FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Siskiyou County, California

Scott Bar Mountain Lookout

Also known as Scott Bar Lookout

1934 CCC-built enclosed timber lookout on the Klamath NF; the forest sought removal around 2016-2017 and a May 2025 visit found it near collapse.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Enclosed towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-301 on an enclosed timber towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,860 ft (1,481 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Klamath National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Siskiyou County, California
Coordinates
41.65899, −123.09558
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-scott-bar-mountain

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.

Downloads about 3.4 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. 1934 BuiltBuilt during summer 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps for the Klamath NFSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1934 and 2017
  3. 2017 EventKlamath NF put in a request to remove the lookout roughly in 2016/2017; SHPO coordination ongoing sinceSource: firelookout.org
  4. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered November 24, 2019 as US 1382, CA 205; nominated by Brad EellsSource: nhlr.org
  5. 2025 Condition assessmentVisit report dated May 21, 2025 (Darin McQuoid): abandoned, in disrepair, not far from collapse; marked not in good conditionSource: nhlr.org
  6. 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.

Scott Bar Mountain Lookout stands in Siskiyou County, California, on the Klamath National Forest, and the US Forest Service is listed as its administrator.1 The National Historic Lookout Register says the Civilian Conservation Corps built it in the summer of 1934, to a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 design on an enclosed timber tower.1 The Register gives the site an elevation of 4,860 feet and records its registration on November 24, 2019.1

The sources I could read do not say who staffed the lookout or which fires it watched.

Its later history centres on the forest's wish to take it down.2 An FFLA regional report says the Klamath National Forest asked for the lookout to be removed roughly in 2016 or 2017, but that consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office has continued since then.2 The same report says a district archaeologist was interested in a memorandum of understanding with the FFLA, and that discussion about the lookout was renewed that summer.2

The Register page lists a single visit report, dated May 21, 2025. The visitor marked the lookout as not in good condition, called it abandoned, badly run down and close to collapse, and said it had declined markedly over the past five years.1 The FFLA's lookout list still shows the tower as standing.3

I found no source that says whether the public can visit or climb it, so anyone curious should check with the Klamath National Forest first. A structure described as close to collapse is not one to climb.1

  1. Scott Bar Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/scott-bar-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. California North regional report, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/cr-cal-north-2025.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. California lookout list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ca/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Scott Bar Mountain Lookout - 2009
Scott Bar Mountain Lookout - 2009 (2009)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Scott Bar Mountain Lookout
Photo: Nancy Hood Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Scott Bar Mountain Lookout
Photo: Siskiyou County Historical Society Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Scott Bar Mountain Lookout
Photo: 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. 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.