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Fire lookout · Lassen County, California

Fredonyer Peak Lookout

Also known as Fredonyer

Lassen County lookout north of Eagle Lake: the register dates it 1973, but a 1937 CCC project and a 1946 staffing item predate that; still manned per a 2023 local history.

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
Trail
Reached by a dirt road, per Wikipedia; the sources read do not say whether the public may visit
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2023)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Enclosed towerSteel-pipe corner posts with angle iron, H-bracing and cable X-bracing; the first of five towers of this design; cab designed by CDF engineer Mike PleshaThe design: CDF 732-6A
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1937
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,945 ft (2,422 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Lassen-Modoc Unit (Cal Fire LMU)
Land
Unknown
Location
Lassen County, California
Coordinates
40.68769, −120.59851
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-fredonyer-peak

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 3.8 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. 1937 BuiltLocal history says the Lassen County supervisors sought a lookout in spring 1937; the Secret Valley CCC camp was to supply labor, and the history says the job got done; the register gives 1973Source: tipurdy.org
  2. 1946 StaffedJune 1946 newspaper item: a lookout had been stationed on Fredonyer peakSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1952 EventPhotograph of the Fredonyer lookout taken in 1952, from the California Division of Forestry Black Cards collectionSource: archive.org
  4. 1960 EventTime-lapse camera installed at the lookout in a State Forestry and Weather Bureau study; a radar system for lightning warnings was set up around thenSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1973 BuiltRegister Built field gives 1973Source: nhlr.org
  6. No record between 1973 and 2011
  7. 2011 EventCAL FIRE 2011-2012 plan added Fredonyer Peak to its list of historic buildings to preserve, in place of Dyer Mountain; the state owns and controls itSource: nhlr.org
  8. 2015 StaffedRegister: staffed by Bureau of Land Management observers as of 2015Source: nhlr.org
  9. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 20, 2019 as US 1320, CA 143Source: nhlr.org
  10. 2023 StaffedSeptember 18, 2023 local history says the lookout is still mannedSource: tipurdy.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.

Fredonyer Peak Lookout stands on Fredonyer Peak in Lassen County, California, just north of Eagle Lake.1,2 The lookout sits at about 7,945 feet.1

The register says Fredonyer was the first lookout to use this steel-pipe design. Five towers of the design have been erected, and a CDF engineer, Mike Plesha, designed the cab.1

A local history says the Lassen County Board of Supervisors sought a lookout from the state forestry division in spring 1937.2 The division had no funds, so the plan was for the state and Lassen National Forest to supply materials and the Secret Valley CCC camp to supply labor, and everyone agreed.2 The CCC men had to build a road from Horse Lake to the summit, a telephone line was to be extended up to it, and the history says the job got done.2

The sources disagree on the first build year. The register gives 1973 as the build year.1 A June 1946 newspaper item, quoted by Forest Lookouts, says a lookout had been stationed on the peak by then.3 A 1952 photograph from the California Division of Forestry's records, now copied to the Internet Archive, shows a Fredonyer lookout.4

In 1960 a time-lapse camera was installed at the lookout as part of a study by the State Forestry Division and the Weather Bureau, to photograph any cloud build-up staff could see.3 The item says radar was especially useful at night, when observers could not see, and that a radar system for early warning on lightning storms was set up around then.3

CAL FIRE's 2011-2012 management plan, as quoted on the register's Dyer Mountain page, took Dyer off its list of historic buildings to preserve and put Fredonyer Peak on that list in its place.5 The plan notes that the state owns and controls Fredonyer.5

The register says Bureau of Land Management observers staffed the lookout as of 2015, and that CAL FIRE's Lassen-Modoc Unit administers it.1 A 2023 local history says the lookout is still manned.2 Wikipedia describes an old fire lookout tower and a radio mast on the peak, reached by a dirt road.6 The sources do not say whether visitors may go up, so treat it as a working lookout and check with CAL FIRE before any visit.

  1. Fredonyer Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/fredonyer-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Fredonyer Peak Lookout, Exploring Lassen County's Past (tipurdy.org), https://tipurdy.org/fredonyer-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Fredonyer, Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/fredonyer.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Fredonyer Lookout, Lassen, 1952, Vern F. Knedler, Internet Archive (archive.org), https://archive.org/details/casbcfm_000209 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Dyer Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/dyer-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Fredonyer Peak, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredonyer_Peak (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Fredonyer Peak Lookout 1999
Fredonyer Peak Lookout 1999 (1999)Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Fredonyer Peak Lookout
Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Memorial Plaque 1999
Memorial Plaque 1999 (1999)Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2009
2009 (2009)Photo: Dennis Poulin, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Fredonyer Peak Lookout
Photo: Dennis Poulin, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Fredonyer Peak Lookout
Photo: mtbaxter, 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.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 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, status, agency, 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

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