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Fire lookout · Siskiyou County, California

Pony Peak Lookout Site

Klamath NF peak with a phone line by 1912 and a 1934 CCC-built cabin on an enclosed tower; staffed to 1960, used to 1970; only the foundation remains.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removal date unknown; only the foundation remains at the site per the register.

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
Enclosed towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-302 cabin on an enclosed timber tower; first and only structure, 1934The design: BC-301
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,252 ft (1,601 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Klamath National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Siskiyou County, California
Coordinates
41.61258, −123.56840
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-pony-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 3.1 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. 1912 EventPhone line run to the peak by 1912Source: firetower.org
  2. 1924 EventEmergency wire to Pony Peak Lookout replaced (December 1924 notice)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1928 StaffedRecorded as a secondary lookout, manned in emergencies from Cottage Grove; the record says it should be primarySource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1934 BuiltCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-302 cabin on an enclosed timber tower; construction completed by a CCC crewSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1940 StaffedStaffed annually through 1940Source: firetower.org
  6. 1952 EventRoad to the lookout under constructionSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1960 Last staffedLast staffing period in the register: 1955-60Source: firetower.org
  8. 1970 EventUsed intermittently until 1970Source: firetower.org
  9. No record between 1970 and 2020
  10. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register April 22, 2020Source: firetower.org
  11. 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.

Pony Peak was watched long before it had a cabin. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register says a phone line reached the peak by 1912, and a photo caption records a 1925 temporary site.1 A December 1924 notice called for new wire on the emergency line to Pony Peak Lookout, and a 1928 record describes it as a secondary lookout, manned in emergencies, though it says it should be a primary one.2

The first structure came in 1934, a Region 5 cabin on an enclosed timber tower, and a CCC crew completed it that year.1,2 The sources do not agree on what stood before then. The 1924 and 1928 notes call the peak a lookout, while the register says the 1934 cabin was the first structure.1,2

The register says the peak was staffed each year through 1940, again from 1955 to 1960, and used intermittently until 1970.1 In 1952 a road to the lookout was under construction.3

The register does not record when the cabin was removed, and it reports only a foundation at the site now.1 No source here describes the site beyond that foundation, or says whether the peak is open to visitors.

  1. Pony Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/pony-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Siskiyou County - Forest Lookouts (historical notes), California Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/siskiyou-county.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Pony Peak - Forest Lookouts (newspaper excerpts), California Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/pony-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Pony Peak Lookout
Pony Peak LookoutPhoto: Nancy Hood Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1925 Temporary Site
1925 Temporary Site (1925)Photo: USFS - Siskiyou County Museum 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, 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, 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.