FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Gila County, Arizona

Diamond Point Lookout

Built 1936 on the Tonto NF as a Region 3 L-4 variant; NRHP-listed 1988 and NHLR-registered 2002; latest staffing record is a 2013 visit.

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
Staffed during fire season (as of 2013-09-17)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerRegion 3 variant of the L-4; 30-ft tower with 12x12 cab (sources describe the tower differently: Pacific Coast Steel vs MC-24)The designs: L-4, Aermotor MC-24, Pacific Coast Steel
Built of
Steel
Built
1936
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
6,157 ft (1,877 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Gila County, Arizona
Coordinates
34.29082, −111.19275
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-diamond-point

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 3.4 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. 1936 BuiltBuilt on the Tonto National Forest as a Region 3 variant of the L-4Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org
  2. 1936 Replaced by a new structureReplaced a wooden platform tower built in 1924Source: nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1936 and 1988
  4. 1988 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesListed as Diamond Point Lookout Cabin, NRIS 87002493Source: historypointer.com
  5. 1990 FireDude Fire burned the Zane Grey cabin in the vicinity of the lookout; six firefighters died in the fireSources: rimcountrymuseum.org, nhlr.org
  6. 2002 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on July 20, 2002Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org
  7. 2013 StaffedVisit report dated September 17, 2013 answered yes to staffedSource: nhlr.org
  8. 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.

Diamond Point Lookout sits on the Tonto National Forest in Gila County, Arizona 1,2, and the sources date it to 1936 1,3. The register describes it as a Region 3 variant of the L-4 design that departs from that model in many respects 1. Its 12-by-12-foot cab sits on a 30-foot tower 1,4. The sources describe the tower differently 1,4. The register credits Pacific Coast Steel 1, while Forest Lookouts describes it as an MC-24 tower 4. The register says the 1936 lookout took the place of an earlier wooden platform tower dating to 1924 1.

The U.S. Forest Service administers the lookout 1,3. A 2013 visit report posted on the register's page answered yes when asked whether the lookout is staffed 1. These sources do not confirm staffing after that.

In June 1990 the Dude Fire burned the Zane Grey cabin to the ground 5. Six firefighters died in the same fire 5. The register says the active lookout is near that cabin's site 1.

The National Register of Historic Places listed the Diamond Point Lookout Cabin on January 28, 1988 2. The National Historic Lookout Register recorded the lookout on July 20, 2002 1,3.

Wikipedia's category tags put the lookout in the Coronado National Forest and Santa Cruz County 3. The same article's infobox lists the Tonto National Forest and Gila County 3, and the register and the National Register record agree with that 1,2. This story follows the Gila County reading.

Today, these sources do not confirm public access or rental terms. The 2013 visit report recorded that no National Historic Lookout Register sign was posted and that directions to the tower were not signed 1.

  1. Diamond Point Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/diamond-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Diamond Point Lookout Cabin, NRIS 87002493, Historypointer, https://www.historypointer.com/nris/resource/87002493/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Diamond Point Lookout, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Point_Lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Diamond Point, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/diamond-point.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Zane Grey Cabin, Rim Country Museum, https://www.rimcountrymuseum.org/zane-grey-cabin (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Diamond Point 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, 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: 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: 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, staffing, 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.