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Fire lookout · San Diego County, California

Mount Woodson Tower Site

Also known as Woodson Mountain

Mount Woodson lookout: 1936 first tower, 1950 CDF 809R tower, conflicting loss dates (1967 caption vs 1986 standing), removed by 1991; summit now communications site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Register says the last lookout was demolished or removed by 1991; the summit now has communications buildings and antennas

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. The summit is a communications site; the hiking route from Lake Poway closes its gates at sunset

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
West approach from Lake Poway, 6.5 miles round trip; the lake area closes its gates at sunset

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower1950 California Department of Forestry Standard Plan 809R 15-by-15-foot wood cab on a 30-foot enclosed steel K-brace towerThe designs: CDF 809R, BC-201, Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Height
Unknown
Elevation
2,874 ft (876 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Monte Vista Unit (Cal Fire MVU)
Land
Unknown
Location
San Diego County, California
Coordinates
33.00863, −116.96667
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-mount-woodson

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 3.0 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. 1936 BuiltFirst lookout: an 80-foot battered X-brace steel tower with an Aeromotor 7x7 observation cab and a residence cabin on the ground; register says likely built by Civilian Conservation Corps crewsSources: firetower.org, hikerjeff.com
  2. 1938 FireNovember windstorm blew out windows at the ranger lookout station at Woodson and set off grass and brush fires across northern San Diego CountySource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1948 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  4. 1948 EventRegister's Built field gives 1948; its description dates the first tower to 1936Source: firetower.org
  5. 1950 Replaced by a new structureCalifornia Department of Forestry 809R tower: 15-by-15-foot wood cab on a 30-foot enclosed steel K-brace tower, with living quarters below the cabSources: firetower.org, ffla-sandiego.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1962 EventState approved buying a 400-acre hilltop for the lookout and a radio repeater siteSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1967 BurnedRegister photo caption reads 'Tower Lost in a 1967 Fire'; the register text says the 1950 lookout was apparently lost in a fire. The sources disagree on which tower burnedSource: firetower.org
  8. 1967 FireFire broke out near the Ramona Airport on October 29, climbed the eastern slopes of Mt. Woodson and ran toward Poway, where 16 homes burnedSource: sandiegouniontribune.com
  9. 1968 EventNew plans drawn for a replacement tower; register has no photos or descriptions of itSource: firetower.org
  10. No record between 1968 and 1986
  11. 1986 Condition assessmentA lookout is noted as standing in a 1986 surveySources: firetower.org, ffla-sandiego.org
  12. 1990 RemovedRegister's Removed field reads 1990'sSource: firetower.org
  13. 1991 RemovedLast lookout demolished or removed by 1991, per register textSources: firetower.org, ffla-sandiego.org
  14. No record between 1991 and 2009
  15. 2009 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered April 13, 2009; nominated by Brad EellsSource: firetower.org
  16. 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 Woodson sits about seven miles southwest of Ramona in San Diego County.1 A fire lookout stood on its summit for several decades.2,3

The register describes a first lookout here, an 80-foot battered steel tower with an observation-only cab and a residence cabin on the ground. It says Civilian Conservation Corps crews likely built it.2 A hiking guide gives the same 1936 date.3 The register's Built field, however, reads 1948.2

In 1950 the California Department of Forestry put up a 30-foot enclosed steel tower with a 15-by-15-foot wood cab built to Standard Plan 809R.2,4 Living quarters took up the second and third floors below the cab.2

In November 1938 a windstorm blew out the windows of Woodson's ranger lookout station, and the same winds sparked brush and grass fires in many parts of northern San Diego County.4 On October 29, 1967, a blaze that began near the Ramona Airport swept up the east side of Mt. Woodson and ran toward Poway, where 16 homes burned.5

The register's photo caption says a tower was lost in a 1967 fire, and its text says the 1950 lookout seems to have been lost in a fire.2 The same entry notes a lookout still standing in a 1986 survey, so the sources disagree about which tower burned, and when.2,6 The register records 1968 plans for a replacement, but photos and descriptions of it have not yet turned up.2 The register dates the final removal to the 1990s and says the last lookout was gone by 1991.2,6 A hiking guide believes it was removed in the 1980s.3

The summit now holds many communications buildings and antennas, and a hiking guide reports that remnants of the old lookout base are also up there.3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's current photo caption calls it an antenna farm.6 In 1962 the state approved buying a 400-acre hilltop meant for a lookout and a radio repeater.4

Hikers can reach the top from Lake Poway on a 6.5-mile round trip, but the lake area shuts its gates when the sun goes down.3 A local history describes it as a primary lookout that is gone.1 No source we read describes what the lookout base looks like today, or whether any footings survive.

  1. Lookout Towers, Friends of the Descanso Library, http://www.friendsofthedescansolibrary.org/history/Lookout_Towers.php (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount Woodson Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/mount-woodson-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mt Woodson, Hiker Jeff, http://www.hikerjeff.com/sd_woodson.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Woodson Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/woodson-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Poway was on fire 50 years ago, San Diego Union-Tribune, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2017/10/13/poway-was-on-fire-50-years-ago/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Mount Woodson, FFLA-SDRC, https://www.ffla-sandiego.org/fire-lookout/southern-california-towers/mount-woodson/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Woodson Tower Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mount Woodson Tower Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Circa 1930's
Circa 1930's (1930)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
BC-201 Residence Cabin - Circa 1930's
BC-201 Residence Cabin - Circa 1930's (1930)Photo: Don Russell, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tower Lost in a 1967 Fire
Tower Lost in a 1967 Fire (1967)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1966 Fire Captains School - Station and Lookout
1966 Fire Captains School - Station and Lookout (1966)Photo: Bob Robeson, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · 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 the year it was built.

    • FFLOS: 1948
    • FFLA San Diego-Riverside Chapter: 1936

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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. FFLA San Diego-Riverside Chapter Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, San Diego-Riverside Chapter (ffla-sandiego.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, designs, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the chapter's page it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. 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
  5. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages 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
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.