FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Siskiyou County, California

Deadwood Baldy Lookout Site

Also known as Deadwood Baldy PK

Klamath NF enclosed-tower lookout, a secondary site from 1924 and built 1933-34; removed 1974, only the foundation remains; current access not documented.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1974; the register says only the foundation remains

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
Trail
A third-party peak listing says a trail leads to the summit; no Forest Service source here confirms it

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Enclosed towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on an enclosed timber towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,720 ft (1,744 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Klamath National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Siskiyou County, California
Coordinates
41.76862, −122.81869
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-deadwood-baldy

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1924 EventSecondary lookout site used until 1933, with a canvas fly, alidade and telephone and no cabinSource: firetower.org
  2. 1933 StaffedDiary entry: tent and supplies moved to Deadwood to install Hayes on the lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 BuiltRegister gives 1934 for the cabin on the enclosed tower; a November 1933 newspaper note says the new lookout house was being built thenSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 1974
  5. 1974 RemovedRegister and Forest Lookouts list removal in 1974; the register says only the foundation remainsSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1974 and 2020
  7. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: April 16, 2020Source: FFLOS register entry
  8. 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.

Deadwood Baldy rises to 5,720 feet in the Klamath National Forest, in Siskiyou County 1. According to the register, the site was a secondary lookout from 1924 to 1933, equipped with a canvas fly, an alidade and a telephone and nothing more 1. A 1917 item quoted on the Forest Lookouts page mentions trail work leading to the Deadwood lookout 2.

The lookout house came later 1. The register dates it to 1934 and describes a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on an enclosed timber tower 1. The Forest Lookouts page quotes a November 1933 newspaper note saying a new lookout house was then being built with Civilian Conservation Corps labor 2. The register gives 1934, but the November 1933 note already describes the house as being built.

In June 1933 a diary entry quoted on the Forest Lookouts page records a trip to Deadwood with a tent and supplies to install someone named Hayes on the lookout. The entry notes that the lookout was then housed in a tent 2.

The lookout was removed in 1974 1,2. The register says only the foundation remains 1.

The register includes a 2008 photo credited to Ron Kemnow that shows the foundation 1. It does not say whether the site is open to visitors 1. A peak-listing website says a trail leads to the summit 3, but no Forest Service source here confirms the current route or access rules.

  1. Deadwood Baldy Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/deadwood-baldy-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Deadwood Baldy Peak, California Lookouts, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/deadwood-baldy-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Deadwood Baldy Peak (1,743 m), PeakVisor, https://peakvisor.com/peak/deadwood-baldy-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Deadwood Baldy Lookout
Deadwood Baldy LookoutPhoto: Nancy Hood Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tent Structure When Used As A Secondary Lookout Site - 1933
Tent Structure When Used As A Secondary Lookout Site - 1933 (1933)Photo: Mark Swift Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Foundation Remains - 2008
Foundation Remains - 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, 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
  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. 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.