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Fire lookout · Humboldt County, California

Iaqua Buttes Lookout

Humboldt County lookout on BLM land above Kneeland: a CCC-era L-701 design with a later cab, abandoned by CAL FIRE and still standing despite a 2011 demolition notice.

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. The approach runs over private roads with locked gates and private-property signs. The lookout stands on BLM land that a 2023 hiker says has no right of way. The sources read give no sign of public access.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
A 2023 hike parked on Kneeland Road and walked up unsigned Slater Road. A locked gate below the lookout and private-property signs blocked the final approach.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Enclosed towersingle-story variation of the CCC-era Forest Service L-701 tower, with a 732-6A cabThe designs: CDF 732-6A, BC-301, CL-100
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1936
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,729 ft (1,137 m)
Agency
CAL FIRE Humboldt-Del Norte Unit; site on BLM Arcata Field Office land under a lease from BLM
Land
Unknown
Location
Humboldt County, California
Coordinates
40.66904, −123.88272
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-iaqua-buttes

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 3.5 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. 1928 EventRangers judged a fire lookout station necessary at Iaqua Buttes; a telephone line was needed so outside aid could be called in during a fire emergency. Newspaper report, December 28, 1928.Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1936 BuiltRegister gives 1936 as the build date (Built field 1936/1976). A 1938 newspaper describes construction of a steel lookout; the sources do not say whether these are the same tower.Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1936 StaffedMrs. Francis Slater in charge of the lookout's telephone (Blue Lake Advocate, May 30, 1936, as transcribed).Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1938 BuiltNewspaper (Ukiah Daily Journal, June 18, 1938, as transcribed) reports construction of a steel lookout at Iaqua Buttes, reached only by pack train. Conflicts with the Register's 1936 date.Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1938 and 1957
  6. 1957 StaffedYear of the Hugh Slater notice (Eureka Humboldt Times, October 17, 1957). The couple worked there as lookout attendants for 20 years; the period is not dated.Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1957 and 1976
  8. 1976 AlteredSecond date in the Register's Built field. The page does not say what changed.Source: nhlr.org
  9. No record between 1976 and 2011
  10. 2011 ClosedCAL FIRE notice of exemption, received May 31, 2011, describes formal closure, lease termination and demolition. The sources read do not confirm the demolition was carried out.Source: ceqanet.lci.ca.gov
  11. 2019 Condition assessmentRegister: 'still stands as of a May 2019 Trip Report'.Source: nhlr.org
  12. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate registered per the Register: October 19, 2019.Source: nhlr.org
  13. 2023 Condition assessmentHiker's February 2023 post calls the structure abandoned by CAL FIRE and says it stands at the top of the Buttes.Source: valhikes.blogspot.com
  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.

Iaqua Buttes Lookout stands at about 3,729 feet in Humboldt County.1 The Register describes it as a single-story variation of a Civilian Conservation Corps-era Forest Service L-701 tower, and says the original cab was replaced with a 732-6A cab.1

The first step came in 1928.2 A newspaper report reprinted on the Forest Lookouts page says the rangers decided a fire lookout station was necessary at Iaqua Buttes, and that a telephone line had to be built so that outside aid could be called in during a fire emergency.2 The Register's Built field gives 1936/1976, and the page does not say what the second date marks.1 A 1938 newspaper report describes the construction of a steel lookout there, reached only by pack train.2 The sources read do not show whether these describe the same tower.

In 1936 a newspaper item said Mrs. Francis Slater would again be in charge of the telephone at the lookout.2 A 1957 notice of Hugh Slater's funeral says the couple had worked as lookout attendants at the Buttes for 20 years, though it does not give the dates.2

A CAL FIRE notice of exemption, received May 31, 2011, covers the formal closure and abandonment of the lookout, the end of its lease from the Bureau of Land Management, and the demolition of the tower.3 The Register says the lookout was slated for removal as late as 2012, but that it still stood in a May 2019 trip report.1 A February 2023 hiker's post calls the structure abandoned by CAL FIRE and says it stands at the top of the Buttes.4 The Register describes one story, while the hiker describes two, so the accounts disagree on the number of stories.1,4

Getting close is hard. The 2023 hiker parked on Kneeland Road and walked up Slater Road, then found a locked gate below the lookout with a sign reading "Private property, no parking."4 The hiker called the public land around the lookout landlocked: the county road stops at a locked gate, and there is no right of way beyond it.4 The sources give no sign that the lookout is open to visitors, so do not climb or enter it.4

  1. Iaqua Buttes Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/iaqua-buttes-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Iaqua Buttes, Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/iaqua-buttes.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Iaqua Buttes Fire Lookout Station - Facilities Demolition, CEQAnet, CAL FIRE Notice of Exemption, https://ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/2011058283 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Iaqua Buttes Lookout, valhikes (blog), https://valhikes.blogspot.com/2023/02/iaqua-buttes-lookout.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Iaqua Buttes Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Iaqua Buttes Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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: 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) 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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

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