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Fire lookout · Siskiyou County, California

Packers Peak Lookout Site

Packers Peak cupola-style lookout, Klamath National Forest: planned 1913, built 1914 per the register, staffed seasonally into the 1930s; nothing remains on the site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Nothing remains at the site, according to the register; removal date unknown.

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
Ground-level cabCupola-style lookout cabin (register); the 1913 plan was a 12 by 12 house under an eight-foot octagonal glass towerThe design: Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1914
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,025 ft (2,141 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Klamath National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Siskiyou County, California
Coordinates
41.09134, −122.97067
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-packers-peak

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. 1911 EventRegister: the site was a lookout site as early as 1911, with the lookout using a nearby cabinSource: firetower.org
  2. 1913 EventNewspaper: three new lookout houses planned in July 1913; this one expected ready by August 1Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1914 BuiltRegister: cupola-style lookout cabin built in 1914Source: firetower.org
  4. 1914 EventTelephone line between Cecilville and the lookout completed in October 1914Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1915 FireFire on Coffee Creek, reported by the lookout, burned about 300 acresSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1916 StaffedWilliam Cady named as lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1922 StaffedJacob Leschinski stationed as lookout; again noted in 1923Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1926 EventSand and cement hauled for a cabin foundation for the lookout; the chronology notes the cabin was actually at Big Bend MeadowSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1930 StaffedHenry Duvol named lookout for the 1930 seasonSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1930 and 2020
  11. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegister date April 22, 2020Source: firetower.org
  12. 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 (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Former Fire Lookout Sites Register says Packers Peak was a lookout site as early as 1911. The lookout then used a nearby cabin and traveled up to the peak each day.1 In July 1913 the Siskiyou Daily News, quoted on the Forest Lookouts page, reported plans for three new lookouts, one of them on Packers Peak, which the paper placed on the divide between the Trinity and Salmon rivers. Each house was to be 12 by 12 with an eight-foot octagonal glass tower on top, and the buildings were expected to be ready by August 1.2

The register dates the cupola-style cabin to 1914 and says the site served into the 1960s.1 A telephone line from Cecilville to the lookout was completed in October 1914.2 The 1913 expected date and the register's 1914 date differ, and this story gives both.

The newspapers name some of the seasonal lookouts. William Cady held the post in 1916, Henry Duvol was named for the 1930 season, and Jacob Leschinski was there in 1922 and again in 1923.2 A 1921 item said the station was staffed only during the smoky months, since almost all the ground visible from the peak could also be seen from the Shasta or Eddy's Gulch lookouts.2

A fire on Coffee Creek, reported by the lookout in October 1915, burned about 300 acres.2 In 1926 a Klamath National Forest chronology records sand and cement hauled for the foundation of a cabin for the lookout, and notes that the cabin was actually at Big Bend Meadow.2 A 1931 entry mentions new window glass and a repaired ceiling at the lookout.2

The register says nothing remains at the site and gives no removal date.1 I found no source describing the site today, or saying whether the public may go there. Check with the Klamath National Forest, which the register names as administrator, before planning a visit.1

  1. Packers Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/packers-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Packers Peak - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/packers-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Packers Peak Lookout
Packers Peak LookoutPhoto: 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) 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

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