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Fire lookout · Nevada County, California

Grouse Ridge Lookout

Grouse Ridge Lookout, a 1923 4AR cab in Tahoe NF: restored 2010-2023 but rental approval stalled; exterior viewing only; not on the forest's rental list.

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. Interior not open to visitors unless officially opened or listed for rental; the 2026 visitor guide says exterior viewing only. The Forest Service cabins page does not name it. The 2023 FFLA report says rental approval is stalled.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Reached by Bowman Lake Road, then about six miles of unimproved dirt on Grouse Ridge Road (Forest Road 14); high clearance recommended by the guide; about a quarter mile on an old road closed to vehicles from the campground. The 2009 NHLR visit report called the road bumpy but easily traveled in two-wheel drive.
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2009)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower4AR cab, 14 by 14 feet, steep 12/12 roof, five windows per wall; NHLR calls it a forerunner of the L-4 modelThe design: D-5 (4-AR)
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1923
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,653 ft (2,333 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Nevada County, California
Coordinates
39.38581, −120.61238
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-grouse-ridge

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. 1915 EventNewspaper reports a planned primary lookout on Grouse Ridge or Fall Creek Mountain; the sources read do not confirm it became this siteSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1923 BuiltNHLR gives 1923 as the construction yearSource: nhlr.org
  3. 1925 StaffedNewspaper item names Charles Bone as the Forest Service lookout at the Grouse Ridge stationSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1925 and 1943
  5. 1943 Condition assessmentDistrict ranger inspected storm damage to the lookout and reported the access road still blocked by snow and down timberSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1943 and 1998
  7. 1998 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 4, 1998 as NHLR US 283, CA 17Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2009 Condition assessmentNHLR visit report (July 11, 2009): recommends maintenance soon, damage where people tried to get in, appears to be used for radio equipment, unstaffed; the Register condition entry says needs paintSource: nhlr.org
  9. 2010 EventResource Advisory Committee grant of $10,000 written and obtained for the restoration; another $4,000 still needed for supplies.Sources: firelookout.org, firelookout.org
  10. 2010 RestoredLate snow limited work until August; volunteer contractors completed hantavirus and lead paint remediation; lookout winterized earlySource: firelookout.org
  11. 2011 EventDiscussions confirmed the lookout would be restored to its 1924 version rather than its 1964 version, once radio equipment was removedSource: firelookout.org
  12. 2022 RestoredDistrict recreation staff did most of the remaining work to convert the lookout to a rental, which was still not approved for rental use.Source: firelookout.org
  13. 2023 RestoredDistrict recreation staff did most of the remaining work in the 2023 field season; project listed as near completion; rental approval stalled because a recreation advisory committee's approval had lapsedSource: 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.

Grouse Ridge Lookout stands in the Tahoe National Forest in Nevada County, California, at about 7,650 feet.1 The National Historic Lookout Register dates it to 1923 and counts it among six surviving 4AR cabs in California.1 The 14-by-14-foot cab has a steep roof and five windows on each wall, and the Register says the design came before the L-4 model.1

A 1915 newspaper item reported that the forest planned another primary lookout, most likely on Grouse Ridge or Fall Creek Mountain, to cover upper Yuba headwaters that Banner Mountain did not reach.2 The sources read do not show that this plan produced the lookout built later.

In 1925 a newspaper item named Charles Bone as the Forest Service lookout at the station.2 In 1943 a district ranger reported storm damage to the lookout and said the road was still blocked by snow and down timber.2

The Register added the lookout on June 4, 1998, as US 283.1 A 2009 visit report recommended maintenance soon and noted damage where people had tried to get in.1 The same report said it appeared to be used for some radio equipment and was otherwise unstaffed.1 The Register's condition entry also marks the lookout as needing paint.1

Restoration talks began in the fall of 2009.3 Late snow kept work restricted until August 2010, and that year volunteer contractors completed hantavirus and lead paint remediation.3 A 2011 report says the lookout would be restored to its 1924 version rather than its 1964 version, with the radio equipment removed.3

By 2023 district recreation staff had done most of the remaining work, and the project was listed as near completion.4 Rental approval stalled, however. A lapse in a recreation advisory committee's approval means new recreation rental facilities cannot be approved or changed.4

The Forest Service's camping page says the forest has nine historic fire lookouts, two of them available to rent, and does not name Grouse Ridge.5 A visitor guide last updated in June 2026 says only exterior viewing is allowed unless the lookout is officially opened or listed for rental.6

The final six miles of Grouse Ridge Road are unimproved dirt, and the guide urges a high-clearance vehicle.6 The 2009 visit report described the same road as bumpy but easily driven in two-wheel drive, so the sources disagree, and conditions should be checked before going.1,6

The sources read do not say what condition the tower is in today. Visitors should stay outside the structure and check conditions with the Tahoe National Forest before setting out.

  1. Grouse Ridge Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/grouse-ridge-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Grouse Ridge, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/grouse-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Grouse Ridge Lookout Restoration, Tahoe National Forest, 2011 Report, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ca-grouse-2011.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. 2023 Year-End Report, California-Northern Chapter, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/cr-cal-north-2023.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Camping and Cabins, Tahoe National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/tahoe/recreation/camping-cabins (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Grouse Ridge Lookout: Road, Trail, and History, CalExplornia, https://www.calexplornia.com/grouse-ridge-lookout-one-californias-oldest-lookouts-amazing-views/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Grouse Ridge Lookout - 2016
Grouse Ridge Lookout - 2016 (2016)Photo: CalEXPLORnia, 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, 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: design, 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: 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.