FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Plumas County, California

Mount Harkness Lookout

Stone-tower lookout in Lassen Volcanic NP, built 1931 (1930 construction reported); NRHP-listed 2017; restored 2019-20; lost in the 2021 Dixie Fire.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Reported lost in the 2021 Dixie Fire.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Two-story building15 by 15 ft cab with log catwalk and railings on a 15 ft stone tower; classic NPS rustic designThe design: National Park Service lookout
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,985 ft (2,434 m)
Agency
National Park Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Plumas County, California
Coordinates
40.43212, −121.29998
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-mount-harkness

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.3 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. 1930 First staffedFirst park-operated lookout station, established in 1930 per a Park Service report quoted on Forest Lookouts. The register and Wikipedia give 1931 for the build.Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1931 BuiltRegister and Wikipedia date the build to 1931.Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org
  3. No record between 1931 and 2003
  4. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered May 29, 2003 as US 516, CA 54.Source: nhlr.org
  5. 2017 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesAdded to the National Register of Historic Places June 19, 2017 (ref. 100001211).Source: en.wikipedia.org
  6. 2019 RestoredFirst season of restoration work by HistoriCorps and the National Park Service.Source: firelookout.org
  7. 2020 RestoredSecond season of restoration work by HistoriCorps and the National Park Service.Source: firelookout.org
  8. 2021 BurnedReported lost in the Dixie Fire, August 8, 2021.Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org
  9. 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.

The Mount Harkness lookout stood at 7,985 feet (2,434 m) in Lassen Volcanic National Park, Plumas County, California.1,2

Plans came first. A December 1929 notice, quoted on the Forest Lookouts page, said a fire lookout and weather and seismic stations were to go on the summit.3 A July 12, 1930 item described a two-story building of natural stone, with an observatory on the top floor.3

The completion year is disputed. The register and Wikipedia both give 1931.1,2 Items from 1930 point to an earlier date. A July 1930 newspaper item, also quoted on the Forest Lookouts page, said the lookout was nearly completed then. A September 10, 1930 item on the same page reports the recent completion of the new station.3 A 1930 Park Service report says the park's first park-operated lookout station was established on Mount Harkness that year.3 We did not find a source that settles the year.

The register describes a classic 15-by-15-foot cab with a log catwalk and railings, on a 15-foot stone tower with split-log stairs.1 Wikipedia gives the same tower height and calls the design a classic rustic Park Service design.2 The register says the lookout has been in active service since it was built.1 Wikipedia says it was staffed and open in summer, though that line is not dated.2

The register listed the lookout on May 29, 2003.1 The National Register of Historic Places added it on June 19, 2017.2

The Forest Fire Lookout Association's California-Northern reports say HistoriCorps and the National Park Service carried out restoration work in 2019 and again in 2020.4,5 Both reports label the lookout as being in Lava Beds National Monument, not Lassen, so it is unclear whether they describe this same lookout.

The register says the lookout was reported lost in the Dixie Fire on August 8, 2021.1 Wikipedia says the July and August 2021 fire destroyed it.2

We found no source that describes the site after the fire, so we cannot say what remains of the tower. The sources also do not say whether visitors can reach the summit now. The site lies inside Lassen Volcanic National Park, so check with the park before you plan a visit.2

  1. Mount Harkness Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/mount-harkness-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount Harkness Fire Lookout, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Harkness_Fire_Lookout (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount Harkness, Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/mount-harkness.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association, California-Northern Chapter, 2019 Year-End Report, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ca-north-2019.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association, California-Northern Chapter, 2020 Year-End Report, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ca-north-2020.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Mount Harkness Lookout - 2009
Mount Harkness Lookout - 2009 (2009)Photo: National Park Service, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
September 2020
September 2020 (2020)Photo: Vickie Lamoureux, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mount Harkness Lookout
Photo: Ron Kemnow Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Under construction - 1931
Under construction - 1931 (1931)Photo: National Park Service, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
August 2021
August 2021 (2021)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mount Harkness Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mount Harkness Lookout
Photo: LassenNPS, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · 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.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

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. 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
  4. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: register numbers, photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.