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Fire lookout · Calaveras County, California

Sierra Vista (Quiggs Mountain) Lookout

Also known as Sierra Vista

Calaveras County lookout: 1931 tree crow's nest, steel tower by 1934 per 1986 bulletin, Serra staffing 1932-33; Cal Fire comms site still in use; public access not confirmed.

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
Trail
No source read says whether the public may visit or climb the tower; a 2025 Cal Fire notice describes road clearing for maintenance trucks
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor Company tower per the register; before it, a 1931 crow's nest in a sugar pineThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
2,785 ft (849 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire)
Land
Unknown
Location
Calaveras County, California
Coordinates
38.22988, −120.61432
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-sierra-vista-quiggs-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 3.3 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. 1930 EventRay Greve and Dave Serra scouted lookout sites and settled on Quigg's Mountain, later named Sierra VistaSource: historicalcalaveras.com
  2. 1931 BuiltStation set up in March 1931 with a crow's nest in a topped sugar pine; NHLR gives 1931 for the state's towerSources: nhlr.org, historicalcalaveras.com, californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1932 StaffedDave and Mary Serra served as lookouts in the 1932 and 1933 fire seasons, living in a cabin beneath the lookoutSource: historicalcalaveras.com
  4. 1934 Replaced by a new structureSteel tower replaced the tree crow's nest, according to the 1986 bulletinSource: historicalcalaveras.com
  5. No record between 1934 and 2019
  6. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 16, 2019 as US 1312, CA 135Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2019 EventCal Fire proposed replacing aging telecommunications infrastructure with a new tower, and removing an abandoned residence building and shedSource: ceqanet.lci.ca.gov
  8. 2020 EventInternet provider began broadcasting from the fire lookout tower, which hosts an AlertWildfire cameraSource: coniferinternet.com
  9. 2025 EventCal Fire planned brush clearing along Sierra Vista Lookout Road so trucks could reach the tower for maintenance and infrastructure restoration; notice posted April 23, 2025Source: ceqanet.opr.ca.gov
  10. 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.

Sierra Vista is a fire lookout on a ridge in Calaveras County, about four miles northeast of San Andreas.1 The hill was first called Quigg's Mountain, and Cal Fire now administers the site.2,3,1

The first lookout went up in 1931.3,4 It was a 125-foot sugar pine, topped at about 75 feet, with a crow's nest built on it.3 Newspapers from that spring said a station was being set up on Mt. Ararat, that it would carry the name Sierra Vista Lookout, and that a steel tower was expected the following year.4 A 1986 historical society bulletin says the tree served until 1934, when the steel tower replaced it.3 The state's own register dates the tower to 1931, so the sources disagree on that point.2

Dave and Mary Serra were lookouts there during the 1932 and 1933 fire seasons.3 They lived in a small cabin below the lookout and kept watch seven days a week, driving to town once a week for groceries and mail.3 Don Wriggley had been the first lookout stationed at the site.3 Later, Dave Serra and a Civilian Conservation Corps crew ran a single-wire phone line from the lookout to San Andreas.3 The register says the house was built with ECW funds and the garage by the Civilian Conservation Corps.2

The sources read do not name any fire the lookout spotted.

In 2019 Cal Fire proposed replacing aging telecommunications infrastructure on the site with a new tower. Its notice listed an abandoned residence and shed for removal.5 The following year an internet provider began broadcasting from the lookout tower, which also hosts an AlertWildfire camera.6 In 2025 Cal Fire planned brush clearing along Sierra Vista Lookout Road so that trucks could reach the tower for maintenance and infrastructure restoration.1

The tower is still listed as standing, and it hosts wireless broadcast equipment.6,7 The sources read say nothing about public visits, and none describe a rental. Check with Cal Fire before planning any trip up the road.

  1. Sierra Vista Fuels Reduction, CEQAnet notice (ceqanet.opr.ca.gov), https://ceqanet.opr.ca.gov/2025041146 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Sierra Vista (Quiggs Mountain) Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/sierra-vista-quiggs-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Shovels, Wet Sacks Protected Ranches Against Wildfire, Quarterly Bulletin of the Calaveras County Historical Society, 1986 (PDF), historicalcalaveras.com, https://www.historicalcalaveras.com/_files/ugd/f6d3c3_a5f78667d0344c4e87bb16de5fd94dc0.pdf?index=true (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Sierra Vista (Quiggs Mountain), Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/sierra-vista-quiggs-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. CalFire Sierra Vista Communication Tower and Facilities Replacement Project, CEQAnet notice (ceqanet.lci.ca.gov), https://ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/2019018343 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Sierra Vista is LIVE! (2020), Conifer Communications (coniferinternet.com), https://coniferinternet.com/sierra-vista-is-live/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  7. California lookout list, Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ca/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Sierra Vista (Quiggs Mountain) Lookout 2005
Sierra Vista (Quiggs Mountain) Lookout 2005 (2005)Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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 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, status, agency, 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.