FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Placer County, California

Helester (Hellister) Point Lookout Site

Also known as Helester Point

1938 Tahoe NF lookout (Region 5 BC-301 cabin on 20 ft tower); GSA surplus 1981, removal date unknown, tower still standing in a 1986 survey; no remains described.

Status unknown: We do not know yet whether it still stands. Register says the building was listed as surplus in 1981 and its removal date and whereabouts are unknown; the tower was still standing in a 1986 survey

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
Status unknown sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower20 foot K-brace open steel tower with a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabinThe design: BC-301
Built of
Steel
Built
1938
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,978 ft (1,517 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Tahoe National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Placer County, California
Coordinates
39.21442, −120.69282
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-helester-hellister-point

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 3.2 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. 1938 BuiltConstructed 1938 (register Built field): California Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on a 20 foot K-brace open steel towerSource: firetower.org
  2. No record between 1938 and 1981
  3. 1981 EventBuilding listed as surplus by the General Services Administration (GSA)Source: firetower.org
  4. 1982 Removed'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "Circa 1982" (about 1982).Source: FFLOS register entry
  5. 1986 Condition assessment1986 Thornton survey shows the tower standing and the cabin downSource: firetower.org
  6. No record between 1986 and 2020
  7. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: April 10, 2020Source: FFLOS register entry
  8. TodayStatus unknownWe do not know whether it still stands.

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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Helester Point, also spelled Hellister Point, was a lookout in the Tahoe National Forest in Placer County, California.1 The register dates it to 1938, when a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin was set atop a 20-foot open steel tower with K-bracing.1 The U.S. Forest Service administered it.1

Its ending is not clear. In 1981 the General Services Administration marked the building as surplus, and the register does not say when it was removed or where it went.1 The register's removed field gives circa 1982, but the text does not confirm that date.1 A 1986 survey, which the register calls the Thornton survey, showed the tower still standing and the cabin gone.1

Today, the register describes no remains at the site and does not say where the tower stands now.1 It also does not say whether the site is open to visitors.1

  1. Helester (Hellister) Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/helester-hellister-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Helester Point Lookout - June 1964
Helester Point Lookout - June 1964 (1964)Photo: Mark Swift Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Sale Notice - November 1982
Sale Notice - November 1982 (1982)Photo: Auburn Journal, 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.

    • Firefinder research: Status unknown
    • FFLA: Gone

    Research (2026-10-10) gives unknown where the source records give gone. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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. 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.