Indian Ridge Lookout

The cab at the end of road 1980-247

Forest Service Road 1980-247 ends at the lookout. To reach it from Blue River, drive 4 miles east on Highway 126 to Aufderheide Drive, Forest Service Road 19. Bear right at the Y and climb to the top of Cougar Reservoir. Continue 7 miles past the reservoir to Road 1980, then turn west and climb Indian Ridge. Recreation.gov calls the last of this road rocky.

At the top, a steep, narrow flight of steps rises up the tower to a small cabin. Recreation.gov gives the tower as 30 feet. The door opens by combination lock, and the code comes with the reservation. The Forest Service lists the cabin at 16 by 16 feet, sleeping four. It holds two twin beds with foam mattresses, a table with chairs, a broom and dust pan, a mop, and storage shelves. There is no heat, electricity, or water. Guests carry in water for drinking, cooking, and washing, along with their own stove, bedding, lights, dishes, and ice chest. Propane lamps, stoves, and heaters are recommended because they give off fewer fumes than liquid gas, and liquid gas appliances are not allowed. Outside are a picnic table and a fire ring, and a vault-toilet outhouse stands 50 feet from the lookout. The Forest Service gives the elevation as 5,405 feet. Because of the tower’s height and the sheer cliffs near it, the site is not recommended for small children. The rental season runs from late June through October.

Beargrass, huckleberries, and Hidden Lake

The cab sits above the tree line. The Three Sisters stand close and prominent to the northeast, and the Cascade Crest runs off to the north and south. With binoculars, the Sand Mountain and Carpenter Mountain lookouts can be picked out. Hidden Lake lies below the northern edge of the mountaintop, and a short trail leads down to it for alpine swimming and sunbathing.

The open ridge is covered with beargrass and huckleberries. Depending on the season, its rocky outcroppings carry wildflowers and moss. An unmaintained trail wanders the summit through alpine trees and beargrass. Indian Ridge Trail #3315 is listed nearby. Several outbuildings and radio installations stand near the tower and can be explored. Recreation.gov names Roosevelt elk, black bear, bald eagles, black-tailed deer, and bobcats among the wildlife of the forest. Far from city lights, the ridge also offers dark night skies for stargazing.

The ridge takes its name from the old Indian hunting trail that runs along the summit.

From cupola to flattop

The National Historic Lookout Register says Indian Ridge has been the site of a lookout since 1918. A photograph on its page is captioned “Cupola, 1918-1928.” The register says the ridge was best known for “a classic 29’ ‘cathedral style’ structure.” That building stayed in service until 1958 and, in the register’s words, “regrettably was not maintained.” No example of the type remains.

The Lane County Historical Society’s journal, the Lane County Historian, recounts one summer on the ridge. In its Summer 1992 issue, Doug Newman wrote about the solo life of the county’s fire lookouts. He records that in the summer of 1938, lookout Jim Drury was inside the lookout house on Indian Ridge, then in the Blue River Ranger District, when lightning struck it. The other lookouts telephoned the ranger station to report that the station had been hit. Newman puts the heyday of the fire lookout from the 1930s through the 1950s. He adds that once lookouts were no longer needed, many were burned to the ground.

The cab that stands now is dated differently by different sources. The Forest Service and Recreation.gov say it was built in 1958. The register says 1957 and describes it as a 15-by-15-foot R-6 flattop with a catwalk on a 20-foot wooden tower. It also gives a lower elevation, 5,337 feet. All the sources agree that Forest Service crews used it to watch for fire until 1973. In 1972, the year before that service ended, the University of Oregon carried out archaeological investigations at the Indian Ridge site under contract with the Willamette National Forest. Sharilyn Reyna, then with the university and later with the forest, is named as directing the forest’s archaeological studies.

The lookout entered the National Historic Lookout Register on November 24, 1995, as US 133 and OR 17. Ron Johnson and Rebecca Eash nominated it in memory of her father, John W. Koning, Jr. The register notes that the cab has since been restored, placed in the cabin rental system, and is still used occasionally to watch for fire in emergencies.