FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Siskiyou County, California

Eddy Gulch Lookout

Klamath Peak lookout where Hallie Daggett, the first woman the Forest Service hired as a fire observer, worked from 1913; the register describes the 1958 metal tower as the existing structure.

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.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerMetal tower with CL-10 metal cab, built 1958The design: L-4
Built of
Steel
Built
1912
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
6,483 ft (1,976 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Siskiyou County, California
Coordinates
41.24549, −123.10244 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-eddy-gulch

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. 1912 BuiltRough-hewn log cabin; forest chronology records it under construction in June 1912Sources: californialookouts.weebly.com, prairierosepublications.blogspot.com
  2. 1912 First staffedGuard Swayne became the lookout for the 1912 seasonSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1913 StaffedHallie Morse Daggett hired; first woman hired as a fire observer per the registerSources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1925 Replaced by a new structureDaggett moved into the new lookout building in June 1925; register gives 1926Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1927 StaffedDaggett's last season at the station; a 1928 entry says she would not returnSources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1927 and 1958
  7. 1958 BuiltExisting metal tower with CL-10 metal cabSources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1958 StaffedNancy Culbertson took up the post soon after the tower went up; register credits her with 30 seasonsSource: nhlr.org
  9. No record between 1958 and 1991
  10. 1991 EventInterpretive trail honoring Daggett and Nancy Culbertson dedicatedSource: nhlr.org
  11. 1995 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 6, 1995 as US 104, CA 4Source: nhlr.org
  12. No record between 1995 and 2010
  13. 2010 AlteredCamera fire detection installed; lookout remained staffed in fire seasonSource: firelookout.org
  14. 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.

Eddy Gulch Lookout sits on Klamath Peak in Siskiyou County, in the Klamath National Forest.1 The first station there was a cabin of rough-hewn logs, built in the summer of 1912.1,2 A 1911 newspaper item already mentions a guard stationed at the lookout, so the earliest date is not fully settled.1

According to the register, Hallie Morse Daggett was the first woman the Forest Service hired as a fire observer.3 She was hired for the 1913 season and stayed on the job for about fourteen years.1,2 The register dates the new lookout building, with its catwalk, to 1926.3 The forest's own chronology has Daggett moving into it in June 1925, so the two sources differ by a year.3,1 The register says she retired the year after that building went up, and a 1928 entry says she would not return that year.3,1

The metal tower on the peak dates from 1958, according to the register.3 A forest history entry from that year lists a new Eddy Gulch lookout tower.1 Soon after the tower went up, Nancy Culbertson took up the post, and the register credits her with thirty seasons there.3 A 2010 northern California chapter report noted new camera fire detection at the lookout and said it still had staff during fire season.4

The register records a 1991 dedication of an interpretive trail honoring the two women.3 A different cabin, the one where Daggett lived in her later years, was moved to Etna City Park and renovated.2 A 2016 blog post makes clear that it is not her lookout cabin.2

The most recent staffing report I found is from 2010, and I found no current access rules, so check with the Klamath National Forest before planning a visit.

  1. Eddy Gulch, Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/eddy-gulch.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Hallie Daggett: A Woman of Uncommon Fortitude, Gail L. Jenner, Prairie Rose Publications, https://prairierosepublications.blogspot.com/2016/12/hallie-daggett-woman-of-uncommon.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Eddy Gulch Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/eddy-gulch-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Northern California Chapter Report 2010, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-nca-2010.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Eddy Gulch Lookout
Photo: Ashley Dooley, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
A new generation of explorers admiring where female lookouts first started!
A new generation of explorers admiring where female lookouts first started!Photo: Ashley Dooley, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Eddy Gulch Lookout and Hallie Daggett - 1913
Eddy Gulch Lookout and Hallie Daggett - 1913 (1913)Photo: Siskiyou County Museum, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1914
1914 (1914)Photo: Nancy Hood Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
After 1926 - Region 5 4AR Cabin
After 1926 - Region 5 4AR Cabin (1926)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.

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 the location by 730 m.

    • NHLR: 41.24549, −123.10244
    • FFLA: 41.23955, −123.10623

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

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. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height, 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
  6. 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

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