Want amazing views? Hike to this L.A. fire lookout

In California, firefighters have a true range of tools available to alert them of wildfires: live cameras mounted throughout forests, satellites orbiting Earth, pilots scanning the terrain in airplanes and heat-seeking drones. But one of the most analog among them remains relevant: the fire lookout tower.

Perched atop hillsides or stilts, fire lookout towers are still effective at alerting officials of a potential blaze.

“Technology is great, but there’s something about old school that you can’t beat sometimes,” said Valerie Hanich, president of the Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Assn.

For outdoorsy Wilders, fire lookouts serve another purpose entirely: They’re fun to visit. You can camp at some of them, including the Oak Flat Lookout near Bakersfield and others in Northern California. High above the trees, they offer great views and when staffed, are an opportunity to learn from volunteers about the tower’s history and the forest around you. And there just so happens to be an iconic one near L.A. that takes just about five miles round-trip to visit.

The Vetter Mountain lookout was built in the 1930s and used by the U.S. Forest Service until 1981. A dedicated group of volunteers and forest service workers collaborated to restore the tower to its previous glory in 1998. Volunteers from the Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Assn. staffed it until it burned down in the Station fire in 2009. Then, in 2020, it was rebuilt again using the blueprints and design from the original lookout.

The hike to the Vetter Mountain lookout starts about an hour’s drive from L.A. at the Charlton Flats Picnic Area in Angeles National Forest. I saw trail reviews that complained the non-paved portion of this hike was overgrown, so I huffed it along the paved road through the picnic area, heading south at the first crossroad, and then west as the road turns toward the lookout tower. You’ll walk past multiple vault toilets. Thankfully only the one with a broken window resembled a horror movie scene inside.

Instead of stilts, the Vetter Mountain Lookout sits atop a peak and can be reached via a five-mile round trip hike.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

About 0.7 miles in, you’ll spot what looks like a small white house on a hill. That’s the lookout. Vetter Mountain is a little different from other lookout towers because, instead of sitting high above the ground on stilts, it sits atop a high point in the earth. It’s been characterized as a more accessible lookout tower for this reason, and while that’s somewhat true, reaching it still requires a trek up some steep hills.

At just over two miles in, you’ll be there. Depending on the weather, the lookout is staffed by volunteers when available on the weekends from April until about December.

An Osbourne firefinder, a device used to pinpoint where blazes are, sits in the middle of the Slide Mountain Lookout.

(Photo by Andrew Schwartz)

From the lookout, you’re at 5,911 feet elevation and can see a seemingly endless panoramic view of the San Gabriel Mountains and beyond. I visited Monday morning after the Sunday rain, and thanks to a blissfully clear (and cold!) day, I spotted more than 30 peaks, including snow-covered Mt. Baldy. It was astounding how far into the distance I could see. For the millionth time, I was reminded of how lucky I am to live here.

Just below the lookout, there’s a picnic table with shade, and a clean-ish vault toilet. After leaving, I decided to check whether the trail was as overgrown as the reviews said it was. I followed my map’s suggestion of several short switchbacks from the lookout. Someone, or a group of someones, has completed a tremendous amount of work to clear brush to make the trail visible again.

Because of that, the switchbacks are mostly covered in chunks of wood and small branches, some with thorns. My dog Maggie May doesn’t generally wear booties, but this was one moment where I wished I could have protected her feet. Thankfully, she was unscathed.

Clockwise from left: Inside the Vetter Mountain Lookout in Angeles National Forest; The view out the windows of Vetter Mountain Lookout; The daily log used by volunteers at the Slide Mountain Lookout.

(Photos by Andrew Schwartz)

After the switchbacks, the trail heads down into a ravine with lush chaparral and nice shade. There was a light dusting of snow in shadier portions and a tiny amount of water in the creek parallel to the trail. There were three downed trees that weren’t too challenging to hop over. However, it did become impassable about 3.4 miles in. There might have been a way through, but I often tell myself while out hiking, “if it looks wrong, it is wrong.” Maggie and I followed a paved road out. Because there are multiple roads and trails in this area, it’s good to have a map!

One of the fun things about visiting a little piece of outdoorsy history is the memory lasts far longer than the hike. After getting home, I fell into more research about fire lookouts. Many of those who’ve worked at the lookouts in Angeles National Forest were women. In 1956, six of the nine lookouts were women, including Ramona Merwin, who worked in the Vetter Mountain lookout from 1955 until about 1981. She got her start in fire lookouts working alongside her husband, Art, a Forest Service firefighter who died of lung cancer.

