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Fire lookout · Monterey County, California

Plaskett Ridge Lookout - AWS Site

Monterey County AWS post with a cabin and cupola, built about 1943 for aircraft observation; register says its removal date and exact location are unknown.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Register list shows Gone; detail page says the removal date and exact location of the post are unknown; no source describes what remains

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 cabstandard AWS post structure with a ground cabin and cupolaThe design: Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Also served as
Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
Built
1943
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,365 ft (1,026 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Los Padres National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Monterey County, California
Coordinates
35.94908, −121.42124
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-plaskett-ridge-lookout-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 3.0 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. 1943 BuiltGround cabin and cupola constructed circa 1943 per the register's descriptionSource: firetower.org
  2. No record between 1943 and 2019
  3. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 22, 2019; nominated by Brad EellsSource: firetower.org
  4. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Plaskett Ridge is in the Los Padres National Forest, in Monterey County.1 The post there was a standard Aircraft Warning Service (AWS) structure with a ground cabin and a cupola, which the register dates to about 1943.1,2

The Forest Service equipped and manned the post, and the Army paid the Forest Service back for all of its costs.1 Operators were supposed to pass aircraft activity, and every fire or smoke, on to Forest Service dispatch.1 A lookout-history site says the cabin was put to use spotting aircraft during the Second World War.3

The register's list shows the site as Gone.4 Its detail page says the removal date is unknown, and that the post's precise spot is unknown too, even though the register gives coordinates for the site.1 The register added the site on December 22, 2019, on the nomination of Brad Eells.1

We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains at the site today, or whether the public can visit it.

  1. Plaskett Ridge Lookout - AWS Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/plaskett-ridge-lookout-aws-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Mount Pinos - AWS Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/mount-pinos-aws-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Plaskett Ridge, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/plaskett-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Lookout site list, Former Fire Lookout Sites, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ca/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Photo of Plaskett Ridge Lookout - AWS Site, 1988
(1988)Photo: "Lookouts of the Los Padres Forest" By Irma Oksen Reaves - 1988, 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, type, 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: wartime use, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. 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.