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Fire lookout · Riverside County, California

Ranger Peak Lookout Site

Ranger Peak lookout, San Bernardino NF, Riverside County: 1926 cab on an open timber tower, used at Keenwild until 2010; a climbers' log says only pedestal mounts remain.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The cab was used at the Keenwild helibase until the new operations center opened in 2010. A climbers' log says only the pedestal mounts and rock stairs remain at the summit.

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?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
A climbers' log describes a fire road to the summit that careful drivers in passenger cars can use, and a short hike from the highway along an old firebreak. No official source read gives access rules.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towermodified L-6 type 8'x8' wood cab on a 20' battered, open timber towerThe design: L-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1926
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,035 ft (1,535 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Riverside County, California
Coordinates
33.84440, −116.82543 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-ranger-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. 1926 BuiltRegister: built along with a lookout on Barton Peak to replace the Black Mountain lookout. A climbers' page gives 1935 instead (see notes_for_editor).Source: firetower.org
  2. No record between 1926 and 1962
  3. 1962 Replaced by a new structureThe lookout pair served until 1962, when a new structure at Black Mountain replaced them.Source: firetower.org
  4. 1963 MovedCab removed and stored at the USFS Cranston Fire Station until 1963, then put to use at the newly opened Keenwild Helitack Base.Sources: firetower.org, wildfiretoday.com
  5. 1974 EventPer a June 2010 report, the crew built a 560-square-foot office from the dismantled remains of the old lookout, and it was moved uphill in 1974. This conflicts with the register's account of the cab (see notes_for_editor).Source: wildfiretoday.com
  6. No record between 1974 and 2010
  7. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered October 17, 2010, nominated by Brad Eells.Source: firetower.org
  8. 2010 Replaced by a new structureRegister: the cab was enlarged and modified over time and used until the new Keenwild Helitack Operations Center opened on June 9, 2010.Source: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Ranger Peak lookout stood in the San Bernardino National Forest in Riverside County, California, at 5,035 feet (1,535 meters).1 The register says it was built in 1926, alongside a lookout on Barton Peak, to replace the Black Mountain lookout, which stood at a higher altitude.1 A climbers' page gives the build year as 1935 instead.2 The register says the lookout appears to have had a modified L-6 wood cab, 8 by 8 feet, with two window panes on each side, set atop a 20-foot open timber tower.1

The register says both lookouts were in service until 1962, when a new structure at Black Mountain took their place.1 The cab was taken down and stored at the Cranston Fire Station until 1963.1 Then it went to the newly opened Keenwild Helitack Base, where it became known as the Helishack.1,3

The register says the cab was enlarged and changed over time, and stayed in service until the new Keenwild Helitack Operations Center opened on June 9, 2010.1 A news report on the base, from June 2010, tells a different story. It says the crew built a 560-square-foot office from the dismantled remains of the old lookout, and that the office was moved uphill in 1974.3 The two accounts do not agree on what happened to the cab itself.1,3 The site was added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on October 17, 2010, nominated by Brad Eells.1

A climbers' log describes the summit, though the text we read gives no date for it. The log says only the pedestal mounts and some rock stairs remain of the lookout.2 It also describes a well-kept fire road to the top that a passenger car can handle with care, passing tall towers along the way.2 It advises checking the San Bernardino National Forest for current conditions before driving up.2 We found no official source that describes the site now.

  1. Ranger Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/ranger-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Ranger Peak Lookout, SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/ranger-peak/367020 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. New Keenwild helibase opens, Wildfire Today, https://wildfiretoday.com/new-keenwild-helibase-opens/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Ranger Peak Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1939 Newspaper Article
1939 Newspaper Article (1939)Photo: San Bernardino Sun, via 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 the location by 7.3 km (4.6 mi).

    • FFLA: 33.84440, −116.82543
    • FFLOS: 33.89981, −116.86876

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from FFLA.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, 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: location, 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.