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Fire lookout · Siskiyou County, California

Buckhorn Bally Lookout

1933 Region 1 revision of BC-301 on a 13-foot enclosed timber tower in Klamath NF; 1942 Aircraft Warning post; lookout Kathy Shoopman killed in the 2022 McKinney Fire.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Staffed Klamath National Forest fire lookout; ALERTCalifornia cameras placed there with the forest; no public visitor or rental listing found.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Enclosed towerRegion 1 revision of the Region 5 BC-301 cab on a 13-foot enclosed timber towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
Wood
Also served as
Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
Built
1933
Height
13 ft (4.0 m)
Elevation
5,160 ft (1,573 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Klamath National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Siskiyou County, California
Coordinates
41.91961, −122.79776
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-buckhorn-bally

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 3.5 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 BuiltConstructed in 1933 on land leased from Southern Pacific Land Company; Register describes it as a Region 1 revision of the Region 5 BC-301Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1934 EventFire finder installed May 1, 1934Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1935 EventTract purchased in 1935; title accepted for the 20-acre site on December 10, 1935Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1942 EventUsed by the Aircraft Warning Service as a winter observation postSource: nhlr.org
  5. 1951 EventJune 1951 entry: tower and cab in good shape; needed a new paint jobSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1951 and 1970
  7. 1970 StaffedKathy Shoopman started her watch in the early 1970s (approximate year; NPR wording)Source: npr.org
  8. No record between 1970 and 2006
  9. 2006 StaffedPhoto caption dated July 20, 2006 says the lookout is usually staffed during fire seasonSource: peakbagging.com
  10. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate registered October 27, 2019 as NHLR US 1355, CA 178Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2021 FireBally Fire near Buckhorn Bally Lookout declared out by fire crews during the River Complex fires (late July 2021)Source: en.wikipedia.org
  12. 2022 FireLookout Kathy Shoopman, 74, killed by the McKinney Fire, which overran the Klamath River community where she lived (NPR, Aug 8, 2022)Source: npr.org
  13. 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.

Buckhorn Bally Lookout is a 13-foot enclosed timber tower in the Klamath National Forest, in Siskiyou County.1 The Register classes it as a Region 1 variant of the Region 5 BC-301 design and gives 1933 as its build year.1

Work started on the ground in 1933. A diary entry dated October 21, 1933, quoted in a Klamath forest history, describes locating the site and picking the best trail for packing in materials.2 The lookout went up on ground leased from Southern Pacific Land Company.2 The tract was bought in 1935, and title to the 20-acre site was accepted that December.2 The fire finder went in during May 1934.2

In the winter of 1942 the Aircraft Warning Service made use of the lookout as an observation post.1 A June 22, 1951, entry says the tower and cab were in good shape but needed a new coat of paint.2 A photo caption from July 2006 says it was usually staffed during fire season.3 NPR describes Kathy Shoopman, who started her watch in the early 1970s, as the Buckhorn-Bally fire lookout.4

In the River Complex fires of late July 2021, crews declared the Bally Fire near the lookout out.5 NPR reported in August 2022 that the McKinney Fire killed Shoopman, 74, when it overran the community of Klamath River, where she had lived for almost 50 years.4 NPR also reported that her supervisor and sheriff's deputies had urged her to leave, but she kept her post.4

The Register accepted the lookout in October 2019.1 A post from the ALERTCalifornia camera network describes the tower as the historic lookout, and says two of its cameras were placed there in partnership with the Klamath National Forest.6

I did not find a public visitor program or rental listing for Buckhorn Bally. The Forest Service has staffed it in fire season, so please check with the Klamath National Forest before going up.

  1. Buckhorn Bally Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/buckhorn-bally-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Buckhorn Bally, Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/buckhorn-bally.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Buckhorn Bally Lookout, California, Peakbagging (peakbagging.com), http://peakbagging.com/CALookoutPhotos/BuckhornBally.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. California's McKinney fire has taken 4 lives including that of a fire lookout, NPR, https://www.npr.org/2022/08/08/1116264123/californias-mckinney-fire-has-taken-4-lives-including-that-of-a-fire-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. River Complex 2021 fires, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Complex_2021_fires (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. ALERTCalifornia, Instagram post on new Buckhorn Bally cameras, https://www.instagram.com/p/DW4c_0rCRtc/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Buckhorn Bally Lookout - 2009
Buckhorn Bally Lookout - 2009 (2009)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
Photo of Buckhorn Bally Lookout
Photo: Nancy Hood 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. 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, height, status, agency, access, 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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