ODF

Tillamook Forest Center

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Tillamook State Forest

Status.

Built & maintained for educational purposes

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

1 hour

Date visited.

March 26, 2023

Elevation.

530′

National Historic Lookout Register.

Not registered

Trip Report.

This winter has been rough on us in every aspect; mentally, physically, and financially. We traded in our hiking sanity for house hunting this last November. This continued well into December and January leaving little time for any outdoor fun between holidays, birthdays, and other associated events. We finally had an offer on a home accepted at the end of January. After that we felt like we were in the home stretch to getting back outside, but the house hunting was only replaced by paperwork, moving, and home projects. Don’t get me wrong we are very excited to be home owners and to have a space that we can do with as we please. But, we are having a hard time finding the balance to get back outside between our opposite schedules and ever growing project list. The everlasting snow and wet winter weather hasn’t helped any either. I won’t elaborate on the nitty gritty since I’m sure many of you are already seasoned home owners and too familiar with the ups and downs that come with it. This isn’t to say we haven’t been outside at all this winter, but it has been far less than either of us would like.

We decided to put down our tools and carve out some time for something fun this last Sunday. The weather wasn’t promising and threatened for some lower elevation snow that almost kept us home. The Tillamook Forest Center has been on our list to visit, but it has been closed the last couple of years due to the pandemic. It finally re-opened its doors to visitors on March 17th with limited seasonal hours. They plan to resume regular operations in May. We decided this fit the bill for what we needed. We could check out a fire lookout, enjoy some fresh air away from our house, and read up on some history of the area. It is only 50 miles outside of Portland and is easily accessible off of HWY-6 within the Tillamook State Forest. I checked the trip check camera’s before heading out and everything looked free and clear. There was still a lot of fresh snow built up along the sides of HWY-6 though. A reminder to us that our higher elevation fun was going to be delayed even longer this season, I guess the groundhog was right about this one.

We got to the Forest Center around noon and started by climbing the lookout tower. The stairs were metal and nicely graded for public access. We only had the cab to ourselves for a brief moment and decided to climb back up on our way out instead. It gets easily crowded on a small catwalk, so be mindful of other people. We headed down to check out the interior of the museum and gift shop as well as deposit our donation in their adorable fire lookout kiosk. I am working on collecting magnets with fire lookout towers on them and their gift shop did not disappoint. We spent a good amount of time checking out the exhibits they had in place and reading up on the history. We didn’t stop to watch the 15-minute film “Legacy of Fire” that plays throughout the day, but I am sure it is worth a watch! The center definitely sparked my interest in expanding my knowledge on the state forest and the historic burn. We headed outside to walk along the interpretive trails that surround the center. While heading toward the trails, we noticed that the tower was currently unoccupied and decided to climbed it again to take some more pictures before continuing on. The back of the center is defined by its 250′ long pedestrian suspension bridge that crosses the Wilson River. It connects to the Wilson River Trail and Jones Creek Campground on the other side. We didn’t cross the bridge since we didn’t get up early enough for a longer hike along the Wilson River Trail, but we will be back to the area some other time for the things we missed. After walking along the Riverview trail, we found a picnic table directly in the sun that was calling our name for a late lunch. We soaked in as much vitamin-D as the clouds would allow before packing up to head home. The FFLA and many fire lookout enthusiasts would not consider this an actual fire lookout tower given that it was only built for display, but I still consider this our first of the season.

History.

This fire lookout has no true history in fighting fire on the forest, but it was built in 2006 as a replica with education in mind. The tower stands 40′ tall and is open to the public to climb when the center is open. The center is based around the history of the Tillamook Burn that devastated the forest in a series of large fires. It expands from that to provide information about the indigenous people, the first homesteaders, and how proper forest management can protect from future fires. I was surprised to find out that the Tillamook State Forest is a mostly hand planted forest due to the burn. The center is owned and operated by the Oregon Department of Forestry, but it is an extension of a major public-private partnership that took 10-years to develop. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated if you plan to visit. Make sure to check operating hours before visiting.

More Information.

Tillamook Forest Center

Courtney Butte L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Wallowa County; Private property

Status.

