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Fire lookout · El Dorado County, California

Robbs Peak Lookout

Eldorado NF lookout on Robbs Peak (6,686 ft): CCC-built 1937 cab, Forest Service staffed 1934-1978, now summer day use beside a rented hut.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Open to the public for day use in summer; not included with the hut rental

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Vehicle access in summer only, by the Robbs Peak road (13N31)
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingL-4 14 by 14 foot cab with outriggers on a 9-foot enclosed wooden baseThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1937
Height
686 ft (209.1 m)
Elevation
6,686 ft (2,038 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Eldorado National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
El Dorado County, California
Coordinates
38.92447, −120.40322
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-robbs-peak

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1915 StaffedNewspaper notice that a man would go on duty as lookout at Robb's PeakSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1915 and 1934
  3. 1934 First staffedForest Service start of its staffed period; sits awkwardly beside the 1915 noticeSource: fs.usda.gov
  4. 1936 EventNotice that a new lookout house would be erected on Robb's PeakSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1937 BuiltCCC-built L-4 cab; the hut was also built by the CCC that yearSources: nhlr.org, mtdemocrat.com
  6. No record between 1937 and 1978
  7. 1978 Last staffedForest Service staffed period endsSource: fs.usda.gov
  8. 1987 EventFormer lookout station on the peak to be available as a mountain hut after an open house; $15 per night per partySource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1987 and 2004
  10. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered as US 599, CA 70 on September 21, 2004Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2004 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesLookout named to the National Register of Historic PlacesSource: mtdemocrat.com
  12. 2015 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesHut named to the National Register of Historic PlacesSource: mtdemocrat.com
  13. 2017 EventNational FFLA approved a 500 dollar restoration grant to help return the lookout to service as a fire lookout and interpretive center.Source: firelookout.org
  14. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Robbs Peak rises to 6,686 feet near Union Valley Reservoir in the Eldorado National Forest.1,2 A Mountain Democrat item from July 3, 1915, reproduced on the Forest Lookouts page, said Mr. Fred Carpenter would soon go on duty as lookout there.3 A 1936 notice said a new lookout house would be built on the peak.3

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the present cab in 1937.1,4 The register describes it as an L-4 design, 14 feet by 14 feet, with outriggers on a nine-foot enclosed wooden base, and dates its listing to September 21, 2004.1

The Forest Service says it staffed the lookout from 1934 through 1978 to detect fires.2 Those dates sit awkwardly beside the 1915 notice, and the sources do not say whether staffing lapsed in between.3,2

A February 18, 1987 notice said a former lookout station atop the peak would open as a mountain hut after a two-day open house, with a $15 fee per night per party.3 The Forest Service now describes the hut as sharing the mountaintop with the lookout, so the record does not show which building that notice meant.3,2

The Forest Service rental guide, which is undated, says the lookout is open to the public for day use during the summer and is still used for fire detection during emergencies. The guide says lookout use is not included with the hut rental.2 The register also marks the site as available for rental, without saying whether that refers to the hut.1 Vehicle access is in summer only, by the Robbs Peak road (13N31).2

A HistoriCorps project, led by staff with the help of volunteers, is replacing the hut's deteriorated cedar shingle roof and doing exterior and interior work on the lookout. The stated goal is public and administrative use of both structures.4 The lookout was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, and the hut in 2015.4

  1. Robbs Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/robbs-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Robbs Hut rental guide (PDF), U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/media/121930 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Robb's Peak, Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/robbs-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Restoration in the works at Robbs Hut, Mountain Democrat (mtdemocrat.com), https://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/restoration-in-the-works-at-robbs-hut/article_06aca0e6-21c8-11ee-a737-cb77dff0ba1d.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Robb's Peak Lookout - 2009
Robb's Peak Lookout - 2009 (2009)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Robbs Peak - July 5, 1940
Robbs Peak - July 5, 1940 (1940)Photo: Linton A. Brown, Sr., via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Robbs Peak - July 5, 1940
Robbs Peak - July 5, 1940 (1940)Photo: Linton A. Brown, Sr., via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Robbs Peak Lookout
Photo: Eldorado National Forest, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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 Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.