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Fire lookout · Lake County, California

Goat Mountain Lookout Site (Mendocino NF)

Also known as Goat Mountain

Mendocino NF lookout site in Lake County: BC-301 cabin built 1934 on a 30-foot steel tower; lookouts named 1919-1943; derelict by 2005; register calls it a standing ruin.

Ruins: Only footings or remains are left. Former Fire Lookout Sites lists the removal field as Standing ruin; derelict by 2005 with some cabin remains on top of the tower

Visit & stay

Ruins: footings or remains only. There is no structure to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Ruins sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on a 30-foot K-brace steel towerThe designs: BC-301, Plan 4-A
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
6,129 ft (1,868 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Mendocino National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Lake County, California
Coordinates
39.26030, −122.71552
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-goat-mountain-mendocino-nf

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

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. 1919 EventLookout given the number 13 so airplane fire patrol observers could identify itSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1919 StaffedAn August 1919 newspaper item names Ernest Phelps as the fire lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1920 EventMarch 1920 report of a Thanksgiving windstorm that tore shutters off the lookout house and carried away the tower stepsSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1932 StaffedArlie C. Killebrew named fire lookout to succeed James Lucas, who resignedSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 BuiltBC-301 cabin on a 30-foot K-brace steel tower, replacing an earlier Plan 4A cabin on a shorter tower built before 1920Source: firetower.org
  6. 1943 StaffedMrs. Virginia L. Shriver, 86, went up with grandson George Shriver, who was to be on duty for the fire seasonSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1943 and 2005
  8. 2005 EventTower derelict by 2005 with some cabin remains on topSource: firetower.org
  9. No record between 2005 and 2020
  10. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered February 1, 2020Source: firetower.org
  11. TodayRuinsOnly footings or remains are left. When it came down is not recorded.

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 Goat Mountain lookout site is in Lake County on the Mendocino National Forest, at 6,129 feet.1 The cabin that once sat on its steel tower was built in 1934 to a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 design, on a 30-foot K-brace tower.1 It took the place of an earlier Plan 4A cabin that sat on a shorter tower built before 1920.1

The earliest staffing record we found is from 1919, when a newspaper named Ernest Phelps as the fire lookout.2 That August a motorist became the first to drive the trail to the top, and he talked with the lookout from his car.2 In March 1920, Phelps reported that a Thanksgiving windstorm had torn the shutters off the lookout house and carried away the steps up the tower.2 The same report noted that the lookout had been given the number 13 so airplane patrol observers could identify it.2

In June 1932, Arlie C. Killebrew was picked as the new lookout after James Lucas resigned.2 In June 1943, Mrs. Virginia L. Shriver, 86, of Lakeport, went up to the lookout with her grandson George, who was to take the post for the fire season.2

By 2005 the tower was derelict, and parts of the cabin still sat on top.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register lists the removal status as standing ruin, and it added the site on February 1, 2020.1

The most recent description we found is the register entry, which calls the site a standing ruin.1 No source describes what remains there today, or whether visitors can reach it. Check with the Mendocino National Forest before planning a trip.

  1. Goat Mountain Lookout Site (Mendocino NF), Former Fire Lookout Sites (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/goat-mountain-lookout-site-mendocino-nf/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Goat Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS (Lake County), Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/goat-mountain1.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Goat Mountain Lookout - 1963
Goat Mountain Lookout - 1963 (1963)Photo: Upper Lake Ranger District Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1920 - Region 5 Plan 4A
1920 - Region 5 Plan 4A (1920)Photo: Upper Lake Ranger District Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
2005
2005 (2005)Photo: Fred Johnson, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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 whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • OpenStreetMap: Standing

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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) 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, height, status, agency, staffing, 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.