FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Curry County, Oregon

Wildhorse Mountain Lookout

Also known as Wildhorse, Wildhorse Prairie

Siskiyou NF lookout in Curry County, Oregon: a 1947 L-4 cab on a 40-ft tower collapsed in winter 2007-08; sources say only the superstructure remains, and volunteers plan a reassembly.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Road gated about 3/4 mile below the lookout and washed out in places above the gate; the Sand Mountain Society expects the lookout to be available through the Forest Service rental program once reassembled

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Gated road about 3/4 mile below the lookout
Staffing
Unknown (as of undated)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab with catwalk on a 40-ft treated timber tower (1947); earlier L-4 on a 40-ft pole tower (1935)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Also served as
Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
3,644 ft (1,111 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Curry County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.47095, −124.16230
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-wildhorse-mountain

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

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

History

Then and now

  1. 1935 BuiltL-4 cab on a 40-ft pole tower, per NHLR (earlier structure) and FireLookout.comSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service outpost in the winter of 1942, per Sand Mountain Society; NHLR says an AWS house during World War IISources: sandmountain.org, nhlr.org
  3. 1942 StaffedThe original structure served as a wartime Aircraft Warning Service post, watched around the clock that winter.Source: sandmountain.org
  4. 1947 BuiltNew model L-4 with catwalk on a 40-ft treated timber tower, per NHLR and FireLookout.comSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  5. 1947 EventSnow crushed the lookout in the 1946-47 winter; present tower and cabin built then, per Sand Mountain SocietySource: sandmountain.org
  6. 1947 Replaced by a new structurePresent tower and cabin built after snow crushed the first lookout in 1946-47.Source: sandmountain.org
  7. No record between 1947 and 1998
  8. 1998 Last staffedLast staffed by the Coos Forest Protective Association, per FireLookout.comSource: firelookout.com
  9. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 31, 2003 as US 509, OR 101Source: nhlr.org
  10. 2007 Condition assessmentSurveyed at Forest Service request to decide whether it could be restored and turned into a rental.Source: firelookout.org
  11. 2008 DestroyedCab collapsed under heavy snow during winter 2007-08Sources: firelookout.com, sandmountain.org
  12. 2008 EventCab collapsed under heavy snow over the winter and hung off the tower; SMS salvaged its parts and helped clean up.Source: sandmountain.org
  13. 2008 RemovedSand Mountain Society removed the crumbled cab the following summer and salvaged materialSources: firelookout.com, sandmountain.org
  14. 2009 RestoredSand Mountain Society tower repairsSource: sandmountain.org
  15. 2014 AlteredFooting dug and set for a replica outhouse beside the lookout.Source: sandmountain.org
  16. 2017 EventChetco Bar fire closures deterred Sand Mountain Society work plans; the lookout was not reported threatenedSource: sandmountain.org
  17. 2018 EventKlondike fire closures deterred Sand Mountain Society work plansSource: sandmountain.org
  18. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Wildhorse Mountain Lookout sits in the Siskiyou National Forest in Curry County, Oregon, about 13 miles east-northeast of Gold Beach.1 The register says an earlier structure on the site was an L-4 cab on a 40-foot pole tower, dated to 1935.2 FireLookout.com gives the same 1935 date and tower.1

The register mentions an Aircraft Warning Service house on the site during World War II.2 The Sand Mountain Society says the original structure was an outpost of that service in the winter of 1942, when its staff were trained to spot Japanese aircraft.3

The present tower and cabin are dated to 1947.2,1 The register describes the 1947 build as a new-model L-4 with a catwalk, on a 40-foot treated timber tower.2 The Sand Mountain Society says snow crushed the lookout for the first time in 1946-47, and that the present tower and cabin were built then, likely reusing many parts of the original cabin.3 The register, FireLookout.com and the Society all date the build to 1947, but the Society's account of its origin differs from the register's.2,1,3

The register says the lookout is occasionally staffed by the Forest Service or the Coos Forest Protective Association.2 FireLookout.com says it was last staffed by the Coos association in 1998.1 The sources do not agree on whether anyone has staffed it since.

Heavy snow brought the cab down in the winter of 2007-08.1,3 The Sand Mountain Society salvaged material and later repaired the tower, working in 2008 and 2009.3 The Society's work plans have often been deterred by fire closures, including in 2017 (the Chetco Bar fire) and in 2018 (the Klondike fire).3

FireLookout.com says, without giving a date, that only the superstructure is standing at present.1 The Sand Mountain Society's project page says the lookout will be reassembled, and that it expects the Forest Service's Recreation Cabin Rental Program to offer it to the public once that is done.3 The road is gated about three-quarters of a mile below the lookout, and it is washed out in places above the gate.3 Do not climb the damaged structure.

  1. Wildhorse Fire Lookout Tower, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/wildhorse.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Wildhorse Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/wildhorse-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Wildhorse Lookout, Sand Mountain Society, https://sandmountain.org/projects/wildhorse-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Wildhorse Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Wildhorse Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Wildhorse in 1944
Wildhorse in 1944 (1944)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, John McWade, and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · source
Wildhorse L.O.
Wildhorse L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service, John McWade, and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · source
Wildhorse L.O.
Wildhorse L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service, John McWade, and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · source
Wildhorse in 2007
Wildhorse in 2007 (2007)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, John McWade, and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · 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 year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1947
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1935
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1947

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, wartime use, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: design, height, photos, 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. Sand Mountain Society Gave us: dates, links Sand Mountain Society (sandmountain.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, dimensions, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the Sand Mountain Society page it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR and FFLOS records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  7. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: 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
  8. Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) Gave us: register numbers, links Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill, cherylhill.net) · No licence stated; facts only (name, agency, elevation, year built, design and height, status word, links). Posts' narrative and photos are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  9. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  10. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, access, staffing, 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

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