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…
Indian Ridge
Type: 20′ R-6 tower Status: Rental Elevation: 5,405 feet Visited: July 3, 2015 I have thus far been unsuccessful in snagging a reservation at the Indian Ridge lookout, but since I was in the area last weekend I decided to drive up…