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Fire lookout · Navajo County, Arizona

Deer Springs Lookout

A 1923 Aermotor LL-25 tower in the Apache-Sitgreaves NF, AZ, with a possible earlier 1913 tower; last staffing found is 1944 and current access is unknown.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor LL-25 tower with 7x7 ft metal cabThe design: Aermotor LL-25
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1923
Height
50 ft (15.2 m)
Elevation
7,235 ft (2,205 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Navajo County, Arizona
Coordinates
34.30610, −110.42030
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-deer-springs

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 3.5 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. 1913 EventHolbrook News (June 6, 1913), quoted by the lookout history site, reports a lookout tower constructed near Deer Spring. The register dates the current tower to 1923.Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1914 EventHolbrook News (June 12, 1914) mentions the Deer Spring Lookout tower in connection with a telephone lineSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1923 BuiltAermotor LL-25, 50 ft with 7x7 metal cab. Register and lookout history site give 1923; Wikipedia says 1923 or 1926.Sources: nhlr.org, westlookouts.weebly.com, en.wikipedia.org
  4. No record between 1923 and 1940
  5. 1940 StaffedIvan S. Williams occupying the tower for his 20th consecutive year (Winslow Mail, quoted by lookout history site)Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1944 StaffedAnnis Jackson stationed at the tower during the 1944 season (Winslow Mail, quoted by lookout history site)Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1944 and 1988
  8. 1988 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesListed January 28, 1988 per TreeAlive; Wikipedia gives December 14, 1987Sources: treealive.com, en.wikipedia.org
  9. 2002 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 4, 2002 as US 418, AZ 25; nominated by Dave Lorenz, Director, AZ/NM FFLASource: nhlr.org
  10. 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Deer Springs Lookout stands in Navajo County, Arizona, inside the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, and the U.S. Forest Service administers it.1 The register calls it the oldest active lookout in Arizona.1

The register says it was built in 1923. The lookout history site gives the same year and describes a 50-foot Aermotor LL-25 with a 7-by-7 cab.1,2 Earlier mentions complicate that date. A 1913 Holbrook News item, quoted by the history site, says a lookout tower had been constructed near Deer Spring, and a 1914 item mentions the tower again.2 Wikipedia gives the build year as 1923 or 1926.3

Wikipedia also dates the ladder replacement to the 1930s, without a specific year.3

The site has staffing records from the 1940s. In 1940 Ivan S. Williams was in his 20th consecutive year there, and in 1944 a teacher, Annis Jackson, was stationed at the tower that season.2 I found no staffing report after 1944.

The register added the tower on March 4, 2002, as US 418, AZ 25.1 Sources also disagree on its National Register listing. TreeAlive gives January 28, 1988, while Wikipedia gives December 14, 1987.4,3

The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Arizona list still shows the tower as standing.5 I found no current staffing report, rental listing or visitor information for it, so I cannot say whether the public may go up it. Ask the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest before visiting, and do not climb the tower without permission.

  1. Deer Springs Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/deer-springs-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Deer Springs, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/deer-springs.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Deer Springs Lookout Complex, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_Springs_Lookout_Complex (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Deer Springs Lookout Complex, TreeAlive, https://treealive.com/nr/87002454 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Arizona fire lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Deer Springs Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · 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, county, elevation, 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: 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: what it is built of, 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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

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