FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Siskiyou County, California

Offield Mountain Lookout Site

Klamath NF lookout near Orleans: first station possibly 1919, enclosed tower built 1933, gone by 1986; the 2020 site has only a rock monument.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Gone by 1986 per the Thornton Survey; a 2020 bike guide describes only a rock monument at the 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
Trail
A 2020 bike route guide describes an optional steep climb, 1.5 miles each way, to the old site from a loop that starts in Somes Bar.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Enclosed towerUSFS R1 Plan cabin on an 18-foot enclosed timber tower (1933 structure)The design: Plan 4-A
Built of
Wood
Built
1919
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,073 ft (1,242 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Klamath National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Siskiyou County, California
Coordinates
41.42371, −123.47201
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-offield-mountain

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 3.5 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. 1919 BuiltFFLOS says the original structure may have been constructed as early as 1919Source: firetower.org
  2. 1919 First staffedFrank Offield named to take the station July 1Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1921 BuiltNewspaper reports a new station completed, glass-sided with a view in every directionSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1933 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  5. 1933 Replaced by a new structureNew cabin on an 18-foot enclosed timber tower about 100 yards from the old site; finished in late 1933Sources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1935 EventRoad to Offield Lookout and Camp 3 completedSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service used the station as an observation post during the winter monthsSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1947 StaffedWilford Ferris and wife replaced Prigmore as lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1947 and 1966
  10. 1966 StaffedIda Lake went on the lookout for the Ukonom District, April 1966Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1971 StaffedIda Lake serving as lookout (Ukonom District) in 1971Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  12. 1981 EventStructure still standing in 1981 per FFLOSSource: firetower.org
  13. 1986 RemovedGone by 1986 (Thornton Survey); FFLOS says removed prior to 1986, so this year is an upper boundSource: firetower.org
  14. No record between 1986 and 2020
  15. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register April 22, 2020Source: firetower.org
  16. 2020 Event2020 bike guide describes only a rock monument at the siteSource: northcoastbikerides.blogspot.com
  17. 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.

Offield Mountain may have had a lookout as early as 1919, though the enclosed tower that the register dates to 1933.1 In June 1919 the ranger named Frank Offield to take the station on July 1, and fire guards that month were working on the trail up to the lookout and putting in a telephone to it.2

In 1921 the Siskiyou Daily News reported a new station finished on the peak, with glass sides that gave an unobstructed view all around.2 In 1933 a new cabin on an 18-foot enclosed timber tower went up about 100 yards from the old site.1 In November that year a five-person crew stayed in the old building while the new tower and cab were being finished.2 A road to the lookout and Camp 3 was finished in July 1935.2

The keepers were seasonal. Steve Robinson was stationed there in 1929.2 During the winter of 1942 the Aircraft Warning Service used the station as an observation post.2 In 1947 Wilford Ferris and his wife took over from Prigmore.2 Buck and Nell Howard had completed six seasons with the Klamath forest by 1957, with Nell keeping watch day and night.2 Ida Lake went on the lookout for the Ukonom District in April 1966, and a July 1971 item had her there that summer.2

The Former Fire Lookout Sites register reports the structure was still standing in 1981 and had disappeared by 1986, the year of the Thornton Survey.1

A 2020 bike route guide reports that the spot now has a rock monument and no lookout.3 It describes an optional climb of 1.5 miles each way, with a steep grade up to the old site, from a loop that starts in Somes Bar.3 The guide does not say whether the road to the site is open to visitors now.

A 1971 newspaper item said the lookout could be reached by car from Highway 96 at Somes Bar and that the public was invited to visit, while the Forest Service warned that lookout duties must not be hampered.2

  1. Offield Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/offield-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Offield Mountain - Forest Lookouts (newspaper excerpts), California Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/offield-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Somes Bar Gravel Loops, North Coast Bike Rides, https://northcoastbikerides.blogspot.com/2020/06/somes-bar-gravel-loops.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Offield Mountain Lookout - 1981
Offield Mountain Lookout - 1981 (1981)Photo: Siskiyou County Historical Society Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Offield Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Nancy Hood Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Original cabin - California Region 4A - Circa 1920's
Original cabin - California Region 4A - Circa 1920's (1920)Photo: Nancy Hood Collection, 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, what it is built of, 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: links 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, 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.