In 1967, a stand replacement fire (a fire that kills most if not all of the living upper canopy layer in the forest and initiates succession or regrowth) burned through of the surrounding Santiam Pass area. It reached the vegetation on the eastern and southern flanks of Hoodoo Butte, leaving patches of trees compared to the denser forest on the northern slope. Forest fires tore through the region again during the summer of 2003.