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Fire lookout · Modoc County, California

Blue Mountain Lookout (Modoc National Forest)

Also known as Blue Mountain

Modoc NF steel tower completed October 1929; 1962 steel house replaced the cab on the existing tower; still listed standing and staffed in fire season.

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 towerForest Service steel lookout tower (Region 5 4AR design, 1929); 14-foot-square glass cab; 1962 steel CL-100 house on the existing towerThe designs: D-5 (4-AR), CL-100
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1929
Height
25 ft (7.6 m)
Elevation
5,744 ft (1,751 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Modoc National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Modoc County, California
Coordinates
41.83018, −120.86375
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-blue-mountain-modoc-national-forest

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 3.7 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 BuiltFirst steel lookout tower in Modoc National Forest, completed October 1929Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1929 StaffedEd H. Stuart occupied the lookout during the 1929 seasonSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1931 StaffedGilbert Busch lookout man until late OctoberSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1932 StaffedGilbert W. Busch stationed on the peak for the summerSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 EventTwo tent cabins erected beside the tower for the lookout man's familySource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1946 EventLookout made 20 first discoveries during 1942 through 1946Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1953 StaffedOrville and Genelle Stevens assigned as lookout fireman and primary lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1957 AlteredNew outside stairway replaced the trapdoor entrance through the cab floorSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1962 Replaced by a new structureNew steel lookout house (CL-100) built on the existing tower for $20,314, completed October 1962Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1962 and 2019
  11. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 22, 2019 as NHLR US 1329Source: 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.

Blue Mountain sits in Modoc County, inside Modoc National Forest.1 The Forest Service finished the first steel lookout tower in the forest in October 1929, and an October 1929 paper said the agency had chosen this steel design as its standard type.2 Sources give the tower as 20, 22 or 25 feet high.1,2 The house on top was 14 feet square, with glass on all sides.2

Ed H. Stuart occupied the lookout during the 1929 season.2 Gilbert W. Busch was the lookout man in 1931 and 1932.2 In 1934 the Forest Service put up two tent cabins beside the tower to house the lookout's family.2 The lookout logged 20 first discoveries from 1942 through 1946.2 In 1953 Orville and Genelle Stevens were assigned to the station.2 In 1957 an outside stairway replaced the older entrance, a trapdoor inside the cab.2

In 1962 the Forest Service built a new steel lookout house on the existing tower. It cost $20,314 and was completed that October.1,2 A 1963 newspaper said the house it replaced had been built in 1931, which does not match the October 1929 date the NHLR gives for the original structure.1,2 The NHLR records the lookout as staffed during the fire season.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's California list shows the tower as standing.3 The NHLR registered it on October 22, 2019.1

No rental or public access notice turned up, so arrange any visit with the Modoc National Forest first, and never climb a tower that is closed or private.

  1. Blue Mountain Lookout (Modoc National Forest), National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/blue-mountain-lookout-modoc-national-forest/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Blue Mountain, Forest Lookouts (newspaper and agency transcriptions), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/blue-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. California Lookouts (by County), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ca/ca-co/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Blue Mountain Lookout - 2019
Blue Mountain Lookout - 2019 (2019)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Blue Mountain Lookout (Modoc National Forest)
Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Blue Mountain Lookout (Modoc National Forest)
Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1937
1937 (1937)Photo: Beverly Hammes, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Blue Mountain Lookout (Modoc National Forest)
Photo: Modoc National Forest Archive, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Blue Mountain Lookout (Modoc National Forest)
Photo: Modoc National Forest Archive, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Tree - Located 1000 yards east of the lookout structure - 2008
Lookout Tree - Located 1000 yards east of the lookout structure - 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, 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, 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, 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
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.