FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Los Angeles County, California

South Mount Hawkins Lookout

Angeles NF cab-and-tower lookout built in 1938, reopened by volunteers in 1999, destroyed in a September 2002 fire; sources name two different fires.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Destroyed by fire on September 1, 2002; sources name the Curve Fire and the Leona Fire

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

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

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower14-by-14-foot wooden C3 cab with shutter outriggers on a 30-foot treated timber towerThe design: C-3
Built of
Wood
Built
1938
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,791 ft (2,375 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Los Angeles County, California
Coordinates
34.31161, −117.81038
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-south-mount-hawkins

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.2 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. 1937 EventTruck-trail work discontinued for lack of equipment; crews hoped to reach the new tower site before winter halted the workSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1938 BuiltConstructed as a 14-by-14-foot C3 wooden cab on a 30-foot timber towerSources: nhlr.org, firetower.org
  3. No record between 1938 and 1966
  4. 1966 StaffedSeasonal lookout Sandy DeLappe on the tower above Crystal Lake; nearly stranded by snow in NovemberSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1966 and 1998
  6. 1998 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 1, 1998Source: nhlr.org
  7. 1999 RestoredRefurbished and reopened by volunteers with the Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association in SeptemberSource: nhlr.org
  8. 1999 StaffedOpened (restored) in September by volunteers.Source: anffla.org
  9. 2002 BurnedDestroyed by the Curve Fire on 1 September; rebuilding was dropped because the access road was too poor.Source: anffla.org
  10. 2002 DestroyedDestroyed by fire on September 1, 2002. Register, FFLOS and ANFFLA name the Curve Fire; the Forest Lookouts page names the Leona FireSources: nhlr.org, firetower.org, anffla.org
  11. 2002 RemovedRegister lists the tower as removed in 2002Source: nhlr.org
  12. No record between 2002 and 2019
  13. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered October 28, 2019Source: firetower.org
  14. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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.

South Mount Hawkins Lookout stood in the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, California, at 7,791 feet, above Crystal Lake.1,2 The Register says it was constructed in 1938 as a 14-by-14-foot wooden cab with shutter outriggers, on top of a 30-foot treated timber tower.1,3

An August 1937 item quoted on the Forest Lookouts page says truck-trail work was discontinued for lack of equipment, and that crews hoped to reach the site of the new tower before winter halted the work.2

The staffing record we found is thin. A November 1966 item quoted on the same page says rangers nearly failed to bring a seasonal lookout, Sandy DeLappe, off the tower. Their truck stuck in fresh snow, and she had to hike out.2 A 1960 item on the page names a lookout called Sandy DeLapp, but it does not name this tower, so we have not counted it here.2

The Register lists the tower as registered on October 1, 1998.1 It says volunteers from the Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association refurbished and reopened the lookout in September 1999.1

The Register and the Former Fire Lookout Sites Register both say the tower was destroyed by fire during the Curve Fire, on September 1, 2002.1,3 The association's inactive-towers page says the same.4 The Forest Lookouts page names a different fire, saying the Leona Fire burned it in September 2002.2 We follow the three sources that name the Curve Fire, but we could not check the fire name against a fire record.

An effort to rebuild the tower was underway, but the poor and worsening condition of the road to the site changed the plan.1 The association says it is searching for another peak in the Angeles National Forest on which to rebuild a fire lookout tower, after the Vetter Mountain Lookout rebuild is complete.4

We found no source that describes what, if anything, is left at the site today, or whether the road is open to visitors. Check with the Angeles National Forest before planning a visit.

  1. South Mount Hawkins Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/south-mount-hawkins-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. South Mount Hawkins, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/south-mount-hawkins.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. South Mount Hawkins Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/south-mount-hawkins-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Inactive Towers, Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://www.anffla.org/towers/inactive-towers/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

South Mount Hawkins
South Mount HawkinsPhoto: Ron Kemnow Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Prior to 2002 destruction by wildfire
Prior to 2002 destruction by wildfire (2002)Photo: Wikipedia, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
South Mount Hawkins Lookout
South Mount Hawkins LookoutPhoto: Ron Kemnow Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of South Mount Hawkins Lookout
Photo: Dan Simpson, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of South Mount Hawkins Lookout
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
South Mount Hawkins Lookout on opening day in Sept 1999 with ANFFLA Volunteers
South Mount Hawkins Lookout on opening day in Sept 1999 with ANFFLA Volunteers (1999)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of South Mount Hawkins Lookout
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, 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
  3. 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
  4. Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association Gave us: dates, links Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association (anffla.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 association's page it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR and FFLOS records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. 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
  6. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. 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.