FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Yavapai County, Arizona

Mingus Mountain Lookout

Prescott NF lookout on Mingus Mountain: 60-ft steel tower built 1935 to replace a 41-ft wooden one; NRHP-listed 1988; listed standing, current access unconfirmed.

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 tower60-ft Pacific Coast Steel tower (1935) with a 7x7 cab; the register says the cab is metal, Wikipedia says woodenThe design: Pacific Coast Steel
Built of
Steel
Built
Unknown
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
7,725 ft (2,355 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Yavapai County, Arizona
Coordinates
34.69390, −112.12767
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-mingus-mountain

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 3.1 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. 1911 EventMingus Mountain first used as a daily patrol lookoutSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1921 EventJune 18, 1921 newspaper notice: timber cut for a Forest Service tower that would be 44 feet highSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1924 EventFebruary 1, 1924 notice: one lookout tower on Mingus under construction; the notice does not give its heightSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1927 StaffedMay 20, 1927 item: a new lookout took over the tower; summer lookout kept every day and SundaySource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1932 Staffed1932 account of Forest Lookout William Anderson: tower about forty feet above the ground; lookouts told to leave towers in electrical stormsSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1935 Replaced by a new structure60-foot Pacific Coast Steel tower built to replace a 41-foot wooden towerSources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org
  7. No record between 1935 and 1956
  8. 1956 FireJune 1956 fire from a University of Arizona range experiment just outside the forest; came within 300 yards of a lookout station; 13,500 acres burnedSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1956 and 1988
  10. 1988 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesListed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 28, 1988, in a batch with 41 other fire lookout towersSource: en.wikipedia.org
  11. No record between 1988 and 2003
  12. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on August 5, 2003Source: nhlr.org
  13. 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.

Mingus Mountain Lookout stands on Mingus Mountain in the Prescott National Forest, in Yavapai County, Arizona 1,2. The mountain had a lookout early on. A 1911 note says it was first used as a daily patrol lookout 2.

In June 1921 a Prescott paper reported that timber had been cut for a Forest Service tower on the mountain, which would be 44 feet high 2. A February 1924 notice said one lookout tower on the mountain was under construction 2.

A May 1927 item says a new lookout took over the tower, and that a summer watch was kept every day 2. A 1932 account describes the tower as about forty feet above the ground, and says lookouts were told to leave their towers when an electrical storm came close 2.

The steel tower that stands there now was built in 1935 to replace a wooden tower of 41 feet 3,1. The register describes it as a 60-foot Pacific Coast Steel tower with a 7-by-7 metal cab 3. Wikipedia gives the same height and replacement, but says the cab is wooden with an overhanging front porch 1. The sources disagree on the cab, so I have not picked one.

In June 1956 a fire that broke out during a University of Arizona range experiment, just outside the national forest, got out of hand 2. It came within 300 yards of a lookout station and covered 13,500 acres 2.

The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 28, 1988, in a batch with 41 other fire lookout towers 1. The register recorded it in August 2003 3. The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the tower as standing 4.

I could not confirm whether the tower is open to visitors, staffed today, or available to rent. Check with the Prescott National Forest before you go, and do not climb the tower without permission.

  1. Mingus Lookout Complex, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingus_Lookout_Complex (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Mingus Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/mingus-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Mingus Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/mingus-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Arizona Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mingus Mountain 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. 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
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, 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.