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Fire lookout · Plumas County, California

Argentine Rock Lookout

Plumas NF lookout on Grizzly Ridge: construction began 1934, staffed until 1980, now a restoration-group rebuild under a 2021 MOU/MOA.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
2005 register visit: good gravel road, 7 miles from pavement and 6 miles east of Quincy; last half mile rough, 2WD OK.
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2005-10-21)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Enclosed towerEnclosed tower with C-3 cab and catwalkThe design: C-3
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,151 ft (2,180 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Plumas County, California
Coordinates
39.95238, −120.76233
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-argentine-rock

View from the cab

What you see from the cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

Downloads about 3.5 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1934 BuiltConstruction on the enclosed tower began in 1934, per the registerSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1936 First staffedRegister gives 1936 as first staffed year; 1937 papers describe the summit as newly mannedSources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1937 Replaced by a new structureNew Forest Service station completed in early November 1937; the temporary lookout building was blown off the rock days later in a windstormSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1948 FireLookout put out a grass fire about 50 feet from the station, started by a stray matchSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1948 and 1980
  6. 1980 Last staffedRegister says the lookout was in active service until 1980Source: nhlr.org
  7. 1994 Condition assessmentQuincy/Greenville Ranger District sought public comment on restoring the lookout, no longer usedSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 21, 2004 as US 601, CA 72Source: nhlr.org
  9. 2005 Condition assessmentRegister visit: roof failing, stairs missing, cab floor poorSource: nhlr.org
  10. No record between 2005 and 2021
  11. 2021 EventMOU/MOA signed for the lookout's rehabilitation (the counterparty is not named in the source)Source: firelookout.org
  12. 2022 EventA formal group/subchapter was formed after the MOU/MOA and was awarded a large RAC grant (amount not stated)Source: firelookout.org
  13. 2025 EventThe group built new steel access stairs and stairs to the cab and began rebuilding the lookout; project listed as ongoingSource: firelookout.org
  14. 2025 RestoredVolunteer group built new steel access stairs and new stairs up to the cab, and worked on reconstructing the lookout, hauling all materials up a narrow path by hand.Source: firelookout.org
  15. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Argentine Rock stands on Grizzly Ridge in the Plumas National Forest.1,2 The national register says construction on its enclosed tower began in 1934 and that the lookout was first staffed in 1936.1 Newspapers from 1936 and 1937 fill in a messier picture. In September 1936 a road crew was set to resume work on the road, which had been finished to within a mile of the summit.2 A temporary building served as the lookout in 1937 while a new station was being built.2

The register's first-staffed year is 1936, but an August 1937 paper says the summit had only just been turned into a manned lookout that year.1,2 A new Forest Service station was completed in early November 1937.2 A few days later a high wind blew the temporary building off the rock and down the mountainside.2 The register and the papers also disagree on distance. The register's 2005 visit notes place the site six miles east of Quincy, while a 1937 paper puts it about 12 miles east.1,2

Glen Clark and Harry Bond were among the lookouts in the late 1930s and 1940s.2 In 1948 a lookout named Charles Farley found a grass fire about 50 feet from the station, started by a match that had flown out of his shirt pocket. He put it out with a bucket of water.2 The register says the lookout was in active service until 1980.1 In 1994 the Quincy/Greenville Ranger District sought public input on refurbishing the lookout, which it said was no longer used and was falling into disrepair.2

The lookout was listed on the National Historic Lookout Register in September 2004.1 A 2005 visit report found the roof failing, the stairs missing and the cab floor poor.1 In 2021 an FFLA report said an MOU/MOA, a memorandum of understanding or agreement, had been signed for the lookout's rehabilitation, and that the work would start unless more fires intervened.3 A formal group, or subchapter, was then formed, and it was awarded a large Resource Advisory Committee grant.4 By 2025 the group had built new steel access stairs and stairs up to the cab, and was rebuilding the lookout itself, carrying materials up a narrow path by hand. The project was still listed as ongoing.5

The 2005 visit described a good gravel road, seven miles from pavement, with a rough last half mile that two-wheel drive can manage.1 I found no visit notes after 2005, so the lookout's current condition is known only from the 2025 report of ongoing work, and whether the cab is open to visitors is not known. The register lists the Mt. Hough Ranger District as a cooperator, so check with that district before going up.1 Restoration is under way, so stay off the structure.5

  1. Argentine Rock Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/argentine-rock-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Argentine Rock, California forest lookouts history site, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/argentine-rock.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Northern California region report, 2021, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-cal-north-2021.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Northern California region report, 2022, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-cal-north-2022.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Northern California region report, 2025, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/cr-cal-north-2025.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Argentine Rock Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Argentine Rock Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, staffing, visiting details, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

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