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Fire lookout · Placer County, California

Duncan Peak Lookout (Little Bald Mountain)

1943 BC-3 ground cab on Little Bald Mountain, Tahoe National Forest; seasonally staffed in 2023; fire cameras approved in 2025.

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. A 2020 trip report describes a hike from the Robinson Flat trailhead. No source read says whether the cab is open to visitors.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Loop hike starting at the Robinson Flat trailhead, east of Foresthill (2020 trip report)
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cab14 by 14 foot BC-3 ground house with catwalkThe design: BC-301
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1910
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,182 ft (2,189 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Placer County, California
Coordinates
39.14372, −120.50906
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-duncan-peak-little-bald-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 3.4 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. 1910 BuiltFirst station, a 10-foot tower built between 1910 and 1915Source: nhlr.org
  2. 1917 BuiltGround house built just north of the current structureSource: nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1917 and 1941
  4. 1941 RemovedThe 1917 ground house was dismantledSource: nhlr.org
  5. 1943 BuiltPresent 14 by 14 foot BC-3 ground house with catwalkSource: nhlr.org
  6. No record between 1943 and 2004
  7. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 21, 2004 as US 590, CA 61Source: nhlr.org
  8. No record between 2004 and 2023
  9. 2023 StaffedSeasonal watch; Maxwell Psaledakis's first season, June 2023Source: fs.usda.gov
  10. 2025 EventForest Service decision signed May 16, 2025 to add two fire-detection cameras with solar panels and batteries to existing structuresSource: fs.usda.gov
  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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The lookout on Little Bald Mountain in Placer County is the third fire-detection station on that spot, according to the National Historic Lookout Register.1 The original station was a 10-foot tower, put up sometime between 1910 and 1915.1 The register also places a ground house just north of the present structure, built in 1917 and taken down in 1941.1

The lookout that stands today is a BC-3 ground house measuring 14 by 14 feet, with a catwalk. The register dates its construction to 1943.1 The register recorded it on September 21, 2004.1

A 2020 hiking write-up says the lookout had stood on the real Duncan Peak until 1941. That account places the earlier station differently from the register, and it comes from a hiking blog, so I treat it as unconfirmed.2

Staffing has been seasonal, at least in 2023.3 A Forest Service feature on fire lookouts describes Maxwell Psaledakis spending his first season at the Duncan Peak lookout in June 2023.3 The caption of an interior photo mentions small amenities such as a stove, a refrigerator and running water.3

In 2025 the Tahoe National Forest signed off on a project to mount two fire-detection cameras, with solar panels and batteries, on structures already at the lookout.4 The decision is dated May 16, 2025, but I could not confirm whether the cameras are installed.4

I found no rental listing or reservation page for Duncan Peak, and no staffing record after 2023. A 2020 trip report describes a hike that starts at the Robinson Flat trailhead, east of Foresthill.2 The register names the Foresthill Ranger District as a cooperator, so that office is the place to ask about current access.1

  1. Duncan Peak Lookout (Little Bald Mountain), National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/duncan-peak-lookout-little-bald-mountain/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Duncan Lookout Loop, Ted's Hiking World (tedmuller.us), https://tedmuller.us/Outdoor/Hiking/2020/200807-DuncanPeakLookoutLoop.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Standing Watch: The Ongoing Tradition of Fire Lookouts, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/newsroom/stories/standing-watch-ongoing-tradition-fire-lookouts (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Duncan Peak Lookout Fire Camera, USDA Forest Service Tahoe National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/tahoe/projects/68070 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

2009
2009 (2009)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Duncan Peak Lookout (Little Bald Mountain)
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Duncan Peak Lookout (Little Bald Mountain)
Photo: Myron Grover, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1943
1943 (1943)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1917 - California Plan 4A Cabin
1917 - California Plan 4A Cabin (1917)Photo: Mark Swift Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Site of 1917 Cabin - 2009
Site of 1917 Cabin - 2009 (1917)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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. 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, access, 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.