Maintained; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

6-1/2 hours

Date visited.

September 17, 2022

Elevation.

4,813′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 1184; OR 128

Trip Report.

The Saturday lookout tour hosted by the FFLA Western Conference was to Courtney Butte. This is another fire lookout located on private property and requires prior permission by the land owner to visit. Similar to the day before, we were expected to meet back at the VFW post after our lunch break around 1:30PM. Garnet and I made a point not to be late this time. We drove the HR-V this morning and only left the post to make a quick trip out to refuel. Otherwise, we brought and ate our lunch there. We were ready this time when the caravan rolled out almost exactly at 1:30PM. From the post, we all took a right to head out of Enterprise on HWY-3 towards Flora Junction. We stayed on this highway for over 30 miles through alternating sections of National Forest and private land. At one point we passed a junction that pointed left towards the community of Flora. My partner pointed this out and questioned whether that was our turn. The caravan had continued straight though, so we followed them instead. I nit picked at the written directions they had given us. I rationalized that it didn’t specifically say “turn at Flora Junction”, just that we needed to head towards it. I figured since we passed it we were looking for the turn to Courtney Butte Lane now. Eventually, the highway started to head steeply down the canyon towards the Grande Ronde River. It didn’t feel like we should be going this far, or down for that matter, but we continued to blindly follow the caravan. As we were half way down the grade, the head of the caravan pulled over to turn around. Oops! They did in fact miss the turn back at Flora Junction. We all quickly fixed our mistake and turned around to head towards Flora once again.

From HWY-3, heading south-bound now, we turned right onto Flora Lane. We only stayed on this road for 1-1/2 miles before reaching the junction with Courtney Butte Lane. Flora Lane continues to the right to reach the Community of Flora. While, Courtney Butte Lane is straight on and will take you all the way to the ranch. The road turned to gravel here and became a dusty show with the caravan. We stayed on this road for around 5 miles before reaching the fire lookout. We only had to pause briefly to open and close the gate. I assume this was to make sure no cattle escaped during our visit. We all parked in a line near the tower and got out to start exploring the area. I started by walking around the tower to take pictures. The owners were there to give us a brief presentation on their lookout and what they’ve done with it. The railing had some custom designs on it, one of which was a rattlesnake. The owner said they had that made, not only because it was rattlesnake country, but because one of their dogs was bit by one twice while here. The tower had some add-ons to convert it into a more live-able space for guests and it looked like it was kept in great condition. The cab still had its Osborne fire finder and stand. While walking around on the catwalk, we ran into the fire lookout attendant that staffs Spodue Mountain L.O. on the Fremont-Winema NF. She asked if we had been at the conference the whole time and we told her that we had. I mentioned that we had met her counter part, Sharon, earlier this summer on Calimus Butte. The only reason we hadn’t made it over to Spodue Mountain during that trip was because we thought it was still apart of the fire closure area. She mentioned that she vaguely remembered Sharon talking about our visit.

After taking some more pictures on the catwalk and in the cab, they gathered the group on the stairs to take a few pictures with everyone. I took some more pictures at the base for good measure and we eventually felt like we had our fill of Courtney Butte. We decided to pull out a map of the area while we waited for people to start leaving. The closest option if we wanted to visit another fire lookout before dinner was Red Hill. Kirkland Butte was also very close to there and would be a good second option if we had enough time. We unfortunately were boxed in by the caravan of cars and had to wait for them to move. Most people weren’t heading on to another lookout after this, so there was no sense of urgency to leave. This was our own fault though for not trying to park in a better spot for leaving early. Some of the other cars started leaving, but we had to wait for almost all of them because we had been near the end. Finally, the last car in front of us was getting ready to leave and we were free to continue on to Red Hill.

History.

In 1955, a 3-story enclosed ODF cab was built on the site of Courtney Butte. Prior to that, in the early 1950s, it was used for fire observation and the Ground Observer Corps station. It was regularly used by the ODF during emergencies into the early 2000s. The current owner mentioned that the ODF will still occasionally send someone up during thunderstorms. I am unsure when it changed hands to a private owner, but they have since modified and added to it for over-night stays. It’s not listed for public rental, but they let their friends and family stay in it. They seemed open to visitors as long as you get prior permission.

