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Fire lookout · Calaveras County, California

Fowler Peak (Bear Mountain) Lookout

Also known as Fowler, Bear Mountain (fowler)

CCC lookout on Bear Mountain, moved to the Calaveras fairgrounds in 1986-87 and ordered torn down in 2004; one listing still shows it standing.

Closed

The site is closed to visitors. Ordered torn down in 2004. No source read confirms a tower at the fairgrounds that the public can visit.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Closed. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
No source confirms a tower left to climb. Ask the Calaveras County Fair before going to the fairgrounds.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerRegister: 41-foot steel tower with a 14-foot square cab, built 1987-88 on a Plesha design; the same page describes the demolished tower as a 1930s CCC timber towerThe design: CDF 732-6A
Built of
Wood
Built
1936
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
2,893 ft (882 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire)
Land
Unknown
Location
Calaveras County, California
Coordinates
38.01941, −120.58408
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-fowler-peak-bear-mountain

View from the cab

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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 BuiltCCC built the original three-story timber tower on Bear Mountain. Register gives 1933 or 1936; a 2008 obituary says a crew member helped build it in 1938.Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com, mymotherlode.com
  2. No record between 1936 and 1959
  3. 1959 EventRenamed Fowler Peak Lookout for Oliver E. Fowler, a Stanislaus National Forest rangerSource: mymotherlode.com
  4. No record between 1959 and 1987
  5. 1987 MovedMoved to the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp in 1986-87 when CDF decided to replace it. Re-erection was under way in November 1986.Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com, mymotherlode.com
  6. 1988 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  7. 1988 Replaced by a new structureRegister: 41-foot steel tower with a 14-foot cab, built 1987-88 at about $70,000. Its site, and whether it still stands, are not clear in the sources read.Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1988 and 2004
  9. 2004 RemovedFair board ordered demolition. Inmate crews from the Vallecito Conservation Camp were scheduled to start razing it on Feb 17, 2004.Sources: nhlr.org, mymotherlode.com
  10. No record between 2004 and 2019
  11. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 16, 2019 as US 1311, CA 134Source: nhlr.org
  12. 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.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the original tower on Bear Mountain in Calaveras County during the 1930s.1,2 The sources do not agree on the year. The register gives 1933 or 1936. A November 1936 program notice planned a tower on Fowler Peak for a CCC camp, and a 2008 obituary says a former corps member helped build it in 1938.1,3

The three-story tower was first called Bear Mountain Lookout.2 In 1959 it was renamed Fowler Peak Lookout for Oliver E. Fowler, a Stanislaus National Forest ranger who became one of the California Department of Forestry's first district rangers.2 The register says the name honors State Forester O.E. "Chick" Fowler, and the sources I read do not link the two names.1

In 1986 and 1987 the tower was moved to the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp. The Department of Forestry, now Cal Fire, had decided to replace it with a more modern facility.1,2 The register describes that newer lookout as a 41-foot steel tower with a 14-foot square cab, built in 1987 and 1988 at a cost of about $70,000.1,3

The register's own description is hard to square. It calls the tower at the fairgrounds a steel tower made from surplus atomic-test towers, and then describes the demolished structure as a timber tower built by the CCC.1 I could not match those descriptions to one structure, so the original design is not settled here.

By 2004 the tower had been cited two years in a row as unsafe by the state Department of Health and Human Services.2 The fair's marketing director said the fair could no longer afford the liability.2 The fair board ordered it demolished, and inmate crews from the Vallecito Conservation Camp were scheduled to start razing it on February 17, 2004.1,2 Because it had been moved, the fair said it did not qualify for historical designation.2

The register calls the tower demolished, and the 2004 news report says razing was about to begin.1,2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association still lists a Fowler tower as standing at the register's coordinates. A 2008 obituary, quoted on the Forest Lookouts page, says the tower stands at the fairgrounds today.4,3 I found no later source that settles the question. Since no source confirms a tower there to climb, do not plan a visit around one. Ask the Calaveras County Fair before going to the grounds.

  1. Fowler Peak (Bear Mountain) Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/fowler-peak-bear-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Bill Johnson, "Calaveras Fairgrounds Tower To Come Tumbling Down," myMotherLode.com, Feb 17, 2004, https://mymotherlode.com/news/local/110567/calaveras-fairgrounds-tower-to-come-tumbling-down.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Bear Mountain (Fowler), Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/bear-mountain-fowler.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. California Lookouts (Standing), Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ca/ca-st/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Fowler Peak Lookout - 2005
Fowler Peak Lookout - 2005 (2005)Photo: Fred Johnson, 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, 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 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
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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

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