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Fire lookout · Curry County, Oregon

Vulcan Peak Lookout Site

L-4 cabin on Vulcan Peak in the Siskiyou National Forest, built 1941 and removed or destroyed in 1968. No source describes what remains on the summit today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cabin removed or destroyed in 1968; no source describes what remains on the summit

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Lies within the Kalmiopsis Wilderness; Oregon Hikers lists a hike to the old site; a 2021 forum thread titled as saying the peak is unaccessible is unverified, so check conditions before any visit

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Oregon Hikers lists a hike to the old lookout site; the hike's trail includes the Chetco Divide-Vulcan Peak trail junction

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cab14x14 L-4 ground cabinThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1941
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,650 ft (1,417 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Siskiyou National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Curry County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.18104, −123.98526
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-vulcan-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 3.6 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. 1940 EventGuard placement plan described the spot as looking west over country where people had started many firesSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1941 Built14x14 L-4 ground cabinSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1941 First staffedStaffed 100 days; observer reported to the Gold Beach station by radioSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1941 and 1964
  5. 1964 StaffedManned that year, per a July 1, 1964 item quoted by Forest LookoutsSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1968 RemovedRegister says removed; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1968 and 2002
  8. 2002 FireBiscuit Fire thoroughly scorched the summit, per Oregon Hikers; the lookout was already goneSource: oregonhikers.org
  9. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: April 21, 2011Source: FFLOS register entry
  10. 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.

The Forest Service put a fire lookout on Vulcan Peak in the Siskiyou National Forest in 1941.1,2,3 A May 1940 guard placement plan described the spot as looking west over country where people had started many fires.3 The cabin was a 14-by-14-foot L-4 built on the ground.3,4

In its first season the lookout was staffed for 100 days, and the observer reported to the Gold Beach station by radio.3 A 1964 item, dated July 1 and quoted by the Forest Lookouts history, said the lookout was manned that year.3 The same history places the site on the boundary of the Kalmiopsis Wild Area and calls it the farthest-flung station on the Chetco District.3

The cabin came down in 1968.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites Register says it was removed, while firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.1,2 Oregon Hikers gives only a 1960s date for the removal.4

No source describes what, if anything, remains on the summit today. Oregon Hikers lists a hike to what it calls an old lookout site, and it places the peak in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.4 The same page says the Biscuit Fire of 2002 burned the summit hard.4 A 2021 forum thread on that page is titled as saying the lake and peak are completely unaccessible. The thread is unverified, so check conditions before any visit.4

  1. Vulcan Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/vulcan-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Vulcan Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/vulcanpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Vulcan Peak, Forest Lookouts, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/vulcan-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Vulcan Peak, Oregon Hikers Field Guide, https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Vulcan_Peak (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Vulcan Peak Lookout 1944
Vulcan Peak Lookout 1944 (1944)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Vulcan Peak Lookout 1944
Vulcan Peak Lookout 1944 (1944)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Vulcan Peak Lookout panoramic 6-26-1937
Vulcan Peak Lookout panoramic 6-26-1937 (1937)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, 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.

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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