Tope Creek L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Wallowa County; Private property

Status.

Maintained; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

6 hours

Date visited.

September 16, 2022

Elevation.

4,720′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 222; OR 28

Trip Report.

The Friday lookout tour hosted by the FFLA Western Conference was to Tope Creek. This lookout is located on private property and requires prior permission by the land owner to visit. We were expected to meet back at the VFW Post after our lunch break at 1:30PM to start the caravan to the property. Garnet and I had headed back to our camp at the Wallowa Lake State Park during the break to swap our vehicle. We had made the decision to drive my Civic to the conference in the morning with the intention of carpooling with someone. But, after a lack of hands raised for those with available seats to carpool, it seemed easier to drive ourselves. Garnet was borrowing his mom’s HR-V for the week which has better clearance. This decision ultimately put us behind schedule and we didn’t get back to the post until 1:45PM. There were still some vehicles parked here, so we got out to check if they had already left. I asked someone in the building and they confirmed what we had thought. We were both stressed since this wasn’t a good start and we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to visit this one. A member had also previously warned that if you’re not willing to drive fast on gravel roads you would be left behind. Luckily, they had printed out directions on how to get there, so we started in that direction with the hope that everyone would still be there.

From Enterprise, we headed west on HWY-82 towards Wallowa and Lostine. We turned right onto Baker Road which is around 4 miles outside of Lostine and can be distinguished by the Wolff Ranch sign. We followed this road until we came to a T-junction with Jim Town Road. There were no road signs here, but you will want to take a left. This brought us to another un-signed T-junction with Whiskey Creek Road. We took a right and stayed on this road until we reached the first house off to the right. The house had a distinguishable bright blue metal roof. We turned right on the road immediately next to it and hoped we were on the right track. We followed this road for a little over 7-1/2 miles until we saw a two-toned blue metal rod marking a road off to the left. We turned and followed this road until we reached a hand-carved W sign. You will want to bear right here to reach the property. The roads getting here were mostly passenger vehicle friendly until we turned onto the road at the blue metal rod. It had some looser sharp rocks on this section of road that gave someone else a flat tire.

We were the last to arrive, but were relieved to see everyone still there exploring the property. I walked around to take some pictures and we signed up to get in line to climb the tower. The structure was a bit rough around the edges and they only wanted 4 people climbing it at a time. Once it was our turn, Garnet headed for the top. I made it to the third landing before I got a bit squeamish of the height. Forrest had passed me on his way down and he said it only got steeper from there, which didn’t help my confidence. I started up towards the fourth landing, but decided I didn’t need to freak myself out and headed back down. I find the 100′ towers that taper towards the top are the ones I have the most trouble climbing. These are typically the Aermotor or L-6 designs. I walked around the property to take some pictures of the sculptures and talked briefly with a few other members while I waited for Garnet to descend. Brain Wizard, who owns the property, is an eccentric artist and author. He lives on the property year round as a survivalist and was snowed in for 120 days last winter. We talked to him briefly while we were waiting for our turn to climb the tower. He mentioned he used to do terrorist surveillance and intel. Some of his work can be viewed on his website. It seems he is open to visitors with prior permission, but I would be wary of visiting without a group. He made a slight off-handed comment directed at me during our visit.

As everyone was getting ready to leave, we decided to look at possibly visiting another Fire Lookout in the area before dinner. This was a benefit to driving ourselves. The VFW Post was hosting a taco night for the conference, but it wasn’t until 6:30PM. This meant we had a little over two hours to kill. Howard Butte L.O. looked the closest on the map, so we headed in that direction next.

Pictures of Tope Creek cab courtesy of my partner.

History.

Tope Creek was built in 1936 as a 103′ timber tower with L-6 cab by the US Forest Service. The cab is listed as 7’x7′ on some sites, but noted as 8’x8′ on the NHLR. I found similar inconsistencies in the listed height from 100′ to 103′. I am unsure which dimensions are accurate. The 14’x18′ one-room ground house, used for the living quarters, was not added until 1938. Ownership was later transferred to the Oregon Department of Forestry and was staffed into the 1970s. It was eventually classified as surplus and sold to a private owner, Zella Guyness, during a state auction in 1978. The tower is still maintained by the current private owner, Brian Wizard.

