How to Rent a Fire Lookout in the Pacific Northwest was originally published by Wilderness Press in 2003, and soon updated in 2005. The 2nd edition of the original guidebook to renting cabins and fire lookouts in Oregon and Washington describes 61 properties on public lands, ranging from a luxurious cabin just off the road to a remote 60-foot lookout tower deep in wilderness. These scenic, secluded, and historic structures offer unique and picturesque vacation rentals in a variety of settings from lush forests to alpine meadows to ridge tops with endless views.
Since 2005, there have been substantial updates to the US Forest Service Recreation Rental Program. Please visit these links for current offerings and rental details:
To get current rental information, visit:
US Forest Service 1.
US Forest Service 2.
US Forest Service 3.
One clear night, far from towns or cities, I gazed downward upon twinkling stars from the catwalk of Acker Rock Fire Lookout. With the horizon curving before my eyes, the sky shimmered with bright, intimate comfort. I felt very small here, yet boundless – held for a brief, solitary moment within the vastness of the universe.
As I ascended the final rise to reach this glass house and flagpole on a sagebrush summit, I felt only a slice of the delight which was yet to come. For later that night, thick snow spun on a cold September wind, and thunder rocked mountains to the West. I slept in complete comfort under the clouds in a little house on a rounded mountaintop, breathing in the sage and pine-scented air at 7,500 feet. At midnight, I was up to drink water and wander outside. The clouds had then cleared, revealing a canopy so deep, dark, and near that I swayed at the sight. Familiar constellations loomed overhead, magnified by altitude and brightened by wilderness surroundings.
Bound pages of weather-worn journals are frequently found in a drawer or on a tabletop at these backcountry rentals. Sometime during your stay, crack one open and be prepared to meet some of the most interesting characters you will ever encounter. Words pour off these pages from the hearts and souls of real people who have slept here, too. You will discover sketches, poetry, observations, yearnings, and dreams.
From these logbooks spring impressions, experiences, and insights of past travelers – artists, scientists, writers, hikers, and backcountry wanderers of all ages who now share something with you – a choice made to come to this mountaintop, removed from the hurried pace of everyday living. As a guest here, you become part of its long and continuing story.
My own affection for these historic structures peppered throughout the National Forests of the Pacific Northwest began in 1979, the year before I moved to southern Oregon as a cultural anthropologist and historian for the Siskiyou National Forest. Prior to my arrival, I worked for the USFS Intermountain Region where I first encountered Fire Lookout towers. I listed the Ute Mountain Fire Lookout on the National Register of Historic Places as my last official act in Utah and I was eager to see more in Oregon.
~ Tish McFadden, January 2005,
This is an impressive collection. It provides a rare, valuable service by linking the
historical past and the recreational present. Fire lookouts have always occupied the
loftiest and grandest spaces in the Northwest, and this book is the closest thing I’ve
seen to a key to their front doors.
~ THE SEATTLE TIMES
This could be the tip-off you need for your vacation-of-the-decade.
~ SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Without a doubt, Tish McFadden and Tom Foley’s new release is a very informative
and timely book on Forest Service rental lookouts and cabins in the Pacific
Northwest. Outdoor enthusiasts looking for unique experiences will make good use
of this book.