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Fire lookout · Madera County, California

Shuteye Peak Lookout

Sierra National Forest lookout with 1908/09 origins, a 1957 CL-100 steel cab, fire-season staffing and a 3.9-mile hike from Beasore Road.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Staffed Forest Service lookout. The final approach is on foot; the sources describe the trail but not public entry into the cab.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 3.9 miles round trip, out and back, over exposed granite, starting after a long high-clearance drive up Beasore Road.
Staffing
Staffed by volunteers

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingCL-100The design: CL-100
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1907
Height
Unknown
Elevation
8,362 ft (2,549 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Sierra National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Madera County, California
Coordinates
37.34961, −119.42823
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-shuteye-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.

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. 1907 BuiltCompass lookout built and hiked to each day, per fire-lookouts.org.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  2. 1908 BuiltNHLR dates the first structure to 1908/09. Fire-lookouts.org says a compass lookout was built in 1907 and hiked to each day, then a crude lumber cabin in 1908 or 1909.Sources: nhlr.org, fire-lookouts.org
  3. 1910 Built12-by-12-foot wood cabin similar to the 4A design, per fire-lookouts.org.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  4. 1915 Built4A-type lookout constructed and improved, per fire-lookouts.org.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  5. 1922 Replaced by a new structureNHLR says the original lookout was replaced in 1922.Source: nhlr.org
  6. 1935 AlteredRemodeled with improved windows, per fire-lookouts.org.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  7. No record between 1935 and 1957
  8. 1957 BuiltCurrent CL-100 steel cab, 14 by 14 feet, on a 10 by 10 foot concrete block base.Sources: nhlr.org, fire-lookouts.org
  9. No record between 1957 and 1980
  10. 1980 StaffedDon Wisseman became a fire lookout; he spent most of his career on Shuteye.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  11. No record between 1980 and 2007
  12. 2007 StaffedDon Wisseman retired at the end of the 2007 fire season. The page's 20-year service figure does not fit his 1980 start.Source: fire-lookouts.org
  13. 2012 AlteredA weather station was installed at the lookout.Source: firelookout.org
  14. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 22, 2019 (NHLR US 1325, CA 148).Source: nhlr.org
  15. 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.

The National Historic Lookout Register dates the first structure on Shuteye Peak, in the Sierra National Forest, to 1908 or 1909 and counts it among California's oldest lookouts.1 Wilderness Portal describes the site as the earliest permanent fire lookout in the Sierra Nevada.2 The fire-lookouts.org profile tells an earlier story: a compass lookout built in 1907 and hiked to each day, a crude lumber cabin in 1908 or 1909, a 12-by-12-foot wood cabin in 1910, and a 4A-type lookout in 1915.3

The register records a 1922 replacement of the original lookout and a 1957 rebuild to the CL-100 design.1 The fire-lookouts.org page describes that 1957 rebuild as a 14-by-14-foot steel cab with a flat roof on a 10-by-10-foot concrete block base.3 Both sources agree the present cab dates from 1957.1,3

Don Wisseman, a Forest Service employee, became a fire lookout in 1980, spent most of his career on Shuteye, and retired when the 2007 fire season ended.3 The same page gives 20 years of service, which does not match a 1980 start and a 2007 retirement, so the length of his service is unclear.3 The profile also recalls the many firefighters he helped guide into lightning strikes.3

According to the register, the Sierra National Forest keeps Shuteye Peak staffed through each fire season, and the entry was registered on October 22, 2019.1 Wilderness Portal, last verified on June 19, 2026, describes the lookout as one of the few in California still staffed.2 The tower is reached on foot, a round trip of about 3.9 miles over rocky, exposed granite, after a long high-clearance drive up Beasore Road.2 The fire-lookouts.org profile says the tower itself requires four-wheel drive, and Wilderness Portal says the final stretch needs a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle.3,2

  1. Shuteye Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/shuteye-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Shuteye Peak Lookout trail listing, Wilderness Portal, https://www.wildernessportal.com/trails/shuteye-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Shuteye Peak Fire Lookout, United States Forest Service Lookout, fire-lookouts.org, https://www.fire-lookouts.org/cali/shuteye_peak/index.htm (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Shuteye Peak Lookout - 2010
Shuteye Peak Lookout - 2010 (2010)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2002
2002 (2002)Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1996
1996 (1996)Photo: Mark Swift Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1962
1962 (1962)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Shuteye Osborne Fire-Finder
Shuteye Osborne Fire-FinderPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Shuteye Pk Fire Lookout
Shuteye Pk Fire LookoutPhoto: fire-lookouts.org (Rich Camp) · Reuse allowed with credit · source
Photo of Shuteye Peak Lookout
Photo: Guywelch2000, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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. California Fire Lookouts of the Sierra National Forest and Other Areas (fire-lookouts.org) Gave us: staffing, photos, links fire-lookouts.org · Public information per the site's disclaimer, credit requested. Facts + a short description reused under that permission -- see extra.license per record. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. 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
  5. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  7. 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
  8. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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

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