Chase Mountain L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Klamath County; Oregon Department of Forestry

Status.

Emergency; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

5-1/2 hours

Date visited.

June 27, 2022

Elevation.

6,349′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 485; OR 78

Trip Report.

Day 3/10: Lookout Road Trip 2022

We were up, packed, and headed east on HWY-66 before 9AM this morning. The plan for the day was to hit Chase Mountain, Bly Ranger Station (post), and Dog Mountain (post). If possible, we would find a dispersed camp spot close to Dog Mountain (post) in the Fremont-Winema NF for the night. We passed the turn off for Parker Mountain L.O. (post) again and then passed a sign for Mule Hill L.O. We both did a double take and pulled over to see if we could get service to verify. The service was slow and spotty, but we were pretty confident it was no longer there. We decided to head on to Chase Mountain without checking it out, but would re-verify on the summit. Spoiler: it’s gone. From HWY-66, we turned on to Hamacker Mountain Road. This is a paved road that will do most of the climbing for you and can take you all the way to the summit of Hamacker Mountain. The turn off for Chase Mountain is roughly 5-1/2 miles up the pavement off to the right. It is an unmarked road, so it was helpful to turn on our odometer. There were two roads off to the right around this mile point. One was dirt and the other was gravel. You will want to take the good gravel road. The gravel ends just before you reach the summit and the road deteriorates. We parked in a pull out slightly after where the road turned to cinder.

Despite camping near a reservoir the last two nights, the bugs had been minimal. When we stepped out of our car here, we were immediately swarmed by mosquitoes. I had forgotten how annoying these little buggers are. It was already feeling warm for the day, so we were thankful for a short walk. We were on the summit a little after 10AM. This is another summit covered in communication buildings, shocking I know. They obstructed a lot of the views north and south of the lookout. But we got a pretty good view to the west from where we had come. The lookout tower itself is no longer staffed and looked a little worse for wear. We were pleased that our progress had been successful so far and moved on to our next target for the day.

History.

The existing fire lookout on Chase Mountain was built in 1951 by Pade & Holland Sheet Metal Co. It was constructed as a 20′ steel tower with 14×14 cab. It was actively staffed up until the 2010s and even had some remodel work done in 2004. It was initially started with an observation platform atop a 12×12 cabin in the early 1920s. This was later moved below the summit and converted to living quarters. It has seen a few different structures since then. A 10×10 gable roofed structure was added in the late 1920s. In 1935, a new tower was constructed. In 1943, another frame cabin was built. I couldn’t find the specifics on the size and shape of these structures. One of them was moved to Hamelton Butte after the steel tower was built, but it is unclear which structure it was.

Table Mountain L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Southwest Oregon FPA; Oregon Department of Forestry

Status.

Abandoned; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

6 hours

Date visited.

June 26, 2022

Elevation.

6,113′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 1643; OR 161

Trip Report.

Day 2/10: Lookout Road Trip 2022

Table Mountain was a nice way to end a long day. After dinner, we headed out of camp once more to catch the sunset. We took the Hyatt Prairie Road and turned on the road towards the Table Mountain Winter Play Area. It was only 2 miles to the lookout from this junction. The road condition alternated between pavement with potholes and good gravel. We stayed on the main road until we reached a 4-way junction. None of the roads are marked but you will want to take a right. You will meet a fork in the road shortly after this junction, stay right again. We decided to park here and walk the remaining distance since there is a gate. There is also a pull out just before the gate that offers parking for a couple cars.

The evening temperatures had dropped significantly from the 90+ degree day and made the short walk up very pleasant. This summit does have quite a few communication towers on it, but was surprisingly pretty. The tower is blocked off to visitors by a barbed wire gate. We were still able to spot Robinson Butte (post), Parker Mountain (post), Chase Mountain (post), and Soda Mountain (post) from the base. Robinson Butte (post) looked like David with Goliath Mt McLoughlin looming over it. We stayed on the summit for as long as possible watching the colors change from warm yellows to different shades of pinks and purples. We wanted to stay longer, but driving back in the dark didn’t sound appealing to either of us. We were also moving camps for the first time this trip and needed to prep for a longer drive day.

