FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Los Angeles County, California

West Libre Lookout Site

Los Angeles County lookout built 1936 by Angeles NF; register says purposely burned 1969, another source says demolished before 1980; nothing remains at site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Register says purposely burned by USFS personnel in 1969; peakbagging.com says demolished before 1980 with no date; peakbagging.com says nothing remains at the site

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Enclosed towerCalifornia Region 5 Plan BC-301 cabin on a 20 ft enclosed timber towerThe design: BC-301
Built of
Wood
Built
1936
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
5,112 ft (1,558 m)
Agency
US Forest Service, Angeles National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Los Angeles County, California
Coordinates
34.72641, −118.70245
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-west-libre

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 its recorded height.

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. 1936 BuiltConstructed by the Angeles National ForestSources: firetower.org, peakbagging.com
  2. No record between 1936 and 1969
  3. 1969 BurnedRegister: purposely burned by USFS personnelSource: firetower.org
  4. No record between 1969 and 2019
  5. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on November 3, 2019Source: firetower.org
  6. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Angeles National Forest put up West Libre Lookout in 1936.1 The cabin followed California Region 5 Plan BC-301 and sat on a 20-foot enclosed timber tower.1 A photo page on peakbagging.com shows the tower as it probably looked in the 1950s, and says the tower dates from 1936.2 The Angeles Adventures site gives the lookout's dates as 1936 to the 1960s.3

The register says Forest Service personnel purposely burned the tower in 1969.1 Peakbagging.com tells it differently: the tower was demolished at some point before 1980, and that page does not know when.2 Both accounts put the end before 1980, but they disagree on how it ended.1,2 The register's 1969 date and method are used here, with that disagreement noted.1,2

Peakbagging.com says nothing is left at the site now.2 The site lies at about 5,112 feet (1,558 metres) in Los Angeles County, but we found no source on whether visitors may go there.1

  1. West Libre Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/west-libre-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. West Liebre (Lookout Site), California, Peakbagging.com, http://www.peakbagging.com/CALookoutPhotos/WestLiebre.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Lookouts Archives, Angeles Adventures, https://angelesadventures.com/tag/lookouts/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

West Libre Lookout
West Libre LookoutPhoto: 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. 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.