Pearsoll Peak is a mountain in the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...

of southwestern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is located in the northern

Kalmiopsis Wilderness Kalmiopsis Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Klamath Mountains of southwestern Oregon, within the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest. It was designated wilderness by the United States Congress in 1964 and now comprises a total of .

in southeastern Curry County and western

Josephine County Josephine County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 88,090. The county seat is Grants Pass. The county is named after Virginia Josephine Rollins (1834–1912), a settler who was t ...

in the extreme southwest corner of the state, approximately from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and north of the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

state line. It is the highest point in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness and has a historic fire lookout on a false summit a short distance east of the Wilderness Boundary which overlooks the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

Valley. The current lookout structure replaced the original cupola-style building in 1954 and was actively staffed as a fire lookout into the early 1970s. After that, the building fell into disrepair until the Sand Mountain Society, an all-volunteer nonprofit based in Portland, OR, stepped in to restore the L-4 Model lookout cabin in 1991. The group has done meticulous maintenance on the building, starting in 1991. The most recent major Sand Mountain Society effort is still in progress, having been interrupted by recent fire closures and other commitments. Remarkably, the fire lookout was spared in three catastrophic fires so far this century: the

Biscuit Fire The Biscuit Fire was a massive wildfire in 2002 that burned nearly in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest, in southern Oregon and northern California, in the Western United States. The fire was named after Biscuit Creek in southern Oreg ...

of 2002; the

Chetco Bar Fire The Chetco Bar Fire was a wildfire in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Oregon, United States. The fire, which was caused by a lightning strike and first reported on July 12, 2017. It burned as of November 4, when it was declared 100% contained. The C ...

of 2017 (with trees torching within 100 feet of the building), and; the

Klondike Fire The Klondike Fire was a wildfire in the U.S. state of Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oreg ...

of 2018.

References

External links

* * Mountains of Oregon Mountains of Curry County, Oregon Landforms of Josephine County, Oregon {{JosephineCountyOR-geo-stub