History.

A 30′ pole tower with live-in cab was built on Table Mountain in 1931 by what was then known as the Crater National Forest. The Moon Prairie CCC camp added a garage and wood shed in 1933. It was replaced in 1958 with a 30′ treated timber tower and ODF-style cab. I believe it was decommissioned in the mid-1960s given that the garage was torn down and burned in 1963. The last noted use was in 1975 when it was staffed while Parker (post) and Chase Mountain (post)were being remodeled.

Parker Mountain L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Klamath County; Oregon Department of Forestry

Status.

Active; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

6 hours

Date visited.

June 26, 2022

Elevation.

5,210′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 497; OR 90

Trip Report.

Day 2/10: Lookout Road Trip 2022

My partner, for some reason, only brought one 32oz water bottle with him for the day and had easily drank it all on our hike to Soda Mountain (post). We were headed east on HWY-66 towards the community of Pinehurst, but we needed to find water if we wanted to continue on to Parker Mountain. We stopped near the Green Springs Inn & Cabins to see if there was anywhere to fill up. It had a small information center dedicated to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, but no one was inside. The BBQ restaurant attached to the Inn was closed too, but they had an accessible water fill station outside. Thank you Green Springs Inn! We came to the conclusion on our drive to Parker Mountain that HWY-66 is one of the sleepiest highways we’ve ever driven. You might pass one car every 10 minutes. There will be a sign from the highway for the needed turn to Parker Mountain L.O. It is otherwise an unmarked junction. Once off the highway, we immediately passed through an open gate to a four way junction. I believe the gate is closed seasonally during the winter. This is unsigned but you will want to continue straight. We followed this road to another junction that was surprisingly signed for Parker Mountain. It looked like a fairly new sign too. If for some reason the sign isn’t there, you will want to take the road to the right. The road starts to deteriorate after this junction with larger rocks to avoid. We decided to park near the sign and walk the remaining mile and a half to the lookout.

We started hiking during the hottest part of the day. I had to take a much needed break in every patch of shade I found. It felt like it took us forever to get anywhere. There are some spurs leading off of this road, but I felt it was fairly obvious which road you needed to stay on. Parker Mountain was one of the few lookouts during this trip that was supposedly staffed. We eventually came to the gate and found it was open. Just past the gate you will get your first glimpse of the lookout. It appeared to be open for the season. As we got closer, we approached with caution. We never want to disturb the fire attendant or make them feel like we are invading their space. Turns out it was all for naught since no one was there. Though, there were signs of someone recently being there and the cab had been opened up. We speculated that they were either on their day off or hadn’t started their season yet. Either way it gave us free range to climb the tower and explore the summit fully. The catwalk was still locked, of course, but we were able to get a pretty good view from the highest landing. It was nice to be on a summit without a bunch of communication equipment for a change. I really enjoyed the sizing of the staircase on this lookout too. The steps weren’t as narrow or steep as other towers. There was also a water barrel and trough located under one of the trees for the wildlife. It was fun to watch all the different little birdies come down to take a drink. After Parker Mountain, we decided to head back to camp for a quick dinner in between lookouts.

History.

The first fire lookout was constructed on Parker Mountain in 1934 by the CCC. It was a 50′ round timber tower with a steeply pitched roof. John Colvard of the Klamath Forest Protective Association primarily staffed this lookout for almost 20 years until he passed away in 1952. He previously worked on Calimus Butte (post) for 3 years when it was used as the main fire lookout for the Klamath Indian Reservation. In 1956, the previous tower was replaced by a 30′ steel tower with 14×14 wooden cab. In 1965, Parker Mountain was considered one of four lookouts located on Weyerhaeuser Company land. They allowed a permit for the Klamath FPA to continue maintaining and staffing the existing lookout. Eventually, it was managed and operated by the Oregon Department of Forestry. I’m not sure when exactly the land and fire lookout changed hands though. There was an old 16×24 living quarters cabin that was purposefully burned in 1968 due to being unusable. The steel tower was damaged by an arsonist in 1995 and needed to be replaced. In 1997, the existing lookout was constructed by the Steve Burrows Construction Company. It is an ODF design with 40′ steel tower and 15×15 wood cab. It is still actively staffed every season.

