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Fire lookout · Los Angeles County, California

Sierra Pelona Lookout Site

Also known as Sierra Pelona Peak

Angeles NF lookout on Sierra Pelona Ridge; register dates it 1934 with a 30-foot tower, removal date unknown, only concrete slabs left and an OHV route reaches the site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed on a date no source gives; only a few concrete slabs remain (Angeles Adventures)

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 an off-road vehicle route on Angeles National Forest land; the sources read give no closure or permit rule

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerCalifornia Region 5 BC-301 cabin atop a 30-foot K-brace steel towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
Steel
Built
1934
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
4,855 ft (1,480 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Angeles National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Los Angeles County, California
Coordinates
34.56094, −118.35592
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-sierra-pelona

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 2.8 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 BuiltRegister Built field; register text says constructed between 1934 and 1936Source: firetower.org
  2. 1938 StaffedRoss Lewis named as staffSource: angelesadventures.com
  3. No record between 1938 and 1956
  4. 1956 EventWindstorm forced the operator to evacuate; the register and a Star-News item both report itSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1964 FireBee Canyon brush fire, about 10 acres, spotted from the lookout; about 175 firefightersSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1964 StaffedRanger Casparis stationed in the tower (Valley News item quoted on Forest Lookouts)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1976 StaffedRegister: active as to at least 1976; Cal Bedient named as staff in 1976Sources: firetower.org, angelesadventures.com
  8. No record between 1976 and 2019
  9. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: November 3, 2019Source: FFLOS register entry
  10. 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.

The Angeles National Forest built a fire lookout on Sierra Pelona Ridge in Los Angeles County.1 The register of former lookout sites says it was constructed between 1934 and 1936 and gives 1934 as its build year.1 The cab was a California Region 5 BC-301 design on a steel K-brace tower.1 A guide to the site says the lookout first appeared on a 1932 topo map and joined the Newhall District that year, so the start date is not settled.2

The height is also disputed. The register gives 30 feet, and the guide's details block says 30 feet, though its text says 30 to 40 feet. A 1964 newspaper item quoted on the Forest Lookouts site describes a 40-foot tower.1,2,3

The guide names several people who staffed the lookout, including Ross Lewis in 1938, Ethel R. Babcock in 1953 and Cal Bedient in 1976.2 The register says it was still active in at least 1976.1

Wind was a constant concern. The register says winds gusting to 100 mph were recorded there often.1 In 1956 a windstorm forced the operator to leave, and a newspaper item said the tower was reportedly coming apart in the gale.1,3 In August 1964 a lookout spotted a brush fire in Bee Canyon, and about 175 firefighters worked it for nearly two hours.3

The register does not say when the tower came down, and lists its removal as unknown.1 The guide notes that newspaper articles still place a lookout there in the 1980s, but it is unclear why and when the tower was removed.2

According to the guide, only a handful of concrete slabs are left at the site, and there is no tower to climb.2 One of many off-road routes leads directly to the spot.2 Anyone going should check current rules with the Angeles National Forest first.

  1. Sierra Pelona Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/sierra-pelona-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Sierra Pelona Lookout, Angeles Adventures, https://angelesadventures.com/sierra-pelona/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Sierra Palona Peak, Forest Lookouts (Ron Kemnow), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/sierra-palona-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Sierra Pelona Lookout
Sierra Pelona LookoutPhoto: National Museum of Forest Service History, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1940
1940 (1940)Photo: George Petersen, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1953
1953 (1953)Photo: Valley Times, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1976
1976 (1976)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Sierra Pelona Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Sierra Pelona Lookout Site
Photo: Angeles National Forest, 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) Gave us: height, 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, height, status, agency, access, 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.