FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Gila County, Arizona

Aztec Peak Lookout

Also known as Aztec

A 1956 steel tower on the Tonto National Forest's highest Sierra Ancha summit, where writer Edward Abbey once worked two seasons as the lookout.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Reached by Forest Road 487, which is gated about 0.5 mi short of the trailhead near the tower; the adjoining Sierra Ancha Wilderness is closed to motorized travel.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Abbey's Way Trail #151 approaches the lookout area; FR 487 closed ~1/2 mile before the trailhead
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2013)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerSteel tower, flat roof steel 14' x 14' CL-100 cab, ~41 ft tower heightThe designs: CL-100, D-6
Built of
Steel
Built
1925
Height
42 ft (12.8 m)
Elevation
7,728 ft (2,356 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Gila County, Arizona
Coordinates
33.81218, −110.90762
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-aztec-peak

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

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. 1925 BuiltEarlier wooden D-6 cupola groundhouse on the siteSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1925 and 1956
  3. 1956 Replaced by a new structureCurrent steel tower with flat-roof CL-100 cab erected, replacing the 1925 wooden lookoutSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1956 and 1996
  5. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered November 27, 1996 as US 192, AZ 2, nominated by District Ranger James R. SoethSource: nhlr.org
  6. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Aztec Peak is the highest point in the Sierra Ancha,1 and a steel tower there has watched for smoke since 1956, replacing an earlier wooden lookout, a D-6 cupola groundhouse built around 1925 on the same summit.2 The current structure is a steel tower topped with a flat-roofed, 14-by-14-foot CL-100 cab, roughly 41 feet off the ground.2,1 It stands on the Tonto National Forest, in rough, cut-up terrain south of the Mogollon Rim, at 7,728 feet.2,1

The tower's most famous occupant never ran a fire crew or built a trail. Edward Abbey, the writer who later made his name with Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang, worked two seasons as the lookout at Aztec Peak and wrote about the place afterward.3 The Forest Service still marks the connection: the trail leading toward the tower is named Abbey's Way.3

Aztec Peak Lookout was formally added to the National Historic Lookout Register on November 27, 1996, nominated by the district ranger, as US 192 (Arizona's second entry).2 As of the most recent register visit report, in 2013, the tower was staffed and in good condition — stairs sound, glass intact.2 The lookout's register entry still describes it as in active service.2

Getting close to it today means a backcountry drive: Forest Road 487 runs toward the lookout but is gated roughly half a mile short of the trailhead, and even where it's open, the upper stretch often calls for a high-clearance vehicle.3,1 The surrounding Sierra Ancha Wilderness, which reaches up to the mountain's high slopes, is closed to motorized travel, so the lookout sits right at that boundary between road access and protected backcountry.1 Afternoon monsoon thunderstorms are a real hazard on this exposed summit, and there is no suggestion the tower is open for public overnight rental — it remains a working fire lookout on federal land, not a visitor cabin.

  1. Aztec Peak, Mountain Field Guide, https://mountainfieldguide.com/aztec-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Aztec Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/aztec-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Abbey's Way 151, Tonto National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/tonto/recreation/abbeys-way-151 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Aztec Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Aztec Peak Lookout
Photo: Brandon.wiggins, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: county, 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. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: design, height, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, access, staffing, visiting details, 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.