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Fire lookout · El Dorado County, California

Bald Mountain Lookout (Eldorado NF)

Also known as Bald Mountain

Eldorado National Forest lookout with a 1912 steel tower, a 1915 replacement after windthrow, a 1958 dismantling bid, and a 1965 CL-100 cab on a 30-foot tower.

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 1982)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerCL-100 14 by 14 foot metal live-in cab on a 30-foot steel towerThe design: CL-100
Built of
Steel
Built
1912
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
4,592 ft (1,400 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
El Dorado County, California
Coordinates
38.90407, −120.70521
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-bald-mountain-eldorado-nf

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 3.3 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. 1911 EventOctober 27, 1911 notice: government constructing a house as permanent headquarters for a lookout man on the peakSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1912 BuiltSteel tower of 60 feet per May 18 and August 3, 1912 notices (ordered, then completed); an October 3, 1912 report says 62 feet with a concrete baseSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1914 StaffedR.F. Kelley assigned to the lookout post (June 5, 1914)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1915 Replaced by a new structureTower toppled by February 1915 winds; May 29, 1915 notice says a more substantial structure will replace it; a new steel tower was being erected by July 10, 1915Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1915 and 1931
  6. 1931 StaffedOrin Murdock sent to the station in April 1931Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1932 StaffedJune 6, 1932: Mr. and Mrs. R.O. Murdock moved to Bald Mountain for the summer; Mr. Murdock in charge of the stationSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1938 StaffedOctober 7, 1938 item names Lookout Orrie Murdock on Bald MountainSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1938 and 1958
  10. 1958 EventOctober 30, 1958 notice: Forest Service sealed bids for the lookout and for dismantling the existing towerSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1965 BuiltRegister gives 1965 for the present CL-100 cab on a 30-foot steel towerSource: nhlr.org
  12. No record between 1965 and 1982
  13. 1982 StaffedAugust 2, 1982 Mountain Democrat item: live-in staffing from May to November, Sunday to ThursdaySource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  14. 1983 Event300-gallon water tank stolen sometime during the winter; theft discovered May 15, 1983Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  15. No record between 1983 and 2004
  16. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 21, 2004Source: nhlr.org
  17. 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.

Bald Mountain Lookout stands on Bald Mountain in the Eldorado National Forest, in El Dorado County.1 Its site is about 12 miles east of Georgetown.2

The earliest notice in the sources read dates from 1911. An October 1911 notice, quoted on a Forest Lookouts page, says the government was putting up a dwelling that would serve as a lasting base for a lookout man on the summit.2

A steel tower followed. Two 1912 notices give its height as 60 feet, one from May describing it as ordered and another from August as finished.2 An October 1912 report instead gives 62 feet, with a concrete base, and names Ranger Jones, Guard Melson and lookout Kelley as its builders.2 The sources disagree on the height.

Winds toppled the tower in February 1915, and a May 1915 notice said a more substantial structure would replace it.2 By July 1915 a crew was erecting a new steel tower, which the paper called the latest model, built to resist exceptional wind stress.2

Lookouts appear by name in the local papers. R.F. Kelley was assigned to the post in 1914, and Orin Murdock was sent to the station in April 1931.2 In June 1932 Mr. and Mrs. R.O. Murdock went up to the station for the summer, with Mr. Murdock as the lookout in charge.2 An October 1938 item still names a Lookout Orrie Murdock on Bald Mountain.2

In October 1958 the Forest Service advertised sealed bids for the lookout and for dismantling the existing tower.2 The sources read do not say when the old tower came down. The register gives 1965 as the build date of the present lookout, a 14-by-14-foot cab of metal construction on a 30-foot steel tower, and says the site has had four stations.1

A 1982 Mountain Democrat feature describes a woman named Delma who lived in the tower's cab from Sunday through Thursday, May through November.2 The forest's fire specialist called it the area's main tower, with electricity, water and easy access.2 A 300-gallon water tank was stolen from the station sometime during the winter, and the theft was discovered in May 1983.2

The register added the lookout on September 21, 2004, and names the Georgetown Ranger District as a cooperator.1 I found no current staffing, rental or public-visit information. Check with the district before planning a trip, and do not plan a climb without asking first.

  1. Bald Mountain Lookout (Eldorado NF), National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/bald-mountain-lookout-eldorado-nf/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Bald Mountain, Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/bald-mountain6.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Bald Mountain Lookout (Eldorado NF)
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, what it is built of, 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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height 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, height, 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.