FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Tehama County, California

Digger Butte Lookout

Built 1936 by CCC crews on Lassen NF; tower and cab removed 2009 for a planned Davis rebuild that no source read confirms; site condition today is unknown.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower20-foot L-401 tower with BC-301 wood frame cab (Register); a 1936 newspaper item describes a thirty-foot steel towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
Steel
Built
1936
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,861 ft (1,177 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Register); the 2009 CEQA notice names CAL FIRE as the public agency
Land
Federal land
Location
Tehama County, California
Coordinates
40.43150, −121.78460
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-digger-butte

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1936 BuiltRegister says built in 1936; a 1936 newspaper item says the CCC camp completed it in springSources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1936 First staffedO.E. Kirkpatrick and his wife occupied the station June 1 to November 1Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1944 EventWeather reports held up in July 1944 while workers searched for a fuel moisture stick a porcupine had carried offSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1944 and 1991
  5. 1991 ClosedStation closed; the 2009 notice says it had been closed since 1991Source: ceqanet.lci.ca.gov
  6. 2002 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 12, 2002 as US 398, CA 49Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2009 EventNotice planned dismantling and rebuilding at CAL FIRE's Davis facility, likely 2009-2010; completion not confirmedSource: ceqanet.lci.ca.gov
  8. 2009 RemovedRegister says the lookout was removed in 2009 and its cab placed in storageSource: nhlr.org
  9. 2012 EventRegister's 2012 update planned restoration in Davis and public opening, with a January 1, 2015 targetSource: nhlr.org
  10. 2014 EventSite and about 40 acres listed among excess state properties under review, possibly for saleSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  11. 2018 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: April 3, 2018Source: FFLOS register entry
  12. 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.

The Digger Butte lookout went up in 1936 on Lassen National Forest land in Tehama County.1 A February 1936 newspaper item said camp superintendent Walter Flagg was overseeing work on a tower, house and garage, plus a bridge over Digger Creek.2 The Digger Butte CCC camp finished the station that spring.2

The Register describes a 20-foot L-401 tower, one of only two surviving in the state system, topped by a BC-301 wood-frame cab.1 A November 1936 item, though, put the station's quarters on a thirty-foot steel tower, so the sources disagree on the height.2

Mr. O.E. Kirkpatrick and his wife occupied the station for the 1936 fire season, from June 1 to November 1.2 That autumn, between September 18 and October 11, Kirkpatrick reportedly killed 85 rattlesnakes from the tower.2

In July 1944, weather reports were held up while workers searched for a fuel-moisture stick that a porcupine had carried off.2 The stick turned up after an all-day hunt.2 The station had been closed since 1991, a 2009 state notice says, and its buildings were deteriorating from weather and vandalism.3

According to the Register, the lookout came down in 2009 and its cab went into storage.1 A 2009 state notice planned to dismantle the tower and cab, rebuild them at CAL FIRE's Davis Mobile Equipment Facility, with the move likely in 2009 or 2010.3 An earlier plan to hand the isolated 40-acre parcel back to Lassen National Forest fell through when the forest refused the transfer.3

A 2012 update to the Register said the tower and cab would be refurbished in Davis and opened to visitors, with completion targeted for January 1, 2015.1 It warned that state budget problems meant no firm schedule could be set.1 In April 2014, the lookout site and about forty acres of timber land were listed among California excess properties being reviewed for possible state use or sale.2

No source we read confirms that the tower was rebuilt in Davis. The Register's 2012 update said CAL FIRE was storing the fire-finder plotting device, a logbook and an old weather station at its Tehama-Glenn Unit headquarters.1 The logbook covers the 1970s to 1988 and holds many visitors' signatures.1 No source describes what remains on the Digger Butte site now, or whether the public can reach it. Anyone curious about the tower should ask CAL FIRE before planning a visit.

  1. Digger Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/digger-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Digger Butte, Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/digger-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Digger Butte fire Lookout Station - Tower Relocation/Surplus Property Disposal, CEQAnet, https://ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/2009098164 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

September 2009 photo
September 2009 photo (2009)Photo: Adam and Christine Wyman, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
September 2009 photo
September 2009 photo (2009)Photo: Adam and Christine Wyman, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, 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
  3. 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
  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, 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.