FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Ventura County, California

Thorn Point Lookout

A 1933 L-4 cab in the Sespe Wilderness, Los Padres NF: staffed round the clock in WWII, later a condor monitoring station, reached by a 3.5-mile trail.

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
About 3.5 miles from Thorn Meadows Campground through the Sespe Wilderness; no motorized use
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 14 x 14 ft cab with catwalk on a 20 ft H-braced towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,796 ft (2,071 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Ventura County, California
Coordinates
34.60632, −119.12810
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-thorn-point

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. 1933 BuiltRegister gives 1933 for the L-4 cabSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1934 EventTrail being built up to the new lookout, per an August 1934 newspaper itemSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1934 and 1956
  4. 1956 EventForest Service ran a Ground Observer Corps post out of the lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1957 StaffedAustin Mack observer May to November; a 1958 item calls it his fourth yearSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1957 and 1999
  7. 1999 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 21, 1999 as US 308Source: nhlr.org
  8. 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.

Thorn Point Lookout stands on Thorn Point in the Sespe Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest, in Ventura County, California.1,2 The National Historic Lookout Register dates it to 1933.1 In August 1934 a newspaper reported that a trail was being built up to the new lookout.3

The register describes a 14-by-14-foot L-4 cab with a catwalk, set on a 20-foot H-braced tower. It remains close to its original state and still has its early telephone.1 During World War II the lookout was staffed around the clock, and a ground cabin was added for the off-duty observer, who worked 12-hour shifts.1

The lookout stayed in use after the war. A 1956 item says a Ground Observer Corps post was run from the lookout by the Forest Service.3 Austin Mack staffed the post from May to November; a July 1958 item calls it his fourth year there.3 That item also says he had seen condors on 12 different days by that point.3

The register notes that the lookout is near the Condor Sanctuary and has been used to monitor condors.1 Some sources spell the name Thorne.3

Today the trail to the lookout starts at Thorn Meadows Campground and runs about 3.5 miles into the wilderness, where motorized use is not allowed.2 The Forest Service says the tower is one of a small number still standing in the Los Padres.2 The sources read do not say whether the cab is open to visitors or whether it may be climbed, so check with the Los Padres National Forest before going up.

  1. Thorn Point Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/thorn-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Thorn Point Trail 21W07, Los Padres National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/lospadres/recreation/trails/thorn-point-trail-21w07 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Thorne Point, Forest Lookouts (California Lookouts), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/thorne-point.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Thorne Point Lookout - 2011
Thorne Point Lookout - 2011 (2011)Photo: Zhirkhan, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Thorne Point Lookout - 1940
Thorne Point Lookout - 1940 (1940)Photo: Los Padres National Forest, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
AWS Cabin - 2019
AWS Cabin - 2019 (2019)Photo: Lost in the Los Padres, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Thorne Point Cab - 2019
Thorne Point Cab - 2019 (2019)Photo: Lost in the Los Padres, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages Gave us: register numbers, links 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.