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Fire lookout · Marion County, Oregon

Triangulation Peak Lookout Site

Willamette NF lookout site east of Detroit, Oregon: a 14x14 L-4 cab built in 1933, staffed in 1934, removed in 1967; FS trailhead page shows it closed.

Closed

The site is closed to visitors. Forest Service trailhead page reads Site Closed, citing a closure order for the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires; no end date is given

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1967 per the register and Rex's page; firelookout.com says destroyed that year

Visit & stay

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

Access

Closed. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Triangulation Trailhead on FS Road 2233; follow Triangulation Trail about 1.5 miles to the Triangulation Peak trail junction; a hike of about 2.1 miles to the old site per a hiking site; two kinds of Mt. Jefferson Wilderness entry permit apply June 15 to October 15

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cab14x14 L-4 cab (lookout house)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,434 ft (1,656 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Willamette National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Marion County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.71800, −121.92460
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-triangulation-peak

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 3.7 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. 1931 EventApril 1931 news item said Triangulation Peak would be one of eleven new emergency lookout stations that year; a plan, not a build recordSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1933 BuiltRegister says the USFS built an L-4 cab; Rex's page says the CCC constructed a 14x14 L-4 lookout house that yearSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  3. 1934 StaffedEd Schroeder employed by the USFS as lookout at Triangulation Point all summer, per a 1934 newspaper item quoted on Rex's pageSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 1967
  5. 1967 RemovedRegister and Rex's page say removed; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1967 and 2010
  7. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 21, 2010Source: firetower.org
  8. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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.

Triangulation Peak sits in the Willamette National Forest, about 11 miles east of Detroit, Oregon.1 In April 1931 a news item, reprinted on a lookout history page, said the peak would be one of eleven new emergency lookout stations that year.2 The lookout house went up in 1933 as a 14-by-14-foot L-4 cab.3,2,1 The register says the U.S. Forest Service built it, while the lookout history page credits the Civilian Conservation Corps with the construction.3,2

A 1934 newspaper item, quoted on the same history page, says Ed Schroeder worked the peak as a Forest Service lookout all summer, then went on to Mill City ahead of fall registration at Oregon State College.2

The register and the lookout history page both say the house was removed in 1967.3,2 Firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year, so the sources differ on how the house ended.1

No source we read describes what remains on the summit today. A hiking site describes the top as the old lookout location, reached by a 2.1-mile hike, and says the vista from it is outstanding.4 The Forest Service trailhead page gives the route: follow Triangulation Trail about 1.5 miles to the junction with the Triangulation Peak trail.5 The trailhead is also the entry point for the Mount Jefferson Wilderness, where two kinds of entry permit apply from June 15 to October 15.5

The same trailhead page marks the site as closed, under a closure order for the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires.5 It gives no end date, so check with the Detroit Ranger District before you plan a visit.5

  1. Triangulation Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/triangulationpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Triangulation Peak, Forest Lookouts (Oregon), Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/triangulation-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Triangulation Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/triangulation-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Cascader: Triangulation Peak, Cascade Ramblings, http://www.cascaderamblings.com/cascade.php?cascade=1010643277.30402 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Triangulation Trailhead, Willamette National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/willamette/recreation/triangulation-trailhead (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Triangulation Peak Lookout 1940
Triangulation Peak Lookout 1940 (1940)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
View of Mt. Jefferson from site
View of Mt. Jefferson from sitePhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Triangulation Peak Lookout Site
Triangulation Peak Lookout SitePhoto: Irene Potter, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Triangulation Peak Lookout 1959
Triangulation Peak Lookout 1959 (1959)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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: what it is built of, 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, access, visiting details, 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

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