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Fire lookout · El Dorado County, California

Baltic Peak Lookout

Eldorado NF lookout built 1931 by the state and forest service; removed 2007-08 and given to Placerville; pieces reported at Gold Bug Park; no rebuild found.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Taken apart at the peak in 2007-08; a Mountain Democrat article says the pieces were being stored at Gold Bug Park, Placerville; no source describes the peak site today

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

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

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot tower with 7x7 foot cab; NHLR calls it a Pacific Coast Steel tower, FFLOS an X-Brace towerThe design: Pacific Coast Steel
Built of
Steel
Built
1931
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
5,046 ft (1,538 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service; built as a joint station with the State Division of Forestry
Land
Federal land
Location
El Dorado County, California
Coordinates
38.69437, −120.51548
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-baltic-peak

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.4 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. 1931 BuiltCompleted in 1931; the Mountain Democrat reported the 80-foot tower finished the week of July 3, 1931Sources: nhlr.org, firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1931 First staffedJoint station; Forest Service lookout Carlos Tidwell and state lookout Tevis Mitchell alternated dutySource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1935 EventAnnual fire guard training school held at the lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1936 EventAnnual school of instruction for fire guards and rangers opened at the Baltic Peak lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1936 and 1962
  6. 1962 FireSly Park brush fire of over a quarter acre, spotted from the lookout by Mrs. Eula Mae NevinsSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1962 and 1996
  8. 1996 Last staffedCity sale notice says the tower stayed in operation until approximately 1996Source: cityofplacerville.org
  9. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered May 29, 2003 as US 514, CA 52; nominated by Mark SwiftSource: nhlr.org
  10. 2005 EventPlans finalized to move the tower from the peak to the County Fairgrounds at Placerville; the city later delivered it to Gold Bug Park insteadSources: californialookouts.weebly.com, mtdemocrat.com, cityofplacerville.org
  11. 2007 RemovedRemoved in 2007-08 and donated to the City of Placerville for potential restorationSource: firetower.org
  12. 2008 MovedDelivered to Gold Bug Park, Placerville, in 2008; NHLR says moved in four sectionsSources: cityofplacerville.org, nhlr.org
  13. 2017 EventCity of Placerville sale notice; sealed bids due February 23, 2017, to a buyer who would rebuild the tower within El Dorado CountySource: cityofplacerville.org
  14. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 21, 2019 as US 1868, CA 63; nominated by Brad EellsSource: firetower.org
  15. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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.

Baltic Peak Lookout stood on a peak in the Eldorado National Forest, in El Dorado County, California.1 The tower went up in 1931 as a shared station of the state Division of Forestry and the forest, with about $3,000 of joint investment.2 It was 80 feet tall and replaced an older tree whose crow's nest sat 86 feet off the ground.1,2 The two registers disagree on its design. The National Historic Lookout Register calls it a Pacific Coast Steel tower, while the Former Fire Lookout Sites register calls it an X-Brace tower.1,3

A Forest Service lookout, Carlos Tidwell, and a state lookout, Tevis Mitchell, took turns on duty in the cab and lived in homes on the site.2 The station hosted fire guard training schools in 1935 and 1936.2 In 1962 a fire at Sly Park destroyed brush covering more than a quarter of an acre, and Mrs. Eula Mae Nevins spotted it from the station.2

The city later said the tower stayed in operation until about 1996, and that the residence, outbuildings and tower were significantly vandalized.4 In 2005 plans were being finalized to move the tower to the county fairgrounds in Placerville.2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register gives the removal as 2007 to 2008 and says the tower was donated to the city for possible restoration.3 The city says the tower was delivered to Gold Bug Park in 2008.4 The city put the cost of a base for the tower at $30,000 to $40,000, and the fairgrounds, which the city approached, did not want to pay that kind of money.5 The city's director of community services said the city had tried to assemble the tower twice, to no avail.5 In 2017 the city offered the tower for sale to a buyer who would rebuild it within El Dorado County. The city's director warned that without a buyer it could become scrap metal.5,4

A Mountain Democrat article says the dismantled pieces were being stored at the city-owned Gold Bug Park in Placerville.5 The register says the lookout was taken apart at its original site, and none of the sources we read describe what, if anything, remains on the peak today or whether it is open to visitors.1

  1. Baltic Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/baltic-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Baltic Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/baltic-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Baltic Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/baltic-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Sale Notice: Baltic Lookout Tower, City of Placerville, https://www.cityofplacerville.org/media/Community%20Services%20Department/Tower%20Sale%20Notice%20Revised.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Baltic Tower may rise again, The Mountain Democrat, https://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/baltic-tower-may-rise-again/article_721d939b-f761-5b76-a9db-54a23193a2da.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Baltic Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Baltic Peak Lookout
Photo: Placerville Mountain Democrat, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Disassembled at Gold Bug Park in Placerville
Disassembled at Gold Bug Park in PlacervillePhoto: 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.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, 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.