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Fire lookout · San Bernardino County, California

Morton Peak Lookout

A 1934 steel-tower lookout lost its cab in the 1959 Morton fire and was rebuilt in 1960; volunteers staff it when they can, and visits are allowed only when someone is on duty.

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. Volunteer-staffed; drive-up and cab visits only when staffed; no overnight stays. The 2025 Mountains Foundation page reported a Line Fire closure order, which the Forest Service page updated May 11, 2026 does not mention.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Narrow dirt road FS 1N12 off Hwy 38; high clearance recommended; gate about 1.5 miles up, summit about 1.5 miles past it. If unstaffed, park at the gate.
Staffing
Staffed by volunteers (as of 2026)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower14x14-ft CL-100 metal cab (rebuilt 1960) on the existing steel towerThe design: CL-100
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
500 ft (152.4 m)
Elevation
4,593 ft (1,400 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
San Bernardino County, California
Coordinates
34.10278, −117.04083
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-morton-peak

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 3.1 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. 1934 BuiltLookout built on a steel tower; NHLR and Mountains Foundation both give 1934. The first cab was wooden.Sources: nhlr.org, mountainsfoundation.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1934 and 1959
  3. 1959 BurnedDestroyed by the Morton fire; the lookout on duty, Aleta Johnson, was airlifted out.Source: mountainsfoundation.org
  4. 1959 DestroyedCab destroyed by the Morton fire of July 24, 1959; lookout Aleta (one report: Aletha) Johnson rescued by helicopter.Sources: nhlr.org, mountainsfoundation.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1960 RebuiltNew steel cab on the existing steel tower; contract let May 1960; lookout moved in by August 1, 1960. NHLR says 1960; Mountains Foundation says 1961.Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1961 RebuiltRebuilt; it closed again in the 1970s.Source: mountainsfoundation.org
  7. 1975 StaffedDescribed as a lookout tower staffed by the U.S. Forest Service.Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1975 and 1992
  9. 1992 EventVandals set off a bomb in the tower's garage; the tower was reported slated for a move to the Toiyabe National Forest. Later sources place it still on Morton Peak.Sources: californialookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org, fs.usda.gov
  10. 2001 RestoredRestored by volunteers and returned to active service; Mountains Foundation says refurbished in 2001.Sources: nhlr.org, mountainsfoundation.org
  11. 2006 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, July 27, 2006.Source: nhlr.org
  12. 2014 StaffedKept open all year because of high fire danger; the report planned to return the site to a rental system in 2015.Source: firelookout.org
  13. 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.

Morton Peak rises above State Highway 38 in the San Bernardino National Forest, about 16 miles east of Redlands.1,2

The Forest Service began a new lookout on Morton Peak in 1934, close to where Mill Creek Canyon opens out.2,3 Newspapers that year planned steel towers for the site, and the cab on top was wooden until 1959.2

On July 24, 1959, flames climbed the slope from Mill Creek and destroyed the lookout house.2 Aleta Johnson, the lookout on duty, was airlifted out only minutes before the flames reached the tower.2,4 One 1959 report spells her name Aletha.2

The old steel frame survived the fire.2 A 1960 notice said the new cab would go on the surviving steel tower, and by August 1960 the lookout had moved into a new steel cab.2 NHLR dates the rebuild to 1960, but the Mountains Foundation gives 1961.3,4

The lookout was staffed by the Forest Service in the 1970s.2 In 1992 a Forest Service fire-prevention officer said it had gone unmanned since the late 1970s, citing budget cuts.2 That same year vandals got through a gate, and a bomb went off in the garage at the tower.2 A 1992 newspaper report said the tower was headed for the Toiyabe National Forest, but later sources put it still on Morton Peak.2,3,1

NHLR says volunteers brought the lookout back into active use in 2001, after it fell out of use in the 1970s.3 The volunteer host program's 2014 report says the lookout stayed open all year because of high fire danger, and it planned to put the site back on rental in 2015.5

When a volunteer is on duty, the road to the summit may be open and the volunteer may invite visitors into the cab.1 Overnight stays for the public are no longer available.1 The road is unpaved and narrow, and the Forest Service recommends a high-clearance vehicle.1 The gate sits about 1.5 miles up, with the summit about 1.5 miles past it.1 With no one on duty, or during a fire emergency, you may have to leave your vehicle at the gate and walk in, and the cab may be off limits.1 A 2025 Mountains Foundation page said the area was closed under a Line Fire closure order.4 The Forest Service page does not mention that closure, so check before you go.4,1

  1. Morton Peak Fire Lookout, U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest, https://fs.usda.gov/r05/sanbernardino/recreation/morton-peak-fire-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Morton Peak, Forest Lookouts (transcribed Redlands Daily Facts and San Bernardino County Sun reports), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/morton-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Morton Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/morton-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. FL Seven Lookouts, Southern California Mountains Foundation, https://mountainsfoundation.org/programs/fire-lookouts/fl-seven-lookouts/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Fire Lookout Host Program: Accomplishments 2014 and Plans for 2015, San Bernardino host program report, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-sanban-2014.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Morton Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Morton Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Morton Peak Lookout Guards Mill Creek - May 10, 1961
Morton Peak Lookout Guards Mill Creek - May 10, 1961 (1961)Photo: Redlands Daily Facts, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
700 Battle Fire at Morton Peak
700 Battle Fire at Morton PeakPhoto: San Pedro News-Pilot, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
New Lookout House For Morton Peak - April 13, 1960
New Lookout House For Morton Peak - April 13, 1960 (1960)Photo: Redlands Daily Facts, 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, register numbers, agency, ownership, 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. Southern California Mountains Foundation Gave us: staffing, dates, links Southern California Mountains Foundation (mountainsfoundation.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, what happened). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the foundation's page it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height, 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
  6. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages Gave us: register numbers, links FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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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