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Fire lookout · Crook County, Oregon

West Maury Lookout Site

Also known as West Maury Mountain

Ochoco NF ground-level L-4 cabin built 1954 in Crook County; removed or destroyed in 1970; no source describes what remains at the site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cabin removed or destroyed in 1970 (sources differ on which); the lookout list marks the site gone; no source describes the site today

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
Ground-level cabL-4 cab in a 14 by 14 foot cabin, built on the ground rather than on pilingsThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1954
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,057 ft (1,846 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Ochoco National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Crook County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.03614, −120.52712
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-west-maury

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 3.8 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. 1954 BuiltL-4 lookout cabin built; 14 by 14 foot cabin per firetower.orgSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1958 StaffedForest service lookout on West Maury; September 18, 1958 bear report in the Central OregonianSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1970 RemovedCabin removed in 1970 (firetower.org) or destroyed in 1970 (firelookout.com)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1970 and 2011
  5. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites Register as US 1097, OR 454Source: firetower.org
  6. 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.

West Maury Mountain sits in the Ochoco National Forest in Crook County, Oregon, about 24 miles southeast of Prineville.1,2

A lookout cabin was built on the mountain in 1954.3 It was an L-4 design, about 14 feet square.1,2,3 It was not built on pilings, as a 1958 newspaper report noted.3 A forest service lookout staffed the cabin that year.3 A Central Oregonian report from September 1958 says that lookout killed a six-foot bear with a .22 pistol.3

The cabin came down in 1970.1,2 One source says it was removed, and another says it was destroyed.1,2

We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains of the lookout today. A lookout directory lists the site as a ground site and marks it gone.4 We also found no information about public access, so anyone planning a visit should check with the Ochoco National Forest first.

  1. West Maury Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/west-maury-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. West Maury Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/westmaury.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. West Maury Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/west-maury-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Oregon lookouts list, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

West Maury Lookout 1954
West Maury Lookout 1954 (1954)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
West Maury Lookout 1954
West Maury Lookout 1954 (1954)Photo: Rex Kamstra 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.

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, 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.