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Fire lookout · Los Angeles County, California

Johnstone Peak (San Dimas)

Also known as San Dimas (johnston peak)

San Dimas Peak lookout (1917) was burned in 1919; the later cabin moved to the LA County Fairplex in 1992; the summit is closed except by permit.

Permission required

You need permission from the tribe or landowner before visiting. The original summit is in the San Dimas Experimental Forest, technically closed to the general public except under special written permit (Angeles Adventures). The Fairplex display is open during the Los Angeles County Fair.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at the LA County Fairplex

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. The cabin moved in the early 1990s and was rebuilt at the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona in 1992; a radio site with a 100-foot tower is listed on the original summit

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Permission required. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on a 30 foot K-brace steel tower (register); the Angeles Adventures history describes a 14 by 14 foot wood cabThe design: BC-301
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1917
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Angeles National Forest (original builder and site); Los Angeles County Fairplex administers the cabin today
Land
Federal land
Location
Los Angeles County, California
Coordinates
34.16011, −117.79978
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-johnstone-peak-san-dimas

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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at its recorded height.

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. 1917 BuiltSan Dimas Peak lookout first built, funded by the San Dimas Fruit ExchangeSources: angelesadventures.com, nhlr.org
  2. 1919 DestroyedSeptember 1919 San Gabriel Canyon fires overtook the tower a few days after they started and destroyed itSources: angelesadventures.com, californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1923 Replaced by a new structureNew open timber tower on a DuBois 4A cabSource: angelesadventures.com
  4. 1924 FireAugust 1924 observer spotted the fire that became the 1924 San Gabriel Fire, which burned for 27 daysSource: angelesadventures.com
  5. No record between 1924 and 1939
  6. 1939 BuiltRegister: built by the Angeles National Forest in 1939 as a 30-foot K-brace steel tower; marker says the tower stood on the peak from 1934; Angeles Adventures says renovated or replaced in the 1930sSources: nhlr.org, hmdb.org, angelesadventures.com
  7. 1940 EventJune 1940 dedication renames the peak and lookout Johnstone Peak, for W.A. Johnstone (died 1937)Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1946 StaffedEverett L. Osborn moved into the tower for the 1946 seasonSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1955 ClosedPhoto caption: lookout closed 1955; last observer Sandy DeLapp; decommissioned because of smog pollution; left abandoned on the peak until the early 1990sSource: angelesadventures.com
  10. No record between 1955 and 1992
  11. 1992 MovedCabin dismantled and reconstructed at the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona in 1992; marker says it stood on Johnstone Peak until 1992Sources: nhlr.org, angelesadventures.com, hmdb.org
  12. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to the LA County Fairplex.Source: FFLA
  13. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

The first lookout on this peak went up in 1917, when it was still called San Dimas Peak.1,2 The San Dimas Fruit Exchange paid for it, and the tower stood between San Dimas and Dalton canyons to detect fires that could damage the watersheds above the town.2

In September 1919 a fire in San Gabriel Canyon overran the tower.2 A newspaper item from that month, quoted by Forest Lookouts, says the fire "has driven the forest rangers from the San Dimas fire lookout."3 Angeles Adventures says the fire destroyed the structure a few days later.2 A new tower followed in 1923, a short open timber tower on a DuBois 4A cab.2

The sources disagree about the tower that stood on the peak after that.1,2,4 The register says the Angeles National Forest built a cabin on a 30-foot steel K-brace tower there in 1939.1 A historical marker says the tower stood on the peak from 1934 to 1992.4 Angeles Adventures says it was renovated or replaced sometime in the 1930s.2

In June 1940 the peak was dedicated to the memory of W.A. Johnstone, a conservationist who died in 1937, and the lookout took the name Johnstone Peak.3,1

Angeles Adventures names A.M. Trout as an observer in the 1930s, and Frank Mathys, Everett L. Osborn and Fred J. Haner in the 1940s.2 In June 1946 a swarm of bees had settled between the shutter and the door. The two men had to retreat and call for help by radio before Osborn moved in for the season.3 In August 1924 an observer spotted the fire that became the 1924 San Gabriel Fire.2

The last lookout observer was Sandy DeLapp in the 1950s. A photo caption dates the closure to 1955, and the history says smog pollution led to the tower being decommissioned.2 The tower then stood abandoned on the peak until the early 1990s, when it was moved to the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona.1,2 The register says the cabin was dismantled and rebuilt there in 1992.1

At the Fairplex the lookout is an interpretive display. Volunteers operate it every year during the Los Angeles County Fair, and the marker says it is open during that fair.1,4 The tower there is shorter, with a smaller cab, and is painted green.2

The original summit lies within the San Dimas Experimental Forest, which Angeles Adventures says is closed to the general public except by special written permit.2 A radio-site listing for Johnstone Peak describes a 100-foot tower on Forest Service land.5 The sources I read do not say whether any part of the lookout survives on the summit. Under that closure, going up requires a special written permit.2

  1. Johnstone Peak Lookout (Los Angeles County Fairplex), National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/johnstone-peak-lookout-los-angeles-county-fairplex/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. San Dimas/Johnstone Peak Lookout, Angeles Adventures, https://angelesadventures.com/san-dimas-johnstone-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. San Dimas - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/san-dimas.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Johnstone Peak Fire Lookout, Historical Marker Database, https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=272352 (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. Johnstone Peak, Southern California Radio Network, http://www.scrn.net/johnstone_peak.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: agency, ownership, 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
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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.