FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Modoc County, California

Timber Mountain Lookout

A 1966 cab on a 30-foot steel tower in the Modoc National Forest, on a summit approved for administrative use by 1912 and with fire-watch records from 1932 to 1945.

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
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerCL-100 cab on a 30-foot K-brace steel towerThe designs: CL-100, L-4, BC-301
Built of
Steel
Built
1966
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
5,071 ft (1,546 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Modoc National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Modoc County, California
Coordinates
41.62846, −121.29867
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-timber-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 3.5 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  1. 1912 EventSite approved or withdrawn for administrative use; NHLR says a platform lookout may have stood here as early as 1912Sources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1912 and 1932
  3. 1932 StaffedOtto W. Klosterman named as the lookout in an August 1932 newspaper item quoted by the history siteSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1938 FireFire spread over about 6,000 acres of grass, sage and juniper; radio contact was established between fire fighters and the lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1945 FireDamon's Butte Road Fire first reported from the lookout at 6:05 a.m. on October 2, 1945Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1945 and 1966
  7. 1966 BuiltCurrent CL-100 cab completed on a 30-foot K-brace steel towerSource: nhlr.org
  8. No record between 1966 and 2019
  9. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 23, 2019 as US 1333, CA 156Source: nhlr.org
  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.

Timber Mountain Lookout sits on a summit in the Modoc National Forest in Modoc County, California, at about 5,071 feet (1,546 meters).1,2 Its history reaches back to 1912, when the spot was approved for administrative use.3 The register says a platform lookout may have stood here as early as that year, and that an L-4 or Region 5 BC-301 design later replaced the platform.1

The cab that stands now was completed in 1966.1 The register describes it as a CL-100 design on a 30-foot steel tower with K-bracing.1 A Forest Service budget form dated November 1944 had already described the lookout then in use as having no living quarters underneath.3

Early records name a few of the people who worked the lookout and the fires it watched.3 A newspaper item from August 1932, quoted by a lookout history site, names Otto W. Klosterman as the lookout on the mountain.3 In August 1938 a fire spread over about 6,000 acres of grass, sage and juniper, and radio contact was established between fire fighters and the lookout so the flames could be watched more closely.3 In October 1945 a new lookout with little experience, filling in for the former lookout who had quit, spotted a fire in the dark. He waited for daylight, and the Damon's Butte Road Fire was first reported from Timber Mountain at 6:05 a.m. on October 2.3

The National Historic Lookout Register listed the tower on October 23, 2019, as US 1333, CA 156.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's California list shows it as standing.2 The sources I could read do not say whether anyone staffs it today or whether visitors may climb it, so check with the Modoc National Forest before planning a trip.

  1. Timber Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/timber-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Lookouts in California, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ca/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Timber Mountain - Forest Lookouts, californialookouts.weebly.com, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/timber-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Timber Mountain Lookout - 2012
Timber Mountain Lookout - 2012 (2012)Photo: peakbagging.com, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2006
2006 (2006)Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Timber Mountain Lookout
Photo: Fred Johnson, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2008
2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Timber Mountain Lookout
Photo: Modoc National Forest Archive, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Timber Mountain Lookout
Photo: Modoc National Forest Archive, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Platform Lookout and Tent Living Quarters
Platform Lookout and Tent Living QuartersPhoto: Modoc National Forest Archive, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Timber Mountain Lookout
Photo: Pacific Southwest Region 5, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · 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, 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. 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. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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.