FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Placer County, California

Stateline Point Lookout Site

Also known as Stateline

Ground cabin on a hill above Kings Beach at Lake Tahoe's north end; built in the 1930s (1936 per one compilation); removed in 2002; now a public day-use trail and summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Lookout removed in 2002; the site remains as a day-use trail and summit with no lookout structure

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. Day-use, no fee, reached on foot from an iron pipe gate on Lakeshore Avenue (north on Reservoir Drive from Highway 28, then right on Lakeshore Avenue); no camping or overnight stays; park clear of the gate and driveways

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
About half a mile on a paved old forest road (Forest Service Road 1601); 2008 and 2026 sources disagree on the climb (about 100 ft vs 335-400 ft)

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-301 ground cabin; another register photo shows a 20-foot enclosed timber towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1930
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,017 ft (2,139 m)
Agency
US Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
Land
Federal land
Location
Placer County, California
Coordinates
39.23152, −120.00892
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-stateline-point

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 3.0 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 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  2. 1936 BuiltCompilation says 'A lookout cabin constructed' in 1936; the register gives only the 1930sSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1937 StaffedAugust 1937: Lookout Fireman Johnny Nelson on Stateline Point took in a fawn a tourist had accidentally hit on the highway; the fawn, later named Duke, spent the winter at the Galena Creek ERA camp, where workers decided it should be chief mascot (reported in a November 18, 1938 newspaper item)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1940 FireForest fire near Kings Beach put out by lookout J. E. Cox and Forest Patrolman C. R. Arment; believed started by a thrown cigaretteSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1940 and 1964
  6. 1964 StaffedHarold (Doc) Thornton received a $150 award for superior performance; the compilation says he served the North Shore tower at Crystal Bay for two summersSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1964 and 2002
  8. 2002 RemovedLookout structure removed (dismantled)Sources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com, calexplornia.com
  9. No record between 2002 and 2020
  10. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered April 10, 2020 as FFLOS US 1987, CA 115Source: firetower.org
  11. 2025 AlteredNine new interpretive panels installed along the trail, replacing older weather-worn signsSource: calexplornia.com
  12. 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.

The Stateline Point lookout stood on a hill above Kings Beach, at the north end of Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border.1 The register calls it a California Region 5 Plan BC-301 ground cabin, and notes a further photo of a 20-foot enclosed timber tower.2 The register gives its build date only as the 1930s.2 A compilation of California lookouts dates a lookout cabin on the site to 1936.3

Newspaper items quoted in that compilation name some of the people who staffed the post.3 In August 1937 Lookout Fireman Johnny Nelson, then on Stateline Point, took in a fawn that a tourist had accidentally hit on the highway.3 The fawn, later named Duke, spent the winter at the Galena Creek ERA camp, where the workers decided it should be the camp's chief mascot.3 In July 1940, J. E. Cox, the Stateline lookout, helped put out a forest fire near Kings Beach.3 It was thought to have been caused by a carelessly tossed cigarette.3 In 1964 Harold (Doc) Thornton received a $150 cash award for superior performance as a Forest Service fire lookout, and the same compilation says he had served at the North Shore tower for the last two summers.3

The lookout was removed in 2002.2,3,4 A 2008 Marin Independent Journal walk said the station had stood for 70 years until 2002, and that cell phones and aircraft had made it unnecessary.1

Today the site is a short day-use hike with a south-facing view over the lake.4,5 The summit has restrooms, picnic tables and free telescopes, and nine new interpretive panels went up in 2025.4 A 2008 visitor found a rock platform in the old building's footprint.1 The route is an old paved forest road, about half a mile one way, that climbs from an iron pipe gate reached from Reservoir Drive and Lakeshore Avenue. The trailhead is in a residential area.4 Visitors should park clear of the gate and the driveways.4 There is no fee, and camping and overnight stays are not allowed.4

Sources disagree on the climb. The 2008 walk gives about 100 feet of gain, while the 2026 guide lists 335 to 400 feet.1,4

  1. On Foot: View at the top: Stateline Lookout Trail, Marin Independent Journal, https://www.marinij.com/2008/07/29/on-foot-view-at-the-top-stateline-lookout-trail/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Stateline Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/stateline-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Stateline - FOREST LOOKOUTS, California Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/stateline.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Stateline Lookout Trail in Lake Tahoe: Parking, Views and Tips, CalEXLORnia, https://www.calexplornia.com/stateline-lookout-trail-an-easy-hike-with-spectacular-views-of-north-lake-tahoe/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Historic Stateline Fire Lookout, Granlibakken Tahoe, https://www.granlibakken.com/experiences/historic-stateline-fire-lookout (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Stateline Point Lookout
Stateline Point LookoutPhoto: Mark Swift Collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Stateline Point Lookout with tower
Stateline Point Lookout with towerPhoto: Ruben Perales, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Stateline Point Lookout Site, 1938
(1938)Photo: Auburn Journal - September 1938, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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. 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) 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, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.