Fire lookout · Price County, Wisconsin
Ogema Lookout
Also known as Ogema (Timms Hill)
1932 80-foot Wisconsin standard fire tower atop Timms Hill in Price County, administered by WDNR; NHLR-registered 2017; listed standing; fire tower not open for climbing, with a climbable observation tower beside it that the Register lists as open to the public.
- Standing
- Restricted access
- Verified
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. 2019 article says the fire tower is not open for climbing; the Register says the wooden observation tower beside it is open to the public, and the 2019 article says that observation tower can be climbed
- Can you climb it?
- No
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
- Trail
- In Timms Hill County Park; the adjacent wooden observation tower is open to the public
- Staffing
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower80-foot Wisconsin standard tower with an external protected ladderThe design: Wisconsin standard tower
- Built of
- Wood
- Built
- 1932
- Height
- 80 ft (24.4 m)
- Elevation
- 1,952 ft (595 m)
- Agency
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Price County, Wisconsin
- Coordinates
- 45.45078, −90.19532
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-wi-ogema
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 3.7 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
- 1932 BuiltBuilt 1932 per NHLR; the 2019 Journal Sentinel piece and the survey history give the same yearSources: nhlr.org, clemsonwire.usatoday.com, countryhighpoints.com
- No record between 1932 and 1982
- 1982 EventAnother lookout tower constructed in the summit area next to the 1932 fire tower (survey history); the Register describes a wooden observation tower beside the lookoutSources: countryhighpoints.com, nhlr.org
- No record between 1982 and 2017
- 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 28, 2017 as US 1214, WI 20; nominated by Tyler BormannSource: nhlr.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The Ogema Lookout is an 80-foot Wisconsin standard tower that sits atop Timms Hill, Wisconsin's highest natural point, in Price County.1 The National Historic Lookout Register says it was built in 1932, has an external protected ladder, and is administered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.1 A 2019 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel piece gives the same 1932 date.2 A survey history also dates the summit fire tower to 1932.3
According to the same survey history, a second lookout was put up beside the 1932 tower in 1982.3 The Register also describes a wooden observation tower beside the lookout.1
The Register lists its registration date as June 28, 2017, with Tyler Bormann as nominator.1 The sources read say nothing about who staffed the tower or what fires it watched.
The tower is still standing. The 2019 article says the state's highest point still has its fire tower,2 and the Association's Wisconsin county list shows it as standing.4
The 2019 article says the fire tower is not open for climbing, but that an observation tower next to it can be climbed.2 The Register places the site in Timms Hill County Park and describes that observation tower as open to the public.1 Please leave the fire tower itself alone.
- Ogema Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wi/ogema-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- These Wisconsin fire towers are still standing, and you can climb at least one, Chelsey Lewis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (syndicated at clemsonwire.usatoday.com), August 29, 2019, https://clemsonwire.usatoday.com/story/travel/wisconsin/day-out/2019/08/29/wisconsin-fire-towers-mountain-fire-lookout/2083791001/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Wisconsin State Highpoint Survey, Country Highpoints, https://www.countryhighpoints.com/wisconsin-state-highpoint-survey/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Wisconsin Lookouts (by County), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wi/wi-co/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site) Gave us: links centraluslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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
- NHLR register entry US 1214 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- NHLR register entry (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- These Wisconsin fire towers are still standing, and you can climb at least one (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (syndicated at clemsonwire.usatoday.com)) (opens another site)
- Wisconsin State Highpoint Survey (Country Highpoints) (opens another site)
- Wisconsin Lookouts (by County) (Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org)) (opens another site)
- FFLA Wisconsin lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Ogema (Timms Hill) (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.