FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · San Diego County, California

High Point Lookout

A Civilian Conservation Corps lookout on Palomar Mountain's high point gave way to a 67-ft steel tower in 1964; volunteers have staffed it since 2009.

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. A hiking write-up dated April 2024 (not an agency source) says the public is prohibited from ascending the tower. The summit is reachable on foot.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
A hiking write-up describes a walk along a dirt road to the summit; a gate blocks vehicles for the last stretch.
Staffing
Staffed by volunteers (as of 2013 onward)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower13x13-ft CL-30 steel cab on a 67-ft all-steel L-1600 towerThe designs: CL-100, L-1600 steel tower, Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
67 ft (20.4 m)
Elevation
6,142 ft (1,872 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Cleveland National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
San Diego County, California
Coordinates
33.36335, −116.83558
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-high-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 3.0 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. 1935 BuiltFirst lookout on the site, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The register describes a 45-ft tower with a ground cabin.Sources: nhlr.org, ffla-sandiego.org
  2. No record between 1935 and 1964
  3. 1964 BuiltCurrent structure built at Palomar Mountain on the Cleveland National Forest.Source: nhlr.org
  4. 1964 Replaced by a new structureThe current 67-ft steel tower and cab replaced the 1935 structure.Source: ffla-sandiego.org
  5. No record between 1964 and 1992
  6. 1992 Last staffedThe Cleveland National Forest last staffed the tower.Source: ffla-sandiego.org
  7. 2005 AlteredInterior removed due to vandalism; a security gate was installed on the tower.Source: ffla-sandiego.org
  8. 2005 EventThe interior was stripped out because of vandalism and a security gate fitted to the tower.Source: ffla-sandiego.org
  9. 2008 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on June 2, 2008.Source: nhlr.org
  10. 2009 RestoredRestoration with new glass, cabinets and flooring completed.Source: ffla-sandiego.org
  11. 2009 StaffedLookout reopened for fire detection on 13 June with volunteers and was staffed 81 of 171 possible days.Source: firelookout.org
  12. 2009 First staffedSan Diego-Riverside chapter of the FFLA began staffing the tower with volunteers.Source: ffla-sandiego.org
  13. 2013 StaffedChapter first achieved 100% fire-season staffing; it has continued with few exceptions since.Source: ffla-sandiego.org
  14. 2017 EventRepair of a problematic solar and propane incinerating outhouse at the site.Source: firelookout.org
  15. 2017 RestoredProblematic solar and propane-powered incinerating outhouse repaired.Source: firelookout.org
  16. 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.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the first lookout on this Palomar Mountain high point in 1935, for the Forest Service.1,2 The register says the lookout was first named Palomar Mountain, and the name changed to High Point in the early 1960s.2 The current 67-foot steel tower and cab replaced that first structure in 1964.1 The register gives the cab as 14 by 14 feet; the chapter gives 13 by 13.2,1

The Cleveland National Forest's last staffing of the tower came in 1992.1 The interior was removed in 2005 because of vandalism, and a security gate went on the tower afterward.1 The register gives a registration date of June 2, 2008.2 A restoration finished in 2009 renewed the glass, cabinets and flooring, and volunteers from the San Diego-Riverside chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association began staffing the tower that year.1 The chapter says it first staffed the whole 2013 fire season and has kept that up in almost every year since.1 A 2017 chapter report says a problematic solar and propane incinerating outhouse at the site was repaired.3

Today the tower is staffed every day in fire season by volunteers, working with the Forest Service.2,4 A hiking write-up dated April 2024, which is not an agency source, says visitors are barred from climbing the tower, citing safety.4 That write-up describes a walk along a dirt road to the summit, where a gate blocks vehicles for the last stretch.4

  1. High Point Lookout, FFLA San Diego-Riverside Chapter, https://www.ffla-sandiego.org/highpoint-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. High Point Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/high-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. San Diego-Riverside chapter lookout report 2017, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ca-s-sandiego-river-2017.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Hiking to the high point of Palomar Mountain, Stav Is Lost, https://stavislost.com/hikes/trail/palomar-mountain/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

High Point Lookout - 2010
High Point Lookout - 2010 (2010)Photo: Brad Eells, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1935
1935 (1935)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1970s
1970sPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Residential Cabin
Residential CabinPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2013 Volunteer Lookout Staff
2013 Volunteer Lookout Staff (2013)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
High Point Lookout in 2014
High Point Lookout in 2014 (2014)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
High Point Lookout - Aermotor 45 foot Tower - 1935
High Point Lookout - Aermotor 45 foot Tower - 1935 (1935)Photo: Brad Eells, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cab Panorama - East View 2019
Cab Panorama - East View 2019 (2019)Photo: (CC by 2.0) Richard Fowell, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
An FFLA volunteer sites the fire-finder in the High Point cab - 2019
An FFLA volunteer sites the fire-finder in the High Point cab - 2019 (2019)Photo: San Diego Union-Tribune, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
April 28, 1934
April 28, 1934 (1934)Photo: Los Angeles Times, 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.

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 the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1964
    • OpenStreetMap: 1964
    • FFLA San Diego-Riverside Chapter: 1935

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

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. FFLA San Diego-Riverside Chapter Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, staffing, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, San Diego-Riverside Chapter (ffla-sandiego.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, designs, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the chapter's page it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: 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
  5. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: register numbers, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages Gave us: register numbers, links FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  8. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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.