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Fire lookout · Siskiyou County, California

Bear Mountain (Siskiyou-Bear) Lookout

Also known as Siskiyou Bear, Bear Mountain Lookout, Bear Mountain (Siskiyou)

Siskiyou County lookout: an 18-ft CCC tower in 1933, a 20-ft enclosed wooden tower in 1948, and the present steel-column tower dated 1975; occasionally staffed.

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
The station is some 6 miles from paved road.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Enclosed towerSteel-column tower with a standard 732-6A cabThe design: CDF 732-6A
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,835 ft (1,779 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (cooperator: US Forest Service)
Land
Unknown
Location
Siskiyou County, California
Coordinates
41.30144, −121.71900
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-bear-mountain-siskiyou-bear

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 3.4 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. 1933 BuiltCCC crew from the Slagger camp building an 18-foot tower and lookout house near BartleSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1933 and 1948
  3. 1948 EventCoast and Geodetic Survey station description: standard lookout house on a 20-foot enclosed wooden towerSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1956 StaffedA woman manned the lookout tower while her husband fought fireSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1959 StaffedA temporary lookout was named for the seasonSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1959 and 1975
  7. 1975 BuiltPresent tower constructed; based on a standard plan with a 732-6A cabSource: nhlr.org
  8. No record between 1975 and 2006
  9. 2006 Condition assessmentPhoto note says the lookout is in good conditionSource: peakbagging.com
  10. 2008 StaffedForest Service staffed the station while the Black Fox lookout was closed for maintenanceSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  11. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered November 24, 2019 as US 1384, CA 207Source: nhlr.org
  12. 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.

Bear Mountain stands in Siskiyou County, in the mountains between Mount Shasta and the Modoc Lava Flat.1 The state added Siskiyou, the county's name, to tell it apart from the other Bear Mountains.1

In August 1933 a crew from the Slagger Civilian Conservation Corps camp was building an 18-foot tower and lookout house near Bartle, according to the Dunsmuir News.2 A 1948 survey description records a standard lookout house on a 20-foot enclosed wooden tower, on the highest point of the mountain.2 The register dates the present tower to 1975 and describes it as a steel-column tower with a standard 732-6A cab.1

A July 1956 item says that while her husband fought fire, she manned the lookout tower.2 A June 1959 item names a temporary lookout.2 In 2008 the Forest Service staffed the station while the Black Fox lookout was closed for maintenance.2 The register notes occasional staffing by Forest Service personnel.1 A 2006 photo note adds that the state forestry agency often staffs it during fire season.3

The register puts the station some six miles from a paved road. It has solar panels and no generator backup, and earlier equipment was struck by lightning.1 The 2006 photo note describes the lookout as in good condition.3 No source read for this story gives visiting rules or rental terms, so none are offered here.

  1. Bear Mountain (Siskiyou-Bear) Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/bear-mountain-siskiyou-bear-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Bear Mountain (Siskiyou), California Lookouts (compilation of 1933 to 2008 newspaper items and a 1948 survey description), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/bear-mountain-siskiyou.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Bear Mountain Lookout, California, PeakBagging.com (photo by Fred Johnson, 2006), http://www.peakbagging.com/CALookoutPhotos/BearMtn.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Bear Mountain Lookout (Siskiyou County) - 2008
Bear Mountain Lookout (Siskiyou County) - 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2006
2006 (2006)Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

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: 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, status, agency, 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

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