Crane Flat Fire Lookout, Fire lookout tower in Yosemite National Park, US.
The Crane Flat Fire Lookout is an observation tower in Yosemite National Park built on a high ridge at about 6,600 feet elevation. The structure sits on a stone foundation with a wooden observation cabin above and includes a stone-built garage on the ground level.
The Crane Flat Fire Lookout was built in 1931 as the first fire lookout in Yosemite National Park. Its design came from the National Park Service Landscape Division, and the lookout was still in use in the 1980s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 4 April 1996.
The lookout was the first fire lookout in Yosemite and was still in use in the 1980s. Its design was included in Thomas Chalmers Vint's influential portfolio of park structures, which served as prototypes for general use by the National Park Service.
The lookout sits at high elevation and is reached via Big Oak Flat Road through the park. Bring sturdy footwear and be prepared for variable mountain weather conditions.
The Crane Flat lookout was one of four similar National Park Service Rustic lookouts built in California; the only other one in Yosemite is the Henness Ridge Fire Lookout. Thomas Chalmers Vint, the Park Service's chief landscape architect, included Crane Flat in a portfolio of prototype park structures.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,609 contributors worldwide.
