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Fire lookout · Los Angeles County, California

Mount Lukens Lookout Site

Also known as Mount Lukens (sister elsie)

Mount Lukens' first lookout, built 1922, burned in 1933; sources disagree on whether its tower moved to Josephine Peak in 1935 or 1936. The summit is now a radio site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The first lookout burned in 1933. Sources disagree on where its tower went, and the summit is now a communications site.

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
Type
Cab on a towerOriginal 1922 lookout structure, burned in 1933; later California Region 5 Plan 4AR, a 10-foot open timber towerThe design: D-5 (4-AR)
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1922
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,081 ft (1,549 m)
Agency
US Forest Service, Angeles National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Los Angeles County, California
Coordinates
34.26915, −118.23899
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-mount-lukens

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.

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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. 1922 BuiltRegister gives 1922 as the build year of the first structure; a September 1922 newspaper reported the planSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1924 First staffedJames Murray, government lookout, in the newspaper recordSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1929 StaffedIra W. Roberts, lookout; reported 110 fires in July 1929Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1933 BurnedOriginal structure burned in a wildfire in late 1933Sources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1933 StaffedL. W. Elliott, county fire department, held the lookout in November 1933Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1935 RemovedRegister date for dismantling; reports suggest the structure was moved to Josephine PeakSource: firetower.org
  7. 1936 MovedAngeles Adventures dates the move of the tower to Josephine Peak to 1936Source: angelesadventures.com
  8. No record between 1936 and 1975
  9. 1975 DestroyedJosephine Peak lookout service ended in 1975 per Angeles Adventures; that page says it was then destroyed by the Big Tujunga (Mill) Fire, without giving the fire yearSource: angelesadventures.com
  10. No record between 1975 and 2012
  11. 2012 EventForest Service decision signed for a new tower at the Mt. Lukens Communication SiteSource: fs.usda.gov
  12. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: November 3, 2019Source: FFLOS register entry
  13. 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.

In September 1922 a newspaper reported a plan to make the peak, once known as Sister Elsie, a Forest Service lookout station for the fire seasons.1 The register dates the first structure to 1922 and says a wildfire burned it in late 1933.2 Angeles Adventures says a tower had stood on the peak since 1923.3

Lookouts named in the newspapers include James Murray, a government lookout in 1924, and Ira W. Roberts, who reported 110 fires in July 1929.1 In November 1933 L. W. Elliott, who worked for the county fire department, stayed at his lookout for thirty-six hours before he had to leave it, and went back to his post the next afternoon.1

The register says reports suggest that the lookout was taken apart and carried to Josephine Peak during 1935.2 Angeles Adventures dates the move to 1936.3 The register adds that photos of Josephine Peak appear to show a newer building there, and that the structure on Mount Lukens went unused.2 Some time afterward, the register says, the burned structure was replaced by a 10-foot-high open timber tower built to the Plan 4AR design of California's Region 5.2

Angeles Adventures says a lookout stood on Josephine Peak from 1936 until the Big Tujunga (Mill) Fire destroyed it.3 Today only concrete footings are left, beside a small shed whose roof carries communications masts.3

The Mount Lukens summit is now a communications site. A radio-site listing describes a group of antenna towers and equipment buildings there.4 The Forest Service describes the Mt. Lukens Communication Site as being at the top of the peak, and its project record includes a decision signed on September 19, 2012, for a new tower there.5 Hiking routes reach the summit, where some radio antennae stand.6 No source we read describes what, if anything, remains of the 1922 lookout on the summit.

  1. Mount Lukens (sister elsie), Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/mount-lukens.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount Lukens Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/mount-lukens-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Josephine Peak Lookout, Angeles Adventures, https://angelesadventures.com/josephine-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mount Lukens, MRA, https://mra-raycom.com/locations/mount-lukens/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Angeles National Forest Project Summary #39085, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/angeles/projects/39085 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Mount Lukens, Crescenta View and Rim of the Valley Loop, Komoot, https://www.komoot.com/smarttour/e1249608268/mount-lukens-crescenta-view-and-rim-of-the-valley-loop (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Mount Lukens Lookout - Region 5 Plan 4AR
Mount Lukens Lookout - Region 5 Plan 4ARPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Circa 1920's
Circa 1920's (1920)Photo: Gordon Rowley, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
May 29, 1923
May 29, 1923 (1923)Photo: Los Angeles Times, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
November 23, 1933
November 23, 1933 (1933)Photo: Pasadena Post, via 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, 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) 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, 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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