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Fire lookout · Santa Barbara County, California

Miranda Pine Mountain Lookout - AWS Site

Los Padres Aircraft Warning Service post built about 1943 as a ground cabin with cupola; removal date unknown, and no source describes the site today.

Status unknown: We do not know yet whether it still stands. Register gives removal date as unknown; no source describes what stands at the site now

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 says whether the site or mountain is open to visitors today

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

Facts

Status
Status unknown sources disagree
Type
Ground-level cabGround cabin with cupola; the register calls this design unique to the Aircraft Warning ServiceThe design: Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Also served as
Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
Built
1943
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,999 ft (1,219 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Los Padres National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Santa Barbara County, California
Coordinates
35.03901, −120.03975
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-miranda-pine-mountain-lookout-aws

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. 1943 BuiltBuilt as an Aircraft Warning Service post circa 1943 (register)Source: firetower.org
  2. 1944 EventThe national Aircraft Warning Service was deactivated May 29, 1944 (context; this post's own end date is unknown)Source: en.wikipedia.org
  3. No record between 1944 and 2019
  4. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 20, 2019 as US 1862, CA 57; nominated by Brad EellsSource: firetower.org
  5. TodayStatus unknownWe do not know whether it still stands.

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.

Miranda Pine Mountain lies in Santa Barbara County, within Los Padres National Forest.1 Its register entry says it was built as an Aircraft Warning Service post around 1943, with a ground cabin and cupola.1 The Aircraft Warning Service was a civilian arm of the Army's Ground Observer Corps, formed during World War II to spot enemy aircraft entering US airspace.2 On the West Coast, many Forest Service fire spotter towers were turned into Aircraft Warning Service posts, but this one was built as a post from the start.2,1

The register gives the elevation as 3,999 feet (1,219 meters), but a hiking guide lists the mountain at 4,061 feet.1,3 The register also says the removal date of the post is unknown.1 The service itself was deactivated on May 29, 1944.2

The register does not describe what is at the site today, and we found no source saying whether visitors can reach it.1

  1. Miranda Pine Mountain Lookout - AWS Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/miranda-pine-mountain-lookout-aws-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Aircraft Warning Service, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Warning_Service (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Miranda Pine Mountain, Hike Los Padres, https://hikelospadres.com/miranda-pine-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Miranda Pine Mountain Lookout-AWS Post
Miranda Pine Mountain Lookout-AWS PostPhoto: Bob Burtness, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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 whether it still stands.

    • Firefinder research: Status unknown
    • FFLA: Gone

    Research (2026-10-10) gives unknown where the source records give gone. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, wartime use, 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: status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.