Soda Mountain L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument; Oregon Department of Forestry

Status.

Fire Detection Camera; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

5-1/2 hours

Date visited.

June 26, 2022

Elevation.

6,091′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 340; OR 39

Trip Report.

Day 2/10: Lookout Road Trip 2022

Another early morning was on the schedule. Though, we were able to sleep in an extra hour due to the central location of our camp. The plan for the day was to hike to Soda Mountain via the PCT, potentially visit Parker Mountain (post) if we finished early, and check off Table Mountain (post) near sunset. We packed a lunch and headed out of the Hyatt Lake Recreation Area towards HWY-66. From HWY-66, we took a road conveniently marked as Soda Mountain Road. This lead us all the way to the Hobart Bluff Trailhead to start our hike. The road is decent gravel but has a few potholes to avoid. It was nothing unmanageable to us low clearance folk. There were a few cars parked at the trailhead already. We figured this would be the busiest lookout we’d visit this trip given its proximity to the PCT and being within a National Monument.

The trail starts out on the PCT heading south towards the California border over an exposed slope. It was covered in all sorts of wildflowers while we were there. Eventually, it enters a shaded forest that occasionally opens up to views out towards Pilot Rock and Mt Ashland. You will stay on the PCT for about a mile until you reach a trail junction. There is no sign stating this is the trail to Soda Mountain but there is a trail marker to help identify the junction. It takes a sharp left up the slope and connects with the road that will take you to the summit. Be aware of where you come out on the road, the trail becomes faint here. There is a “Soda Mountain-Pilot Rock Jeep Road” sign that can be used as a marker to find where you need to turn on the way back. You also have the option to walk the road back to the trailhead. We passed a few day and section hikers along the PCT, but once we turned up the connector trail we surprisingly had it to ourselves. There was a section hiker sitting at the junction that asked where we were headed. We mentioned the lookout and he asked how far it was from there. I didn’t know the exact distance but guesstimated about a mile or mile and a half. Too far for him he grunted. His pack looked pretty loaded and I agreed. Round trip from the trailhead it is roughly 4 miles with a little over 800′ in elevation gain. It was a pleasant hike that was mostly in the shade.

Once on the summit, you are exposed to the excessive amount of communication towers. The short little fire lookout can be found tucked in between them. Despite minor obstructions, you still get pretty great views of Mt Shasta, Mt McLoughlin, Mt Ashland, Soda Mountain Wilderness, and the surrounding valleys. We enjoyed our lunch in the shade of the catwalk with no other visitors. Once we decided to head down we figured we’d run into at least one person. It’s the weekend for Pete’s Sake! But, we only ever saw people hiking on the PCT portion. The day was still young when we reached the car and we decided we had time to head farther east to Parker Mountain (post).

History.

Established in 1933, Soda Mountain was built by the CCC as a 6′ enclosed tower with L-4 cab. It was located on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management just four miles north of the California border, but it seems it was managed by the ODF. In 1962, the lookout was rebuilt raising the tower to 8′ and restructuring the cab as a 14’x14′ ODF flat top. A communication site was added to the summit in 1968 which was able to provide electricity to the lookout as well. Cellular towers were added in 1992 that partially blocked the view. A year later they raised the tower to 10′ and added a storage shed underneath. The area wasn’t considered a National Monument until June 2000. It was designated by President Clinton to protect the biodiversity of where the Cascade Range and Siskiyou Mountains meet. In 2015, the metal roof sustained damage from the harsh winter and had to be temporarily tarped to cover the exposed area. It was actively staffed every season up until 2017. I assume that’s when they installed a camera similar to most other ODF fire lookouts we’ve visited.

More Information.

Oregon Hikers

AllTrails

Sexton Mountain L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Josephine County; Oregon Department of Forestry

Status.

