FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Navajo County, Arizona

Chediski Lookout

A 121-foot Aermotor lookout built in 1936 on the Fort Apache-White Mountain Indian Reservation, listed as standing; its history in the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski Fire is undocumented.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. On the Fort Apache-White Mountain Indian Reservation, administered by the White Mountain Apache Agency; the register gives no public visiting information.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower121-foot Aermotor lookout; an original log groundhouse is preserved on the siteThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1936
Height
121 ft (36.9 m)
Elevation
6,573 ft (2,004 m)
Agency
White Mountain Apache Agency
Land
Unknown
Location
Navajo County, Arizona
Coordinates
34.13610, −110.72304 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-chediski

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1936 BuiltConstructed as a 121-foot Aermotor lookout; builder not named in the sources checkedSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1936 and 1997
  3. 1997 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered February 17, 1997 as US 202, AZ 9Source: nhlr.org
  4. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Chediski Lookout is a 121-foot Aermotor lookout on the Fort Apache-White Mountain Indian Reservation in Navajo County, Arizona.1 The National Historic Lookout Register lists it as US 202, AZ 9 and dates its registration to February 17, 1997.1

The register says the lookout was constructed in 1936 and that an original log groundhouse has been preserved on the site.1 We found no source naming the builder or the crew that raised the tower.1 The register notes that people often take it for the tallest tower on the reservation, because of the way it projects from a mountaintop.1

Wikipedia gives the peak an elevation of 7,462 feet and says the peak lent its name to the Rodeo-Chediski fires.2 The Rodeo-Chediski Fire burned from June 18, 2002, into July, and it began as two separate fires; the Chediski part was first reported near the peak on June 20.3 Sources we checked do not say whether the lookout was damaged or spared in that fire.3

The register describes the lookout as in active service, but it gives no date for that description.1 The Arizona lookout list we checked shows the tower as standing.4 The register names the White Mountain Apache Agency as the site's administrator.1 Anyone curious about a visit should start there. Do not climb a tower that its administrators have not opened to the public.

  1. Chediski Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/chediski-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Chediski Peak, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chediski_Peak (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Rodeo–Chediski Fire, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodeo%E2%80%93Chediski_Fire (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Arizona Lookouts, Firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Chediski Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Chediski Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 7.6 km (4.7 mi).

    • NHLR: 34.13610, −110.72304
    • FFLA: 34.18336, −110.66383

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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: 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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.