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Fire lookout · Sonoma County, California

Mount Jackson Lookout Site

Sonoma County's Mount Jackson lookout opened in 1928, was staffed into 1939 and was intentionally burned in 1995; no recent description of the site was found.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Intentionally burned in 1995. The latest site note, from 1991, lists communications structures and a water tank.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Not accessible to the public; the lookout lies about a mile behind a locked gate, per a 1991 register note.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Enclosed tower809R-type lookout station, per the registerThe design: CDF 809R
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1928
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,610 ft (491 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Sonoma Lake Napa Unit (Cal Fire LNU)
Land
Unknown
Location
Sonoma County, California
Coordinates
38.53972, −122.96135
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-mount-jackson

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. 1928 BuiltFirst lookout structure on the summit; the county set $300 toward completion in February 1928Sources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1929 First staffedEarliest staffing in the newspaper record: Fred Johnson posted for four and a half monthsSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1935 FireJohnson spotted a fire that threatened Bohemian Grove; about eight acres burnedSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1939 StaffedSam Wykoff in charge of the station (May 1939 report)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1947 BuiltOldest construction dates for the 809R-type building, per the registerSource: firetower.org
  6. 1948 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  7. No record between 1948 and 1995
  8. 1995 BurnedIntentionally burned after it was abandoned as a fire detection facilitySource: firetower.org
  9. 1995 Removed'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "1995".Source: FFLOS register entry
  10. No record between 1995 and 2019
  11. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: December 13, 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.

Mount Jackson, near Guerneville in Sonoma County, got its first fire lookout in 1928.1,2 An August 1927 newspaper report had put the planned tower at $2,500 and said quarters for lookouts would be provided.2 In February 1928 the county set $300 aside to help finish the station.2

The register describes a building of the 809R design, which came out in 1946, and gives 1947 as the oldest construction date.1 The register's own built field reads 1948.1

Fred Johnson, a former Petaluma resident, was posted on the summit each summer from 1929 through 1934.2 In July 1935 he discovered a fire that threatened Bohemian Grove, and about eight acres burned.2 A May 1939 report had Sam Wykoff running the station.2

The register says the lookout was deliberately burned in 1995, after it had been retired from fire detection.1

The register's latest description of the site is a 1991 note (MVT 10/91).1 The note says visitors cannot reach the site, and that the lookout sits about a mile beyond a locked gate.1 The same note lists communications vaults and towers, microwave installations nearby, and a concrete water tank of 10,000 gallons.1 No source we read describes what stands on the summit now.

  1. Mount Jackson Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/mount-jackson-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount Jackson, Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/mount-jackson.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Mount Jackson Lookout
Mount Jackson LookoutPhoto: Garry Palmer, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mount Jackson Lookout Site
Photo: Garry Palmer, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mount Jackson Lookout Site
Photo: Garry Palmer, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1995
1995 (1995)Photo: Richie Bucher, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mount Jackson Lookout Site
Photo: Richie Bucher, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, 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) 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, 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.