FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Fresno County, California

Fence Meadow Lookout

Standing 1934 L-4 cab on a 20 ft steel tower in Sierra NF, registered 1999; rehabbed 2008-2010 and staffed per a 2013 page.

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. Remote, active Forest Service lookout. The sources reviewed give no public visiting rules, so this level is a judgment rather than a stated policy.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Remote area south of the Dinkey Creek camp area (Peakbagging). Check with the Kings River Ranger District before visiting.
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2013)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower14 x 14 ft L-4 cab with catwalk on a 20 ft H-braced steel tower (NHLR; fire-lookouts.org)The design: L-4
Built of
Steel
Built
1934
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
5,231 ft (1,594 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Fresno County, California
Coordinates
36.96137, −119.17529
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-fence-meadow

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 3.2 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. 1934 BuiltL-4 cab with catwalk on a 20 ft H-braced steel tower (NHLR; fire-lookouts.org). Peakbagging says the CCC built it.Sources: nhlr.org, fire-lookouts.org, peakbagging.com
  2. No record between 1934 and 1999
  3. 1999 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register April 21, 1999 (US 302, CA 30). Nominated by Mark Swift.Sources: nhlr.org, fire-lookouts.org
  4. 2007 EventFFLA restoration grant of $500 to the Buck Rock Foundation for materials to replace rotting siding, windowsills, doorframe and shutters and to reglaze windows, aiming at staffing in 2008.Source: firelookout.org
  5. 2007 RestoredRehab begun at end of season: cab and shed gutted, interior repainted and carpeted, new bed and appliances installed.Source: firelookout.org
  6. 2008 RestoredFFLA $500 restoration grant to the Buck Rock Foundation for the Forest Service rehabilitation; foundation matched with $500. Work on windows, frames, siding and shutters.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  7. 2008 StaffedPeakbagging photos taken August 11, 2008 show a lookout at the Osborne fire finder.Source: peakbagging.com
  8. 2009 RestoredExternal and internal painting of the cab completed.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  9. 2010 AlteredNew shutter system, plumbing and electrical work for tower safety, mostly by Buck Rock Foundation volunteers.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  10. 2010 RestoredNew shutter system installed plus plumbing and electrical work, continuing the ongoing restoration.Source: firelookout.org
  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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Fence Meadow Lookout sits on a high point above the Kings River Canyon, at the south end of the Sierra National Forest in Fresno County.1,2

The lookout dates to 1934, when a 14-by-14-foot L-4 cab with a catwalk went up on a 20-foot H-braced steel tower.1,3 Peakbagging says the Civilian Conservation Corps built the structure that year.4 The National Historic Lookout Register listed it on April 21, 1999.1,3

The sources disagree on how rare this cab style is. The register puts the count at 20 surviving L-4 cabs in California, while fire-lookouts.org says 18.1,3

By 2008 the cab needed repairs. A $500 Forest Fire Lookout Association grant went to the Buck Rock Foundation to help the Forest Service with the rehabilitation, and the foundation matched it with another $500.3 That money was being used to restore the windows, window frames, siding, and shutters.3 Painting of the cab followed in 2009. In 2010 a new shutter system and plumbing and electrical work were done to make the tower safer, and most of the labor came from Buck Rock Foundation volunteers.3

Photos taken on August 11, 2008 show a lookout standing behind an Osborne fire finder at the site.4

The register says the lookout is still in active service, one of two on the Kings River Ranger District.1 Fire-lookouts.org, whose page was last updated in 2013, reports staffing by paid and volunteer lookouts.3

Fence Meadow is in a remote area south of the Dinkey Creek camp area.4 The sources reviewed give no visiting rules, so check with the Kings River Ranger District before planning a trip.1

  1. Fence Meadow Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/fence-meadow-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Fence Meadow, Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/fence-meadow.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Fence Meadow Fire Lookout, fire-lookouts.org, https://www.fire-lookouts.org/cali/fence_meadow/index.htm (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Fence Meadow Lookout, California, Peakbagging, http://www.peakbagging.com/CALookoutPhotos/FenceMeadow.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Fence Meadow Lookout - 2011
Fence Meadow Lookout - 2011 (2011)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Fence Meadow Fire Lookout
Fence Meadow Fire LookoutPhoto: fire-lookouts.org (Rich Camp) · Reuse allowed with credit · 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. California Fire Lookouts of the Sierra National Forest and Other Areas (fire-lookouts.org) Gave us: design, register numbers, staffing, photos, links fire-lookouts.org · Public information per the site's disclaimer, credit requested. Facts + a short description reused under that permission -- see extra.license per record. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. 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
  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, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.