Fire Detection Camera; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

4-1/2 hours

Date visited.

June 25, 2022

Elevation.

3,834′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 741; OR 113

Trip Report.

Day 1/10: Lookout Road Trip 2022

Our alarm went off begrudgingly at 6:30AM, a time at which we would wake many more times this trip. We had a jam packed road trip planned to visit 17 fire lookouts, potentially 18 if things went our way, in southern Oregon over the next 10 days. My partner and I knew we needed to get up if we wanted this to work, but the lack of sleep had us calling for the snooze button. I made the mistake of thinking I could squeeze in an afternoon hike and dinner with my friend before finishing off my needed prep the night before. Of course, things took longer than expected and I wasn’t in bed until well after midnight. My partner works a swing shift, so he’s typically not home until around that time as well. Needless to say, we are not early risers by any means (although I was for a brief time during my mid-twenties). Eventually we were able to collect ourselves enough to climb out of bed and start packing the car. Our plan for the day was to bomb down I-5 towards the most southern portions of Oregon. We would hit Sexton Mountain then cross over HWY-140 to Robinson Butte (post), and if time permitted we would head up to Table Mountain (post) on our way to camp.

Sexton Mountain is located just off I-5 outside of the community of Sunny Valley. We were following directions from a Geocache (site) that mentioned a route suitable for most vehicles. From I-5, we took exit 71 and turned left onto Sunny Valley Loop Road. You will want to take a right on to Placer Road that is immediately after the single lane covered bridge over Grave Creek. You will take another right onto Beecher Road that will eventually turn into BLM Road 34-6-12 that takes you to the junction of BLM Road 34-6-23 with a locked gate. It is around 5 miles from Placer Road to the gate. The road was passable but not necessarily great for low clearance vehicles. On the steeper sections there was wash out from water run off to straddle and the flatter sections had pot holes to avoid. The junction before the gate has ample parking for a few cars, though I doubt you will see anyone else. From the gate, you will need to road walk a little under a mile to reach the summit.

Summer decided to finally show itself with 90+ degree weather forecasted for the upcoming week. Given our recent bout with a wet spring, we had little to no time to acclimate to this warmer weather. I could feel the moisture leave my body the second I stepped out of the car and started hiking up the road. I was drier than the Alvord Desert despite constantly consuming as much water as possible. The hike to the summit isn’t long but it felt fairly steep. I struggled my way to the top with every hot dusty step. On the hike up, we were surprised to see two jeeps bumping down from the summit. At first I thought they must be some sort of maintenance crew since they were behind the gate, but then they took off on a bumpy road that seemingly headed straight down the side of the mountain. The summit is littered with communication towers and the lookout tower itself is locked behind a barbed wire fence. There wasn’t much of a view from the base either. It was definitely one of the least pretty summits we’ve been to so far. The original historic D-6 cupola cabin from the 1920s was cool though. We spent very little time on the summit due to the oppressive heat and pressed on to Robinson Butte (post).

History.

Sexton Mountain was first established for fire detection in 1914 with a tent camp. A D-6 cupola cabin was constructed in 1920 and was used as the main lookout until 1932. They moved the existing D-6 cupola cabin over, lowered the cupola, and converted it into living quarters while a house with taller cupola was built for their working quarters. In 1962, the house with taller cupola was moved and turned over to the US Weather Bureau. A 30′ timber tower with Amort ODF cab was built to replace the house. It was maintained and used up until April 2006 when some vandals burned it to the ground along with some repeater antennas. The damages were estimated around $500,000 according to the Oregon State Police. A replacement all-steel 40′ live-in tower with flat roofed cab was built in 2007 and staffed well into the 2010’s. It is now only used in emergencies and the original D-6 Cupola from the 1920s can still be found on the summit.

Ritter Butte L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Grant County

Status.

Fire Detection Camera; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

5 hours

Date visited.

May 29, 2022

Elevation.

4,204′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 658; OR 109

Trip Report.

