Fire lookout · Humboldt County, California
Mount Pierce AWS
FFLA lists a Mount Pierce AWS site in Humboldt County as gone. The summit now holds antennas, a geodetic marker and a plaque; access is disputed between sources.
- Gone
- Restricted access
- Verified
Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Listed as gone on the FFLA California list. The summit now holds antennas, a geodetic marker and a plaque.
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. Sources disagree. CLUI says the peak is Forest Service land, closed to the public. A trip report says the logging owner asks visitors to request permission first; the road is open for the first 4.5 miles, then gated for the last 3.5.
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Type unknown
- Built of
- Not recorded
- Also served as
- Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
- Built
- Unknown
- Height
- Unknown
- Elevation
- Unknown
- Agency
- Unknown
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Humboldt County, California
- Coordinates
- 40.41715, −124.12057
- Registers
- Not on a lookout register
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-ca-mount-pierce-aws
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
- 1853 EventHumboldt Meridian established, with its initial point on the summit. A survey event, not a lookout record.Sources: en.wikipedia.org, clui.org
- TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.
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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
Mount Pierce, sometimes called Pierce Mountain or Monument Peak, is the top of Monument Ridge in Humboldt County's Coast Range.1 The Humboldt Meridian, a survey reference line, was established in 1853, and its starting point is on the summit.1,2
The Fire Lookout Association's California list names a Mount Pierce AWS site in Humboldt County and marks it gone.3 Antennas, a geodetic marker and a plaque now occupy the summit.1 The iron-bar tower that once marked the summit is gone.1 No source we found ties the AWS entry to the antennas or the tower.3,1
Access is disputed.2,4 The Center for Land Use Interpretation says the summit is Forest Service ground, closed to the public, with a local telemetry site on it.2 A hiker's trip report, citing contact with the owner in September 2020, says a logging company owns the land and asks visitors to request permission first.4 The same report found the road open for the first 4.5 miles, then gated for the last 3.5 miles to the summit.4 Treat the summit as off limits unless the landowner or land manager gives permission.
- Mount Pierce (California), Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Pierce_(California) (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
- Humboldt Meridian, Center for Land Use Interpretation, https://www.clui.org/section/humboldt-meridian (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
- California Lookouts county list, Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ca/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
- Mt. Pierce trip report, snwburd.com, https://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_reports/pierce_1.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
Sources
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, wartime use, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, status, 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
- Mount Pierce (California) (Wikipedia) (opens another site)
- Humboldt Meridian (Center for Land Use Interpretation) (opens another site)
- Mt. Pierce trip report (snwburd.com) (opens another site)
- FFLA California lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.