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Fire lookout · Lassen County, California

Likely Mountain Lookout

CAL FIRE lookout in Lassen County built 1966 from a redesigned BC-3 cab; staffed intermittently during predicted lightning events as of 2015; still on CAL FIRE's 2022 list.

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. No source read describes public access; CAL FIRE says it does not rent its lookouts (2008 fact sheet)

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerRe-design of the BC-3 cab, with a 64 sq ft reduced-scale prototype tested first; the 38-foot three-legged steel tower came from Thompson Peak, Plumas National ForestThe designs: BC-301, CDF 732-6A
Built of
Steel
Built
1966
Height
38 ft (11.6 m)
Elevation
7,377 ft (2,249 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Lassen-Modoc Unit (Cal Fire LMU)
Land
Unknown
Location
Lassen County, California
Coordinates
41.15543, −120.56417
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-likely-mountain

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 3.8 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. 1966 BuiltBuilt 1966 per the Register; based on a CDF redesign of the BC-3 cabSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1967 EventA trailer called the Nomad has served as the residence since 1967Source: nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1967 and 2008
  4. 2008 StaffedListed by CAL FIRE among lookouts that may be staffed during the 2008 fire seasonSource: citlink.net
  5. 2015 StaffedRegister says the tower was staffed intermittently during predicted lightning events as of 2015Source: nhlr.org
  6. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 20, 2019 as US 1321, CA 144Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2022 EventStill listed under the Lassen-Modoc Unit in CAL FIRE's March 2022 lookout fact sheetSource: 34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net
  8. 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.

Likely Mountain stands at about 7,377 feet in Lassen County, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Lassen-Modoc Unit administers it.1 The lookout dates to 1966.1 CDF architect Mike Plesha proposed reworking the long-standing BC-3 cab, and officials asked for a reduced-scale prototype to be tested first.1 The 64-square-foot prototype led to a full-size cab at Sawmill Peak in 1969.1 Its 38-foot steel tower has three legs and was sourced from Thompson Peak in Plumas National Forest.1

The Register says a trailer, called the Nomad, has served as the residence there since 1967.1 As of 2015, the Register says the tower was staffed intermittently during predicted lightning events.1 A 2008 CAL FIRE list named Likely Mountain among the lookouts that might be staffed that fire season.2 The sources read do not name a fire the lookout spotted.

The Register listed the lookout on October 20, 2019, as US 1321, CA 144.1 CAL FIRE's March 2022 lookout fact sheet still lists it under the Lassen-Modoc Unit.3 No source read says it was abandoned, burned, moved or restored.

Today the sources do not describe public access. A 2008 CAL FIRE fact sheet says the agency does not rent its lookouts.2 Because the lookout is staffed only at times, please do not climb it or enter the grounds.1 Check with CAL FIRE's Lassen-Modoc Unit before planning any trip.1

  1. Likely Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/likely-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Lookouts, CAL FIRE fact sheet, June 2008, hosted at citlink.net, https://www.citlink.net/~dburnett/CAL%20FIRE%20DATA/Lookouts.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Lookouts, CAL FIRE fact sheet, March 2022, https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/about/communications/fact-sheets/fire-and-emergency-response/misc/lookouts.pdf?rev=62bbab0cc04d476196aa38cb39be6249&hash=B3DDEA1F83484A120E777AF13FC501EE (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Likely Mountain Lookout 2006
Likely Mountain Lookout 2006 (2006)Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Likely Mountain Lookout
Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Likely Mountain Lookout 2009
Likely Mountain Lookout 2009 (2009)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Likely Mountain Lookout 2019
Likely Mountain Lookout 2019 (2019)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Likely Mountain Lookout
Photo: Ron Kemnow, 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: name, 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: 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, 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.