The lookout on Waldo Mountain has been wrapped to protect it from the Cedar Creek Fire, which started in the Waldo Lake Wilderness on August 1. The lookout was built in 1957. It is no longer staffed, but the Forest…
Gold Butte and Hawk Mountain Wrapped
It has been another bad wildfire year in Oregon. While several lookouts have burned in California, I haven’t heard of any burning in Oregon yet, although there are two being threatened by the Bull Complex Fire. According to Inciweb: Following…
Olallie Mountain Lookout Has Burned
In June several people alerted me to the fact that the historic 1930s lookout on Olallie Mountain had burned down. I visited the spot in 2014, but haven’t made it back since. The lookout managed to survive a 2017 wildfire,…
Fall at Gold Butte
Friday, September 13 – Sunday, September 15, 2019 Note: for tips on staying at Gold Butte see my 2016 post. Greg and I returned to the Gold Butte for the fourth time this fall. After a wet hike to Phantom…
Return to Indian Ridge
Type: 20′ R-6 tower Status: Rental Elevation: 5,405 feet Visited: August 31 – September 2,2016 After years of trying to reserve the Indian Ridge Lookout in the Willamette National Forest I finally managed to get a reservation, and for Labor Day…
Gold Butte in the Clouds
Greg and I stayed at Gold Butte Lookout in September 2013 and again in July 2016. We had reservations for early October 2017, but on September 6 I got an email telling me that all reservations for the remainder of…
Rebel Rock
Type: L-4 cab Status: Abandoned Elevation: 5,060 feet Visited: July 15, 2017 There are two abandoned lookouts in the Three Sisters Wilderness. I visited Olallie Mountain in 2014. I’ve been wanting to get to Rebel Rock for awhile and this summer…
Richard Miller’s Lookout Models
A few months ago I had the privilege of talking to Richard Miller on the phone. He used to build scale model replicas of Oregon fire lookouts and I had heard of him while researching my book. I even come…
Return to Gold Butte
Type: L-4 ground cabin Status: Summer rental Elevation: 4,618 feet Visited: July 5-7, 2016 Greg and I first stayed at Gold Butte almost three years ago, in September 2013. The weather was bad and we had almost no views, so…
Return to Warner Mountain
Type: 41′ tower with 14×14 cupola cab Status: Staffed in summer; rental in winter Elevation: 5,723 feet Visited: November 1-3, 2015 I visited Warner Mountain in the summer of 2014 and had a very nice chat with the man who was…