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Fire lookout · Mendocino County, California

Two Rock Lookout

Enclosed 809R-design steel tower eight miles west of Willits, built 1966 and closed in 1994; private land behind a locked gate, with fire cameras added in 2026.

Private land

No public access. Please do not trespass; view it only from public land. Private land; the register says the site is 3.1 miles behind a locked gate and not open to the public.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Private land. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Enclosed tower809R lookout station on an enclosed 30-ft steel towerThe design: CDF 809R
Built of
Steel
Built
1932
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
2,730 ft (832 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection - Mendocino Unit (Cal Fire MEU)
Land
Unknown
Location
Mendocino County, California
Coordinates
39.36076, −123.44517
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-two-rock

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 3.4 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. 1932 BuiltEarlier station on the same summit, described as being built in a 1932 newspaper itemSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1935 First staffedJames Frazier named as lookout (first named lookout in the sources read)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1938 StaffedBert Gibson named as fire lookoutSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1938 and 1956
  5. 1956 StaffedMrs. Russel Horn watching; lookout also served the Ground Observer Corps Skywatch programSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1966 BuiltTower built in 1966 per the 2026 news report; the 809R design is from the registerSource: localnewsmatters.org
  7. No record between 1966 and 1989
  8. 1989 Last staffedReopened with volunteers after state funding was lost; last staffed season in the sources readSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1990 EventNot staffed that fire season because of budget cutsSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1994 ClosedPermanently closed; land and structure returned to the private ownerSources: nhlr.org, localnewsmatters.org
  11. No record between 1994 and 2020
  12. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout RegisterSources: nhlr.org, localnewsmatters.org
  13. 2026 EventTwo wildfire early-detection cameras installed; reported active March 31, 2026Source: mendovoice.com
  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.

The Two Rock lookout stands on a forested summit about eight miles west of Willits, in Mendocino County.1,2 The National Historic Lookout Register describes the station as an 809R design on a 30-foot steel tower, and says the design is thought to be used only by the state's forestry department.1 A March 2026 local news report says the tower was built in 1966 as a summer post, where one person watched for smoke.3

An earlier station on the same summit appears in a 1932 newspaper item, which says a lookout was being built on the ranch of D.T. Bennitt, who had donated the site to the forestry department.4 Neither source read says whether that station was replaced by the 1966 tower.3,4

The lookout was staffed during the fire season.4 James Frazier was named as its lookout in 1935, and Bert Gibson held the post in 1938.4 In 1956 Mrs. Russel Horn watched from the tower. That year the lookout also served the Ground Observer Corps Skywatch program, and a newspaper reported that Horn was woken one night when a meteor passed the window.4

Volunteers from the Willits area reopened the lookout in 1989, after state funding for it had been lost.4 A 1990 entry says it would not be staffed that fire season because of budget cuts.4

The register says the tower was permanently closed in 1994, and that the land and structure were handed back to the private landowner who had leased the land.1 Local news says the tower was registered as a historical lookout in 2020.3

The 30-foot tower still stands on the forested summit.2 Two wildfire early-detection cameras had been installed at the lookout and were reported active on March 31, 2026.2 An AI system monitors the images, and Cal Fire's Howard Forest dispatch center will be alerted to any sign of fire.2 A photo caption from February 2026 said the cameras would soon go in the tower.3

The register lists the site as private land.1 It is not open to the public, and it sits 3.1 miles behind a locked gate.1 Visitors should not try to reach or climb the tower.

  1. Two Rock Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ca/two-rock-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. "Wildfire lookout cameras now active west of Willits," The Mendocino Voice (mendovoice.com), https://mendovoice.com/?p=821025 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. "After decades, Two Rock Lookout tower near Willits will again have eyes on the sky," Local News Matters (localnewsmatters.org), https://localnewsmatters.org/2026/03/10/after-decades-two-rock-lookout-tower-near-willits-will-again-have-eyes-on-the-sky/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Two Rock, Forest Lookouts (californialookouts.weebly.com), https://californialookouts.weebly.com/two-rock.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Two Rock Lookout - 1986
Two Rock Lookout - 1986 (1986)Photo: Cal Fire Museum - Bob Foley Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Two Rock cabin interior with Osborn Fire-Finder
Two Rock cabin interior with Osborn Fire-FinderPhoto: Cal Fire Museum - Bob Foley Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
July 2018 Satellite Image
July 2018 Satellite Image (2018)Photo: Brad Eells, 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, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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. 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, height, agency, access, 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.