FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Wheeler County, Oregon

Wolf Mountain Lookout

Ochoco National Forest lookout whose present L-4 tower dates from 1947; the 2011 register entry says it is staffed every summer.

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. Forest Service lookout, staffed each summer per the 2011 register entry; no source says the cab is open to visitors.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerTreated timber L-4 tower and cab, about 107 ftThe designs: L-4, L-6
Built of
Wood
Height
107 ft (32.6 m)
Elevation
6,483 ft (1,976 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Wheeler County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.32820, −119.71545
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-wolf-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.

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. 1920 First staffedAn 18-year-old from Portland took up duties as primary lookout, on a tree platformSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1921 BuiltRanger C.S. Congleton constructing a lookout tower on the summit (July 14, 1921 notice)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1926 Built50-ft wooden tower and cabin, per firelookout.com; this date conflicts with the 1921 noticeSource: firelookout.com
  4. 1927 FireLookout reported one fire for the fire seasonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1931 BuiltCrow's nest tree platform added 1/2 mile east, per firelookout.comSource: firelookout.com
  6. 1932 BuiltCrow's nest erected one mile east, per NHLRSource: nhlr.org
  7. 1942 EventMaterials bought for the present tower and stored at Derr Guard StationSource: firelookout.com
  8. 1947 BuiltPresent treated timber L-4 tower built (107 ft per NHLR, 108 ft per firelookout.com)Sources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  9. 1952 Condition assessmentInspection: tower and house in excellent condition, but too much sag in the cablesSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1952 and 2011
  11. 2011 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered February 9, 2011, nominated by Howard VerschoorSource: nhlr.org
  12. 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.

Wolf Mountain stands in Wheeler County, Oregon, inside the Ochoco National Forest.1 In 1920 an 18-year-old from Portland took up duties as the primary lookout there, perched in a treetop on a rough platform put up for him.2 The next summer a Forest Service ranger was building a lookout tower on the summit.2

Sources disagree on what came first. One history dates a 50-foot wooden tower and cabin to 1926, with a crow's nest tree platform added in 1931.3 The National Historic Lookout Register places the wooden tower one mile west of the present site and says a crow's nest went up one mile east in 1932.1 The present tower, about 107 feet of treated timber with an L-4 cab, was built in 1947; one source gives 108 feet.1,2,3 Its materials had been bought in 1942 and stored at Derr Guard Station until postwar manpower allowed the build.3

Early records show a working lookout. The lookout reported one fire during the 1927 season.2 A 1952 inspection found the tower and house in excellent condition, though the cables had too much sag.2

As of the 2011 register entry, the present tower was manned every summer and still relied on an older telephone setup with radio as a backup.1 The U.S. Forest Service administers the lookout, with the Paulina Ranger District as a cooperator.1 The Register listed it on February 9, 2011, nominated by Howard Verschoor.1

I could not find a source that says whether the cab is open to visitors. The newest details I found date from the 2011 registration, so check with the Paulina Ranger District before you plan a trip. Treat it as a working lookout rather than a place to climb.

  1. Wolf Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/wolf-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Wolf Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Oregon), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/wolf-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Wolf Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/wolfmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Wolf Mountain Lookout
Wolf Mountain LookoutPhoto: Bob Bonstead, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
First tower in 1925
First tower in 1925 (1925)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Current tower in 1955
Current tower in 1955 (1955)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Wolf Mountain Lookout
Photo: Bob Bonstead, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
DragonPlot Firefinding System
DragonPlot Firefinding SystemPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Wolf Mtn. in 1923
Wolf Mtn. in 1923 (1923)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Wolf Mtn. in 1926
Wolf Mtn. in 1926 (1926)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Wolf Mtn. in 1929
Wolf Mtn. in 1929 (1929)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Wolf Mtn. in 1929
Wolf Mtn. in 1929 (1929)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Wolf Mtn. in 1955
Wolf Mtn. in 1955 (1955)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
East Wolf Mtn. in 1978
East Wolf Mtn. in 1978 (1978)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Wolf Mtn. in 2001
Wolf Mtn. in 2001 (2001)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Wolf Mtn. in 2012
Wolf Mtn. in 2012 (2012)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
East Wolf Mtn. in 2012
East Wolf Mtn. in 2012 (2012)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, 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: 1926
    • 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, 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, staffing, 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. 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
  5. 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
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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.