Two and a half hours north of Sacramento — halfway from anywhere — an ancient metal and wood observation tower perches atop a hillside. For 92 years, someone has kept watch from the Colby Mountain ...

The writers Edward Abbey, Gary Snyder and Norman McLean all staffed high-elevation fire lookouts in the West—their experiences rich fuel for their work. But Jack Kerouac’s reaction makes me smile.

This story was originally published by Writers on the Range. The writers Edward Abbey, Gary Snyder and Norman McLean all staffed high-elevation fire lookouts in the West—their experiences rich fuel ...

It was breezy and cool at the top of Dunraven Pass when my friend and I began to hike to a little speck on a ridgeline far away. It was all we could see of the fire lookout atop Mount Washburn, the ...

BUTTE MEADOWS — A petition to ask the U.S. Forest Service to save the Colby Mountain Fire Lookout was among the ideas coming from a community meeting Saturday in this mountain town. About 30 people, ...

Cheryl Hill visited her first Oregon fire lookout in 2007 — the 82-foot tall Hat Point that peers into Hells Canyon, the deepest river gorge in North America. By 2011, she was hooked on everything ...