965.1,2 Forest Lookouts lists the site as removed, without a date.3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Oregon list marks the tower as gone.4

The register recorded the site on April 21, 2011, on the nomination of Ray Kresek. It gives the elevation as 2,960 feet, or 902 meters.1

No source we read describes what remains at the site today, or whether visitors can reach it.

  1. Three Trees Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/three-trees-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Three Trees Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://www.firelookout.com/or/threetrees.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Three Tree, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/three-tree.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Oregon lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Three Trees Lookout 1944
Three Trees Lookout 1944 (1944)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Three Trees Lookout 1944
Three Trees Lookout 1944 (1944)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 1.3 km (0.8 mi).

    • FFLOS: 42.27437, −124.19921
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 42.27511, −124.21481

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

  • Sources disagree on what kind of structure it is.

    • FFLA: Cab on a tower
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): Lookout tree

    Sources disagree on whether a tower or building stood here, or only a camp or lookout tree.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: design, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.