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Fire lookout · Ventura County, California

Nordhoff Peak Lookout Site

Los Padres NF lookout begun 1935; original cab burned in 1948, a relocated replacement burned in the 1970s; only the steel frame stands (2012 and 2017 accounts).

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. On foot only. Carey describes a seven-mile approach via the Gridley Trail; the 2017 write-up describes about 12 miles round trip from Ojai via Pratt Trail.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Approach is on foot: seven miles via the Gridley Trail (Carey, 2012), or about 12 miles round trip from Ojai via Pratt Trail (2017 write-up).
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-302 cab on a 10-foot enclosed timber tower (structure lost in 1948, per registry)The design: BC-301
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1935
Height
500 ft (152.4 m)
Elevation
4,481 ft (1,366 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Los Padres National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Ventura County, California
Coordinates
34.49818, −119.24212
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-nordhoff-peak

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

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. 1935 BuiltForest Service started work on a lookout station (newspaper, June 20, 1935). Completion date not found in the sources read.Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1938 StaffedObserver John V. Tracy on duty at Nordhoff Lookout; reported a smoke later found to be a house fire in North Hollywood (newspaper, Sept 1938)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1948 BurnedWheeler Springs Fire (Carey) destroyed the original wooden cab; newspaper of Sept 17, 1948 says a fire burned the lookout tower and does not name itSources: firetower.org, craigrcarey.net, californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1950 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  5. 1950 MovedAn existing tower and cabin were relocated by helicopter from Rincon Mountain, circa 1950Sources: firetower.org, craigrcarey.net
  6. 1956 EventForest Service operated a Ground Observer Corps post out of the lookout (newspaper, Nov 14, 1956)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1970 Burned'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "1970's - wildfire" (about 1970).Source: FFLOS register entry
  8. No record between 1970 and 2019
  9. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 19, 2019; nominated by Brad EellsSource: firetower.org
  10. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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.

Nordhoff Peak sits above the Ojai Valley in Ventura County, at about 4,481 feet, inside the Los Padres National Forest.1,2 The Forest Service started work on a lookout station there in June 1935, according to a newspaper report quoted on the Forest Lookouts site.3 Its first cab was made of wood.2

Observer John V. Tracy was on duty at Nordhoff Lookout in September 1938, and he reported a smoke that turned out to be a house fire in North Hollywood, about 90 miles away.3 In November 1956 the Forest Service ran a Ground Observer Corps post out of the lookout.3

Carey says the first cab was lost in the 1948 Wheeler Springs Fire.2 A September 1948 newspaper report says a fire burned the Nordhoff Peak lookout tower, but it does not name that fire.3 A replacement tower and cabin were flown in by helicopter from Rincon Mountain around 1950.1,2 That replacement burned in the 1970s.1,2 The registry says it was not replaced.1

Carey wrote in 2012 that only the steel frame stands, and a 2017 trail write-up describes the site as the leftovers of the old tower.2,4 The frame sits above a campground.2 Carey gives the approach as seven miles on the Gridley Trail, and the 2017 write-up puts a round trip from Ojai along the Pratt Trail at about 12 miles.2,4 We found no current rule for the frame, and we do not recommend climbing it.

  1. Nordhoff Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/nordhoff-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Lookout! No. 12: Nordhoff Peak, Craig R. Carey, http://www.craigrcarey.net/2012/05/lookout-no-12-nordhoff-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Nordhoff Peak (Forest Lookouts, California section), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/nordhoff-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Trail Quest: Nordhoff Peak, Songs of the Wilderness, https://songsofthewilderness.com/2017/11/27/trail-quest-nordhoff-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Nordhoff Peak Lookout - 1944
Nordhoff Peak Lookout - 1944 (1944)Photo: Fred Johnson, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1959
1959 (1959)Photo: Los Padres National Forest Archive, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Fire destroyed the lookout in the 1970's
Fire destroyed the lookout in the 1970's (1970)Photo: Bob Muschitz, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Using the Fire-Finder
Using the Fire-FinderPhoto: 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 whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages: Ruins

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) Gave us: height 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. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages Gave us: register numbers, links 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
  5. 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.