From the Malheur NF, we headed farther north on HWY-395 towards the community of Dale. On the drive, we contemplated whether it made more sense to stop at Ritter Butte today or back track to it tomorrow. We didn’t have much day left to search for a camp but Ritter Butte was along the way. Our decision was quickly made when we realized we could see Ritter Butte from HWY-395. We knew it was only about a half mile off the highway but seeing how close it was for ourselves made it an easy decision to stop. The turn will be marked as Old Ritter Lane on the left once you reach the highway summit for Ritter Butte. The access road is the first un-marked road off to the left. They recently added a gate to deter people from driving to the summit. We parked in a pull out on Old Ritter Lane and made the short hike up. The road was also made up of large rocks instead of fine gravel, so I wouldn’t have tried to drive up anyway.

The summit was filled with wildflowers that were beginning to bloom and we even had a small break in weather. There were newer power tools and fresh wood stored in the bottom shed portion of the lookout. It looked like they were working on replacing or updating the structure. We thought this was odd since it is no longer actively staffed, but speculated it needed to stay up to date for camera maintenance. Someone had completely removed the trap door for the catwalk and the second level was unlocked. We decided to take a quick look on the open catwalk since it seemed to be in somewhat decent shape. We once again didn’t stay too long on the summit due to time constraints. But this one is an easy on and off if you’re ever passing through the area. We quickly popped on HWY-395 again and continued on to the Umatilla NF. We were headed up towards Bone Point L.O. (post) and hoped there would be a dispersed camp spot somewhere along the road.

History.

The Ritter Butte L.O. is a 3-story enclosed ODF tower with live-in cab and was built in 1950. It was actively staffed into the 1980’s and then moved to emergency status. There are multiple sources stating that it was actively staffed again in 2012, but it is unclear if it was just for that season or for a few years after that as well. In 2017, similar to other ODF lookouts, a fire detection camera was installed and will be the main source for fire detection.

Bunker Hill L.O.

Oregon Lookouts

Location.

Coos Bay, OR

Status.

Interpretive site; Currently standing

Estimated drive time from Portland, OR.

4 hours

Date visited.

December 31, 2021

Elevation.

240′

National Historic Lookout Register.

US 473; OR 70

Trip Report.

My partner and I decided to book a rental in Reedsport for the New Year and our 3-year anniversary. We chose Reedsport for it’s proximity to two lookouts along the coast. We figured we could end and start the year doing what we enjoyed most. We headed to Bunker Hill L.O. since we had some time to kill before checking into our rental. This will be our last lookout visit for the year! It’s located in the coastal town of Coos Bay at the Oregon Department of Forestry building. We were able to find it by following signs to the ODF building from HWY-101. Heading south on HWY-101 you will turn right on to Flanagan Road. You will stay on Flanagan Road until you reach Lookout Lane. Turn Left on to Lookout Lane. If you end up driving past Lookout Lane you can still get there by turning left on to Bay Park Lane and then another left on Fifth Road. The junction of Bay Park Lane and Fifth Road has an ODF sign. The buildings were closed for the holiday but we were still able to access the grounds and view the lookout from the parking lot. There is marked visitor parking just past the gate.

History.

In 1937, a combination lookout and water tower were built for the ODF by the CCC of Camp Walker. A 7’x7′ lookout cab was built atop a 3,000 gallon 52′ water tank. This lookout tower was used by the Coos Fire Patrol until the 1950’s. It was also used briefly for air raid spotting during the war, but it was found that most spotting had been done from the ground. The combined lookout and water tower was dismantled in 1965. It wasn’t until 1996 that they decided to build a new lookout tower on Bunker Hill for training. The existing 12’x12′ lookout sits atop a 40′ steel tower next to the district headquarters. The steel tower used was donated by the U.S. Coast Guard. It is currently an interpretive site for visitors and listed on the National Historic Lookout Register. it’s labeled as the Coos Bay Lookout on the tower itself.

Bonus: We visited the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park to check out the lighthouse before heading to Bunker Hill L.O. It is ran by the U.S. Coast Guard and tours are offered through the museum. While parked we spotted another structure closer to the ocean that resembled a lookout. I’m sure it’s used by the U.S. Coast Guard for some sort of training but the base looked almost identical to Bunker Hill L.O.