FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Tulare County, California

Ash Peak Lookout Site

Also known as Ash Peak (Mountain)

Sequoia National Park lookout tower in use by 1929 and staffed into 1944; register dates a first structure to 1934 and a 1966 replacement. Removal date unknown.

Status unknown: We do not know yet whether it still stands. Register lists removal as Unknown and gives no removal date for the 1966 structure; no source describes the site now

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
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 1944)

Facts

Status
Status unknown sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower1934 observation-only cabin on a 40 ft X-brace steel tower with a residence cabin; 1966 CL-100 plan 13x13 cabin on a steel K-brace towerThe design: CL-100
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1929
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,453 ft (1,662 m)
Agency
National Park Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Tulare County, California
Coordinates
36.52773, −118.84187
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-ash-peak

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. 1929 BuiltNewspaper notices show the Ash Peak lookout station open to visitors by August 1929; a 1932 notice speaks of the tower's completion in 1929. The register's first-structure date is 1934.Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1930 First staffedJ. G. Wade had charge of the tower for three seasons as of September 1930; earliest named keeper in our sourcesSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1931 StaffedHomer Cooper, Wade's brother-in-law, took up the summer station at the towerSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1933 StaffedGeorge Magley was fire lookout at Ash Peak for the 1933 seasonSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 BuiltRegister: first structure, an observation-only cabin on a 40 ft X-brace steel tower, with a residence cabin. April 1934 notices still have Magley in charge at the Ash Peak tower, with a new tower planned at Little Baldy.Sources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1938 StaffedPaul Ortlipp was to have charge for the 1938 fire season; the Ash Peak station was used again instead of the newer Little Baldy stationSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1944 StaffedCharles Miller was to take his post at the Ash Peak lookout; latest named keeper in our sourcesSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1944 and 1966
  9. 1966 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  10. 1966 Replaced by a new structureRegister: the structure was replaced by a CL-100 plan 13x13 cabin on a steel K-brace towerSource: firetower.org
  11. No record between 1966 and 2021
  12. 2021 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: October 3, 2021Source: FFLOS register entry
  13. TodayStatus unknownWe do not know whether it still stands.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Ash Peak sits in Sequoia National Park, in Tulare County.1 A fire lookout was in use there by 1929.2 A newspaper notice from that August, about the reopened North Fork Road, said visitors would find the trip to the Ash Peak station of particular interest, and a 1932 notice speaks of the tower's completion in 1929.2

The register tells a different start. It dates the site's first structure to 1934: an observation-only cabin on a 40-foot steel tower, with a residence cabin as well.1 The sources do not agree on the first lookout, so this story keeps both dates.1,2

J. G. Wade had charge of the tower for three seasons by 1930.2 He then left, and his brother-in-law Homer Cooper took over.2 George Magley was the lookout in 1933.2 In spring 1934 he was expected to move to a new tower planned at Little Baldy.2 In 1931 a truck brought the station's water to the end of the trail, and it was carried the last two miles to the tower.2

In 1938 the Ash Peak station went back into use instead of the newer Little Baldy station.2 The old site was judged better for spotting brush and grass fires in the lower foothills, and its cabin and steel observation tower made the work easier to live with.2 Paul Ortlipp was given charge for that fire season, and Charles Miller was due to take the post in 1944.2

The register says the structure was replaced in 1966 by a CL-100 cabin on a steel K-brace tower.1 It gives no removal date for that structure.1

No source we found describes what remains on Ash Peak today, or whether visitors can reach it.1

  1. Ash Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/ash-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Ash Peak (Mountain) - FOREST LOOKOUTS, quoting period newspaper notices, Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/ash-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Ash Peak Lookout - 1966
Ash Peak Lookout - 1966 (1966)Photo: National Park Service, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1963
1963 (1963)Photo: National Park Service, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1934
1934 (1934)Photo: National Park Service, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Residence Cabin - 1934
Residence Cabin - 1934 (1934)Photo: National Park Service, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • Firefinder research: Status unknown
    • FFLA: Gone

    Research (2026-10-09) gives unknown where the source records give gone. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) 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
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, staffing, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.