Southern California | Firelookout BaldMnt

Bald Mountain Lookout

Southern California Lookouts

The Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) is made up of over 1,300 volunteers across the country, who strive to preserve fire lookouts and their legacy. It is separated into 33 Chapters. The California-South Chapter spans from the U.S. – Mexico border to Monterey. There are 29 standing towers in its jurisdiction.

In most all cases, the government agencies that originally built them and staffed them with paid employees have decommissioned and defunded them. Without maintenance, the towers often fall into disrepair and damage from vandalism. By partnering with those government agencies, the FFLA can sometimes rehabilitate abandoned towers and staff them with trained volunteers.

This accomplishes two important objectives:

Early detection and reporting of young fires, which can prevent them from becoming large and destructive; especially in these times of worsening wildfires.
Protection and maintenance of these historic artifacts of forest conservation.

Nine of the California-South towers are staffed with volunteers, and one, east of San Diego, is still staffed by full-time, paid Forest Service employees. Four of these towers have been converted into automated radio communications facilities, and one houses biologists and college students who track the movement and behavior of endangered California Condors.

Listing of Fire Lookout Towers in Southern California Chapter

Tower Name	County	NHLR#	Operator	Status
Black Mountain	San Bernardino	289	SBNF	Closed
Boucher Hill	San Diego	394	CNF	Operational
Branch Mtn	San Luis Obispo	1392	LPNF	No Access P.P.
Butler Peak	San Bernardino	292	SBNF	Operational
Calandra	Monterey	395	Cal Fire	UNK RF Conditions
Call Mtn	San Benito	1341	Cal Fire	Needs Work
Castro Peak	Los Angeles	1289	L.A. Co Fire	Public Display
Chalone Peak	San Benito	396	Natl Parks	Pending Demolition
Chews Ridge	Monterey	751	LPNF	Operational
Cone Peak	Riverside	1288	LPNF	Converted to comms fac.
Estelle Mtn - no link	Riverside	752	Cal Fire	Airport Control Tower
Figueroa Mtn	Santa Barabara	881	LPNF	Repairable
Frazier Mtn	Ventura	1372	LPNF	Op. Condor Tracking Stn.
Hi Mountain	San Luis Obispo	552	LPNF	Wildlife Tracking Station
High Point	San Diego	735	CNF	Operational
Hot Springs	San Diego	753	Reservation	Collapsing
Junipero Serra	Monterey	1864	LPNF	Steel legs only
Keller Peak	San Bernardino	28	SBNF	Steel legs only
La Cumbre Peak	Sta. Barbara	882	LPNF	RF Hazard
Los Pinos Mtn	San Diego	742	CNF	Op-USFS employees
Lyons Peak	San Diego	754	CNF	No Access P.P.
Morton Peak	San Bernardino	673	SBNF	Operational
Nordoff Peak	Ventura	1857	LPNF	Steel legs only
Red Mtn - Riverside	Riverside	290	SBNF	Destroyed by fire 2022
Red Mtn - San Diego	San Diego	755	Cal Fire	Converted to comms fac.
San Rafael	Los Angeles	1220	Glendale fD	Converted to comms fac.
Sid Ormsby	Monterey	883	Sta.Lucia Preserve	Unk. RF conditions
Slide Mtn	Los Angeles	1045	ANF	Operational
Smith Mtn	Monterey	884	Cal Fire	Poor Cond. P.P.
South Mtn	Ventura	885	Ventura	Converted to comms fac.
Strawberry Peak	San Bernardino	293	SBNF	Operational
Tahquitz Peak	San Bernardino	291	SBNF	Closed
Thorn Point	Ventura	308	LPNF	Poor Condition
Vetter Mtn	Los Angeles	294	ANF	Operational-rebuilt 2020