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Fire lookout · Butte County, California

Bald Mountain Lookout (Cal Fire - Butte County)

Also known as Bald Mountain

Butte County lookout built 1934 as a CCC-era tower for the Forest Service, moved to CDF in the late 1950s, cab remodelled 1973; NHLR-registered 2019; staffed as needed.

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
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerBC-3 cab replaced in 1973 by a 732-6A type cab design under remodel plan 757-lAThe designs: BC-301, CDF 732-6A
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
5,778 ft (1,761 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire)
Land
Unknown
Location
Butte County, California
Coordinates
39.95254, −121.48247
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-bald-mountain-cal-fire-butte-county

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 BuiltOriginal lookout built for USFS in the CCC era; the register lists the build as 1934/1973Source: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1934 and 1973
  3. 1973 AlteredBC-3 cab replaced by a 732-6A type cab design under remodel plan 757-lASource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1973 and 2019
  5. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 15, 2019 as US 1307, CA 130; nominated by Brad EellsSource: nhlr.org
  6. 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.

The National Historic Lookout Register describes the original lookout on Bald Mountain as a Civilian Conservation Corps era tower built for the U.S. Forest Service in 1934.1 The register lists the build as 1934/1973, and the second date matches its note on a cab change in 1973.1

The cab was replaced that year.1 The register says the BC-3 cab gave way to a 732-6A type cab design, under a remodel plan it numbers 757-lA.1 A note in the facility record says that, except for its first page, the cab plans matched those used on earlier lookouts, and it gives Fredonyer Lookout as an example.1

The lookout passed from Forest Service hands in the late 1950s, when it was transferred to CDF, the state forestry agency.1 The register now names the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, as the administrator.1

The register's only staffing note reads "Staffed as needed."1 The register does not date that note, so it may no longer be current.1 The register gives October 15, 2019 as its registration date, under numbers US 1307 and CA 130, and names Brad Eells as the nominator.1 It gives the site's elevation as 5,778 feet.1

We found no sourced account of fires this lookout watched over. A Forest Lookouts page filed under Butte County quotes a February 23, 1929 plan for a 60-foot steel tower, but that plan names Baldy Peak east of Stirling City, not Bald Mountain.2 We have not used that height for this lookout, and the register gives no height of its own.

The sources we could read do not say whether the public can visit, climb or stay in the lookout today. Anyone planning a visit should contact Cal Fire first, and should not climb a tower that is closed or off limits.

  1. Bald Mountain Lookout (Cal Fire - Butte County), National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/bald-mountain-lookout-cal-fire-butte-county/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Bald Mountain (Butte County listing), Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/bald-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Bald Mountain Lookout - Ron Kemnow Photo
Bald Mountain Lookout - Ron Kemnow PhotoPhoto: Brad Eells, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Bald Mountain Lookout (Cal Fire - Butte County)
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Bald Mountain Lookout (Cal Fire - Butte County)
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, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height, 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, 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.