FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lassen County, California

Hayden Hill Lookout (now at the Big Valley Museum)

Also known as Hayden Hill Lookout, Big Valley Museum

Cab built 1940 to a Region 5 plan; tower in service in 1991 when moved to the Bieber museum grounds, but only the cab was reassembled there.

Original site: Hayden Hill

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
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabRegion 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on an enclosed timber tower (NHLR)The design: BC-301
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1940
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,136 ft (1,261 m)
Agency
Big Valley Historical Museum, Bieber, California (current custodian of the cab)
Land
Unknown
Location
Lassen County, California
Coordinates
41.12226, −121.13835
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-hayden-hill-at-big-valley-museum

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 3.3 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. 1912 EventSite approved for administrative useSources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1923 EventCalifornia District News Letter item of July 13, 1923 (quoted by Forest Lookouts) mentions a visit to the new lookout house on Hayden Hill; not reconciled with the 1940 build dateSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1923 and 1940
  4. 1940 BuiltCab built to Region 5 Plan BC-301, per the registerSource: nhlr.org
  5. 1943 EventForest Lookouts quotes a 1943 item mentioning the Lookout Station on Hayden HillSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1946 Event13 first discoveries logged between 1942 and 1946Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1946 and 1991
  8. 1991 MovedSupervisors approved moving the tower to the Bieber Museum grounds in March 1991; the actual move date is not in the sources, and only the cab was reassembledSources: californialookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  9. No record between 1991 and 2019
  10. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the NHLR October 30, 2019Source: nhlr.org
  11. Date unknown MovedMoved from Hayden Hill to the Big Valley Museum.Source: FFLA
  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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The National Historic Lookout Register says the Hayden Hill lookout was built in 1940 as a Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on a 10-foot enclosed timber tower.1 The site was approved for administrative use in 1912, and the register says a structure stood there by 1915.1,2 A July 1923 California District News Letter item, quoted by Forest Lookouts, mentions a visit to a new lookout house on Hayden Hill.2 The sources do not explain how that house relates to the 1940 cab.

The lookout kept working into the 1940s.2 A 1943 item quoted by Forest Lookouts mentions a man's wife caring for him at the Lookout Station at Hayden Hill.2 The same collection credits the lookout with 13 "first discoveries" between 1942 and 1946, the fire term for spotting a blaze before anyone else.2

In March 1991 the Lassen County Times reported that the county supervisors had approved a request from a museum board member to move the Hayden Hill tower to the Bieber Museum grounds.2 The tower was still in operation then, and the board member said it had been declared a historical site.2 A new tower had to be built first so that coverage would not lapse.2 Amax Gold was to handle the dismantling, relocating and reassembly.2

The register says only the cab was reassembled at the museum, and that it stands there today.1 The tower was not reassembled there.1 The cab sits on the Big Valley Museum grounds in Bieber, and the register listed it on October 30, 2019.1 As of 1991, the register says, it was one of the best surviving examples in California of an L-101 tower with a BC-301 cab.1

I could not find visiting hours in the sources, so check with the museum before you go.

  1. Hayden Hill Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/hayden-hill-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Hayden Hill - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/hayden-hill.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Hayden Hill Lookout - 2008
Hayden Hill Lookout - 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hayden Hill Lookout (now at the Big Valley Museum)
Photo: Modoc National Forest Archive, 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: 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: name, type, status, register numbers, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.