Merwin spent about seven months a year in the 225-square-foot tower. Her children and later grandchildren were often with her, along with her dogs Cricket and Tiny. While there, she saw bears, rattlesnakes and mountain lions, including one that lived “in the neighborhood” for at least two seasons.

The Slide Mountain Lookout is a two-story metal tower northwest of Castaic in Angeles National Forest.

(Photo by Andrew Schwartz)

Vetter Mountain lookout tower was struck by lightning “I don’t know how many times,” Merwin told The Times in 1985. She’d sit in an insulated chair — for extra protection, as the towers are grounded — and report any fires ignited by lightning storms. Once, she heard sizzling and realized her tower was on fire. Her biggest challenge, though, was human-caused: smog.

“Sometimes it’s a dirty brown color so thick you can almost cut it with a knife,” Merwin said in a 1972 interview.

Lookout towers were first constructed in Southern California in the late 1800s. Vetter Mountain was the last of about 30 lookouts that served the L.A. region, per Times archives. Today, there are two operating in Angeles National Forest. Along with Vetter Mountain, hikers can visit the Slide Mountain fire lookout via an 11(ish)-mile round trip. (And although there remains much work to do, our level of smog has improved.)

I asked Hanich, with the fire lookout association, how hikers should approach the lookout to let volunteers know they’re there.

“We see you coming,” Hanich, who volunteers at Slide Mountain, said.

The snow-dappled path to Vetter Mountain.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

If you visit either lookout and meet a volunteer, you’ll have the opportunity to be inducted into the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Squirrels, a common tradition found at lookout towers across the country. Hanich asks that if you do join the order, just don’t ditch your membership cards on the trail. You took an oath, after all!

3 things to do

A California least tern feeding its chick.

(Paul Tessier / stock.adobe.com)

1. Do the most for the least tern in Huntington Beach
Volunteers are needed 9 a.m. Saturday at Huntington State Beach to install cording along the fence around California least tern nests. This helps deter other birds from trying to attack the small, endangered birds and their young. You’ll also learn about coastal dune ecosystems, native species and wildlife conservation. Register and sign waiver at eventbrite.com.

2. Make friends while hiking in Glendale
If you weren’t able to snag a spot on our upcoming subscriber hike at Elysian Park, consider checking out the Next Fun Thing’s free 2.1-mile hike from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in Glendale. The group will hike the Brand Lateral Trail Loop, a moderate trail with creek crossings and a small waterfall. The group will meet at the parking lot at Brand Park. Register at eventbrite.com.

3. Have a whale of a time in Dana Point
The 54th Dana Point Festival of Whales will take place Friday through Sunday in Dana Point. Activities include whale watching, lectures, a carnival and a cardboard boat-making contest and race. Free parking is available at Dana Hills High School (33333 Golden Lantern). Guests can use a free trolley, shuttle or e-bikes to move about the festival sites. Some portions of the event, including whale watching, require ticket purchase. Learn more at festivalofwhales.com.

The must-read

More than 100 people protested recent National Park Service worker firings on March 1 in the Santa Monica Mountains.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

This past Saturday, hundreds of people protested at national parks across California and the nation, angered by the recent firings of about 1,000 National Park Service workers by the Trump administration. I attended the protest at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, where I spoke to fired park workers. Katie Preston, a park ranger who until Feb. 14 worked as an archaeological technician, told me that she grew up in Thousand Oaks and visited the Santa Monica Mountains as a kid. As an employee, she surveyed those same lands. “I really, really loved being a park ranger,” Preston said. Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth was at Joshua Tree National Park, where about 200 people gathered and attendees hung an upside-down American flag on popular Cap Rock. “It’s important to be vocal,” protester Heather Felix said. “You can’t just sit behind and let the billionaires, the oligarchs take over.”

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Big Bear bald eagles Jackie and Shadow, whose lives are documented on a wildlife camera, welcomed two babies to the nest this week. The first eaglet emerged from its egg just before 11:30 p.m. Monday, Deputy Editor Amy Hubbard and Times staff writer Summer Lin wrote in a story on the feathered family. Eagles often mate for life, and Jackie and Shadow are quite the pair. “Jackie was obviously feeling the movement underneath her as she kept looking down and standing up to roll the eggs much more than usual,” Friends of Big Bear Valley wrote in its Tuesday update. “Shadow happily got a turn on the eggs to give Jackie a morning break.” That’s some A+ parenting!

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.