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Fire lookout · Ventura County, California

Reyes Peak Lookout Site

Los Padres NF lookout built 1927 on Reyes Peak, destroyed by the 1932 Matilija Fire and not rebuilt; footing pipes and debris remained at the 2011 visit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Destroyed by the Matilija Fire in September 1932 and not rebuilt; only footing pipes and debris were left at the 2011 visit

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Reached by a one-mile walk from the Reyes Peak trailhead; no closure appears in the sources read, but the newest visit described is from 2011

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
About one mile from the Reyes Peak trailhead, steep in places (Carey, 2011)

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan 4AR cabin with a 14 by 14 ft cab on an open timber towerThe design: D-5 (4-AR)
Built of
Wood
Built
1927
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
7,492 ft (2,284 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Los Padres National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Ventura County, California
Coordinates
34.63087, −119.28161
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-reyes-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 its recorded height.

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. 1922 EventNewspaper reports describe plans for a standard lookout station on the summit; the 1922 plans came before the 1927 cabinSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1927 BuiltConstructed as a California Region 5 Plan 4AR cabin on an open timber tower; Peakbagging and Carey give the same yearSources: firetower.org, craigrcarey.net, peakbagging.com
  3. 1932 Burned'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "1932 - Matilija Fire".Source: FFLOS register entry
  4. 1932 DestroyedLookout burned in the Matilija Fire (newspaper of 13 September 1932) and was not rebuiltSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com, peakbagging.com
  5. 1932 FireMatilija Fire started in early September 1932 and burned close to 220,000 acres in the Santa Barbara National ForestSource: en.wikipedia.org
  6. 1932 StaffedLookout William Green was at the post when the Matilija Fire reached the peak, per 1932 newspapersSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1932 and 2019
  8. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 20, 2019 as US 1859, CA 54Source: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Reyes Peak rises to about 7,500 feet on Pine Mountain in the Los Padres National Forest.1,2,3 A lookout went up on its summit in 1927.1,2,3 Newspapers had discussed a station there as early as 1922, when they called the peak the highest point in its district.4 The cabin was a California Region 5 design with a 14-foot-square cab on an open timber frame.1,2 Sources disagree on the frame's height: the Forest Service register gives 20 feet, while Craig Carey describes a 14-foot wooden frame.1,2

In September 1932 the lookout was William Green.4 Newspapers reported that he got out with most of his instruments as flames reached his post.4 The Matilija Fire started in early September 1932 and burned close to 220,000 acres of the forest.5 The fire destroyed the lookout that month, and the Forest Service register says it was never rebuilt.4,1

No tower stands on the summit today.3 A 2011 visit found nothing left but footing pipes, plus scattered debris that included a bed frame and part of a roof.3,2

Getting there means walking about a mile from the Reyes Peak trailhead, with some steep stretches.2 None of the sources read describes a closure. The newest visit among them is from 2011, so check current conditions with the national forest before you go.3,2

  1. Reyes Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/reyes-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Lookout! No. 2: Reyes Peak, Craig R. Carey, http://www.craigrcarey.net/2011/05/lookout-reyes-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Reyes Peak (LO site), California, Peakbagging, http://www.peakbagging.com/CALookoutPhotos/Reyes.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Reyes Peak, Forest Lookouts (California), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/reyes-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Matilija Fire, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilija_Fire (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Reyes Peak Lookout - 1927
Reyes Peak Lookout - 1927 (1927)Photo: Los Padres National Forest Archive, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Ranger and Mrs. Green - 1928
Ranger and Mrs. Green - 1928 (1928)Photo: Los Padres National Forest Archive, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Reyes Peak Lookout Site Today
Reyes Peak Lookout Site TodayPhoto: Craig R. Carey, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1927
1927 (1927)Photo: USFS - Craig R. Carey Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Reyes Peak Lookout Site
Photo: USFS - Craig R. Carey Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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, height, status, agency, access, 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.