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Fire lookout · San Luis Obispo County, California

Branch Mountain Lookout

1935 BC-301 structure on a 30 foot steel tower in Los Padres NF, San Luis Obispo County; last staffed 1992; private land around it; threatened by the 2025 Gifford Fire.

Private land

No public access. Please do not trespass; view it only from public land. Register: site completely surrounded by private property and not accessible to the public; the small plot under the tower is Forest Service land

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Private land. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 1992)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-301 structure on a 30 foot K-brace open steel towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
Steel
Also served as
Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
Built
1935
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
3,768 ft (1,149 m)
Agency
US Forest Service, Los Padres National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
San Luis Obispo County, California
Coordinates
35.18525, −120.08499
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-branch-mountain

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 3.2 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. 1935 BuiltRegister gives 1935; a photo credited to the USFS shows the tower under construction c. 1935Source: nhlr.org
  2. 1936 FireJuly 1936 (Santa Maria Daily Times): lightning, chief cause of the fires, struck the lookout station; building shaken but undamagedSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1936 EventOctober 1936 (Santa Ynez Valley News): a 24-mile telephone line from Pozo to the lookout station was nearly completeSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1936 and 1986
  5. 1986 Condition assessmentThornton's 1986 survey notes the ground cabin as a WWII Aircraft Warning Service built structureSource: nhlr.org
  6. 1992 Last staffedLast staffed in 1992 per logbook entries; the 2012 trip report found observation reports last dated 1992Sources: nhlr.org, snwburd.com
  7. No record between 1992 and 2012
  8. 2012 Condition assessmentTrip report April 15, 2012: tower and lookout cabin still standing; lookout cabin shuttered; ground cabin dilapidatedSource: snwburd.com
  9. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered November 30, 2019 as US 1392, CA 215Source: nhlr.org
  10. 2025 FireFFLA post dated September 2, 2025: lookout threatened by the Gifford Fire; post does not say whether damagedSource: facebook.com
  11. 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.

Branch Mountain Lookout stands on Branch Mountain in San Luis Obispo County, California, within the Los Padres National Forest, at 1,148 meters.1

The Register says the lookout was built in 1935 as a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 structure on a 30-foot K-brace open steel tower, and it lists a photo of the tower under construction around 1935.1 A ground cabin nearby is noted in a 1986 survey as a structure built for the WWII Aircraft Warning Service.1

Its early years show up in local newspapers. In July 1936 lightning struck the station, shaking the building without damaging it, and the ranger in charge was unhurt.2 In October 1936 a 24-mile telephone line from Pozo to the station was nearly complete.2

The Register says the lookout was last staffed in 1992, according to its logbook entries.1 A 2012 trip report found the last observation reports dated 1992.3 The only fire the sources read name is the Gifford Fire. A September 2025 post from the Forest Fire Lookout Association says the Gifford Fire threatened the lookout, but it does not say whether the building was damaged.4

The Register accepted the lookout on November 30, 2019, as US 1392, CA 215.1 The Forest Service owns the small plot under the tower, but the land around it is private.4,3 The Register notes that private land fully surrounds the site and that the public cannot reach it.1 The 2012 trip report found the tower and its cabin still standing.3 The sources read do not say whether the tower came through the Gifford Fire. Anyone interested should stay off the private land and ask the Los Padres National Forest before going.

  1. Branch Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/branch-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Branch Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/branch-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Branch Mountain trip report, Bob Burd (snwburd.com), April 15, 2012, https://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_reports/branch_1.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA), Facebook post, September 2, 2025, https://www.facebook.com/forestfirelookout/posts/this-picture-shows-the-branch-mountain-lookout-which-had-been-threatened-by-the-/1198245312344863/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Branch Mountain Lookout - 2012
Branch Mountain Lookout - 2012 (2012)Photo: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
WWII Aircraft Warning Service Residence Cabin
WWII Aircraft Warning Service Residence CabinPhoto: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Outhouse
OuthousePhoto: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cabin Interior
Cabin InteriorPhoto: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Branch Mountain Lookout
Photo: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Logbook - Last entry is 1992
Logbook - Last entry is 1992 (1992)Photo: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tower base
Tower basePhoto: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Stairway from the catwalk
Stairway from the catwalkPhoto: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Branch Mountain Lookout
Photo: Bob Burd, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Branch Mountain Lookout
Photo: Google Earth, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Branch Mountain Lookout
Photo: USFS - Craig R. Carey Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Under construction - Circa 1935
Under construction - Circa 1935 (1935)Photo: USFS - Craig R. Carey Collection, 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, what it is built of, wartime use, 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) 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. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages Gave us: register numbers, links FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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

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