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Fire lookout · Los Angeles County, California

Mendenhall Peak (Highline) Lookout Site

Also known as Mendenhall Peak

Angeles NF lookout on Mendenhall Peak, built 1936 or 1937; destroyed in the November 1975 Mill/Big Tujunga Fire; foundation, water tank and shack remnants reported on the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Destroyed in the 1975 fire and not rebuilt; SummitPost describes a concrete foundation, a water tank and the remnants of two small shacks on the summit

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. On Angeles National Forest land, reached on foot by forest road and an abandoned road from Dillon Divide; SummitPost describes walking around a gate. No closure is described in the sources read.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Drive about 7 miles up Little Tujunga Canyon Road to Dillon Divide and park near the gate; walk the dirt road (3N32) about four miles to Mendenhall Saddle, then the abandoned road about a mile to the summit. The last section, from the gate at Mendenhall Saddle, is overgrown with a couple of washouts (SummitPost).

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin atop a 10-foot open timber towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
Wood
Built
1937
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
4,639 ft (1,414 m)
Agency
US Forest Service, Angeles National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Los Angeles County, California
Coordinates
34.34962, −118.31231
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-mendenhall-peak-highline

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1936 EventAngeles Adventures gives 1936 as the year a lookout was built on the summit; FFLOS gives 1937Source: angelesadventures.com
  2. 1937 BuiltFFLOS 'Built' field and description: constructed 1937 as a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on a 10-foot open timber towerSource: firetower.org
  3. 1949 StaffedArthur Giesen named among lookout staff in 1949Source: angelesadventures.com
  4. 1960 FireBrush fire set deliberately in Little Tujunga threatened the lookout; a lookout had to leave her post and was rescued by helicopterSource: angelesadventures.com
  5. 1960 StaffedPeggy Hotchkiss named among lookout staff, 1960-1966Source: angelesadventures.com
  6. No record between 1960 and 1975
  7. 1975 DestroyedLookout destroyed in the Big Tujunga Fire in November 1975; everyone on site evacuated safely; not rebuiltSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1975 FireMill Fire, also called the Big Tujunga Fire, started high in the Angeles Forest on Saturday, November 22, 1975 and burned through Big Tujunga Canyon; razed 43 buildings including the Mendenhall Peak lookoutSources: crescentavalleyweekly.com, angelesadventures.com
  9. 1975 RemovedFFLOS 'Removed' field: 1975Source: firetower.org
  10. No record between 1975 and 2019
  11. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: November 3, 2019Source: FFLOS register entry
  12. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Mendenhall Peak sits above Little Tujunga Canyon at the western end of the San Gabriel Mountains.1 The Forest Service administered a fire lookout on its summit, which the sources date to 1936 or 1937.2,1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register gives 1937 and describes a California Region 5 cabin on a 10-foot open timber tower.2 Angeles Adventures gives 1936, so the two sources disagree by a year.1 The lookout was also known as Highline Lookout.2

Arthur Giesen was on the lookout in 1949, and Peggy Hotchkiss served there from 1960 to 1966.1 In 1960 a brush fire set deliberately in Little Tujunga threatened the lookout. One lookout had to leave her post and was rescued by helicopter.1

The lookout was lost in 1975.2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register blames the Big Tujunga Fire for its loss and says the site was never rebuilt.2 Another history dates the loss to November 1975 and says everyone on site was evacuated safely.3 Crescenta Valley Weekly describes the Mill Fire starting high in the Angeles Forest on Saturday, November 22, and then burning through Big Tujunga Canyon.4 The names differ, but the dates and place line up, so these sources appear to describe one fire.2,3,4 Angeles Adventures says the blaze razed 43 buildings, including the lookouts on Josephine Peak and Mendenhall Peak.1

The tower itself is long gone.5 According to SummitPost, the summit still has a concrete foundation, a water tank and the ruins of two small shacks.5

To walk up, park on the right near the gate at Dillon Divide and walk around the gate onto the dirt road. Follow that road about four miles to Mendenhall Saddle, then take the abandoned road about a mile to the summit.5 SummitPost warns that the last section, from the gate at Mendenhall Saddle, is overgrown, with a couple of washouts to navigate.5

  1. Mendenhall Peak Lookout, Angeles Adventures, https://angelesadventures.com/mendenhall-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mendenhall Peak (Highline) Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/mendenhall-peak-highline-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mendenhall Peak, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/mendenhall-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mill Fire of 1975, Crescenta Valley Weekly, https://www.crescentavalleyweekly.com/viewpoints/10/31/2019/treasures-valley-mike-lawler-302/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Mendenhall Peak, SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/mendenhall-peak/261889 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Mendenhall Peak (Highline) Lookout
Mendenhall Peak (Highline) LookoutPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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. 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
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, 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

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