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Fire lookout · Tulare County, California

Tobias Peak Lookout

Built 1935 by the CCC and Forest Service as a C-3 live-in cab in Sequoia NF; a Forest Service employee now lives in the tower; open to visitors when the gate is open.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Visitors may go up when the gate is open; a sign on the gate may say whether the lookout is open. Roads to the base are typically open June to October.

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Short hike up a dirt and gravel walkway; the brochure calls the climb moderate, including the walkway
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2025)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabC-3 type 14 x 14 ft live-in cab with catwalk, on a short foundationThe design: C-3
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
305 ft (93.0 m)
Elevation
8,218 ft (2,505 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Tulare County, California
Coordinates
35.84996, −118.57237
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-tobias-peak

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 3.0 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. 1912 EventSite probably first used as a lookout observation point around 1912, before the current cabSource: fire-lookouts.org
  2. No record between 1912 and 1935
  3. 1935 BuiltCurrent C-3 cab built by the CCC and Forest Service; materials packed in by muleSources: nhlr.org, fire-lookouts.org, npshistory.com
  4. 1936 First staffedfire-lookouts.org says manned in 1936; the register says in service since 1935Source: fire-lookouts.org
  5. 1937 EventJune 1937 newspaper: lookout to be manned from June 10, visitors welcome; one mile from the roadSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1943 StaffedBea Rice and Helen King keeping watch since 1943, per a July 1951 newspaper itemSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1947 EventJuly 1947 newspaper names two lookouts on Tobias, Helen King and Etha Rice; register lists 1947 as not in active serviceSources: nhlr.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1954 EventSunday Peak Lookout, considered a hazard, burned down by the government; Tobias had been chosen to replace itSource: fire-lookouts.org
  9. No record between 1954 and 1992
  10. 1992 StaffedRegister says the observer had been in post since 1992Source: nhlr.org
  11. 1999 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered May 5, 1999 as US 313, CA 37Source: nhlr.org
  12. No record between 1999 and 2015
  13. 2015 Last staffedReported in 2017 as unstaffed for 2 years and falling apart, which puts the last staffed season around 2015; Forest Service reportedly no longer intends to staff it.Source: firelookout.org
  14. 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.

Tobias Peak Lookout stands on Tobias Peak in the Sequoia National Forest, in Tulare County, California.1,2 The register and an older site place it in the Hot Springs district, while a 2025 Forest Service brochure places it on the Western Divide Ranger District.1,3,2

The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Forest Service built the current cab in 1935.1,2 It is a C-3 type cab, 14 by 14 feet, with a catwalk, set on a 3-foot foundation.1,3 Supplies came in by mule and horse over a hard trail, and the brochure says all materials and equipment were packed in by mule train.3,2 The peak was probably first used for lookout work around 1912.3

Tobias was chosen to replace Sunday Peak Lookout, which was considered a hazard and was burned down by the government in 1954.3

In June 1937 a newspaper said the lookout would be staffed from June 10 and welcomed visitors. It also said the lookout was just a mile from the road.4 A July 1951 newspaper item says Bea Rice and Helen King had kept watch there since 1943.4

The register lists 1947 and 1986 as years the lookout was not in active service. A July 1947 newspaper item, though, names two lookouts on Tobias that summer.1,4 The register says its observer had been in post since 1992.1

Today a Forest Service employee lives in the tower, which is also used as an office.2 Visitors may go up when the gate is open, and a sign on the gate may show whether the lookout is open to the public.2 The brochure notes there is very little space inside.2 Roads to the base are typically open between June and October, depending on weather.2 The brochure describes the climb as a moderate one, including the walkway.2 An undated fire-lookouts.org page says the lookout is no longer staffed, and in the same paragraph says it is staffed five days a week. The first claim conflicts with the brochure.3,2

  1. Tobias Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/tobias-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Tobias Peak Lookout, Sequoia National Forest brochure (2025), USDA Forest Service, https://npshistory.com/publications/usfs/giant-sequoia/brochures/tobias-lookoout-2025.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Tobias Peak Fire Lookout, Fire-Lookouts.org, https://www.fire-lookouts.org/cali/tobias_peak/index.htm (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Tobias Peak, Forest Lookouts (California Lookouts), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/tobias-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Tobias Peak Lookout - 1999
Tobias Peak Lookout - 1999 (1999)Photo: Mark Swift Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2011
2011 (2011)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Tobias Peak Lookout
Photo: Buck Rock Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tobias Pk Fire Lookout
Tobias Pk Fire LookoutPhoto: fire-lookouts.org (Rich Camp) · Reuse allowed with credit · 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.

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 the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1935
    • California Fire Lookouts of the Sierra National Forest and Other Areas (fire-lookouts.org): 1921

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

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. California Fire Lookouts of the Sierra National Forest and Other Areas (fire-lookouts.org) Gave us: register numbers, staffing, photos, links fire-lookouts.org · Public information per the site's disclaimer, credit requested. Facts + a short description reused under that permission -- see extra.license per record. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.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 FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. 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
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, access, staffing, 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.