Type: 41-foot-tall tower with 16′ octagonal cabin
Status: Staffed
Elevation: 5,462′
Visited: June 19, 2020
While camping in the area we drove up to the Spring Butte Lookout. The gate was open and we were able to drive all the way to the top. The road is in decent shape although it looks like it might be messy after a hard rain. This tower was built in 1992 and has one of those strange octagonal-shaped cabins. I think the only other place we’ve seen this type is at Sisi Butte.
The lookout was staffed by a guy named Tom, who also turned out to be the owner of the geocache up there. Cool! He came out to greet us and chat with us, but obviously during these pandemic times did not invite us up, which I totally understand. We took a quick look around the summit area:
I imagine you can see more mountains from the tower. From the ground we could see Mt. Thielsen:
More information
Forest Lookouts
Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page
National Historic Lookout Register
Peakbagger
Geocache
History
A 30′ pole tower with an L-4 cabin was built on Spring Butte in 1932.
1942
In 1992 it was replaced with a 41′ pole tower with a 16×16′ octagonal cab, which is the present lookout.
In 2025 a visitor reported that the tower was no longer being staffed since it failed an inspection in September 2024.