Fire Lookouts Spark Preservation Efforts

Fire Lookouts Spark Preservation Efforts
January/February 2022

Photo of High Point Lookout on Palomar Mountain with a view of the Milky Way in the background

High Point Lookout on Palomar Mountain with a commanding view of the Milky Way, 2019. Photo by Keven Key

San Diego County is home to three fire lookouts, including two on Palomar Mountain. Nationally, about 300 storied lookouts remain, but many are abandoned. Abandonment, not to mention remote locations, wood construction, and inconsistent maintenance, is threatening these landmarks with extinction. An intriguing article from the Columbia Climate School addresses the preservation and potential listing on the National Register of Historic Places of these lonely sentinels closely associated with Western lore. Read "Loss of Fire Lookouts Spurs Questions About Historic Preservation."

Read "Fire lookout towers make a comeback in San Diego County" from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

And did you know there's a San Diego-Riverside chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association? Its website (https://www.ffla-sandiego.org) offers a 9-minute virtual tour of the High Point Lookout on Palomar Mountain.

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