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Fire lookout · Apache County, Arizona

Escudilla Lookout

Also known as Escudilla Peak Lookout

Apache-Sitgreaves NF lookout; 1933 Aermotor MC-24 tower, 1965 or early-1970s 54-ft rebuild; destroyed in the June 2011 Wallow Fire; NHLR-registered 2009.

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 MC-24 (1933); 54-ft steel K-Brace tower with CL-100 cab (1965 or early-1970s rebuild)Cab: CL-100; tower: Aermotor MC-24
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
54 ft (16.5 m)
Elevation
10,876 ft (3,315 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Apache County, Arizona
Coordinates
33.94733, −109.12169 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-escudilla

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 2.9 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. 1914 EventFifty-foot lookout tower and ranger's cabin reported on the summit in a January 9, 1914 newspaper item; the item does not give a build dateSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1915 EventOn June 23, 1915, St. Johns Boy Scouts climbed the fifty-foot tower while Forest officers explained the fire-locating methodSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1915 and 1933
  4. 1933 BuiltAermotor MC-24 tower constructed; NHLR gives 1933 as the build year of a 54-foot towerSources: westlookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  5. No record between 1933 and 1965
  6. 1965 Replaced by a new structure54-foot steel K-Brace tower with CL-100 cab built to replace the earlier structure; Peakbagging dates the rebuild to the early 1970sSources: westlookouts.weebly.com, peakbagging.com
  7. No record between 1965 and 2009
  8. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on September 2, 2009Source: nhlr.org
  9. 2011 DestroyedTower destroyed in the June 2011 Wallow Fire per NHLR and Peakbagging; Forest Lookouts says extensive damageSources: nhlr.org, peakbagging.com, westlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 2011 FireWallow Fire swept over Escudilla Mountain on June 6, 2011Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 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.

Escudilla Lookout stood on the crest of Escudilla Mountain in Apache County, Arizona, within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests 1,2. In January 1914 a newspaper reported a fifty-foot tower and a ranger's cabin at the mountain's high point 2.

The Forest Lookouts page says an Aermotor MC-24 tower went up in 1933 2. The register also dates the build to 1933, but it describes a 54-foot tower with a 14-by-14-foot cab 1. The Forest Lookouts page places a 54-foot steel tower with a CL-100 cab in 1965, as a replacement for an earlier structure 2. Peakbagging dates the rebuilt tower to the early 1970s 3. The sources disagree on which date fits that tower 2,3.

In 1915 a group of St. Johns Boy Scouts climbed the fifty-foot tower, where Forest officers explained how the protractor on the tower was used to locate fires 2.

On June 6, 2011, the Wallow Fire swept over Escudilla Mountain 2. The register says the lookout was destroyed that June 1, and Peakbagging says the same 3. The Forest Lookouts page describes extensive damage instead 2.

The register recorded the lookout on September 2, 2009 1.

Today, the register and Peakbagging both describe the tower as destroyed, and none of the pages read here reports a rebuild after the 2011 fire 1,3. These sources do not describe current access to the site.

  1. Escudilla Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/escudilla-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Escudilla, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/escudilla.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Escudilla Lookout, Arizona, Peakbagging.com, http://www.peakbagging.com/AZPhotos/EscudillaLO.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Escudilla Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Escondilla Lookout burned in the Wallow Fire, June 2011
Escondilla Lookout burned in the Wallow Fire, June 2011 (2011)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.

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 1.1 km (0.7 mi).

    • FFLA: 33.94733, −109.12169
    • NHLR: 33.95650, −109.12485

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from FFLA.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, 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: location, 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, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.