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Fire lookout · Yavapai County, Arizona

Mount Union Lookout

Mount Union Lookout near 8,000 ft in Prescott National Forest, Yavapai County; 1933 30-foot tower per NHLR; NHLR-registered 2003 and still listed in active service.

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 tower30-foot Aermotor Mc-24 tower with modified L-4 cabCab: L-4; tower: Aermotor MC-24
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1924
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
7,938 ft (2,420 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Yavapai County, Arizona
Coordinates
34.41502, −112.40435
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-mount-union

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 3.2 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 EventPeak first established as a 'constant' lookoutSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1924 BuiltTower reported completed Feb 1, 1924 in Phoenix Arizona Republican item; smoke-locating apparatus not yet installedSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1931 FireFloyd Orr, lookout, extinguished two lightning-caused fires July 22, 1931 itemSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1933 BuiltRegister gives present tower (30-foot Aermotor Mc-24, modified L-4 cab) as built in 1933Source: nhlr.org
  5. 1933 Replaced by a new structureSept 20, 1933 announcement: two of five stations to be modernized with 30-foot steel towers and 12x12 foot cabins, one at Mount Union; emergency conservation workers to erect itSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1933 and 1952
  7. 1952 StaffedBill Wells, local forest ranger, to go on duty at the tower because of dry forests and hunter fire riskSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1952 and 2003
  9. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 5, 2003 as US 529, AZ 51Source: 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.

Mount Union Lookout stands on a peak of nearly 8,000 feet in the Prescott National Forest, in Yavapai County, Arizona.1 The Forest Lookouts site says the peak was first set up as a "constant" lookout in 1911.2 A February 1924 newspaper item reported that a tower there had been completed, though its smoke-finding equipment was still missing.2

In September 1933 the forest announced that two of its five lookout stations would be modernized with new 30-foot steel towers and 12-by-12-foot cabins, one of them at Mount Union. The announcement said emergency conservation workers would probably erect the Mount Union tower.2 The Register describes the present tower as a 30-foot Aermotor Mc-24 with a modified L-4 cab, built in 1933.1

Several people are named in the newspaper items the Forest Lookouts site quotes. An August 1924 item calls the lookout William Pratt, who reported a fire. Items from 1925 and 1927 name William Pradt, who went to the scene of a blaze and reported fires.2 Floyd Orr put out two lightning-caused fires in July 1931 after spotting them from his station.2 In 1952 the forest announced that a local ranger, Bill Wells, would go on duty at the tower because the forests were extremely dry and hunters posed a threat of fire.2 A June 1976 item says a Forest Service ranger and his new bride chose to honeymoon at the lookout.2

The Register lists the tower as US 529, AZ 51, registered on August 5, 2003, and says it remains in active service.1

The sources read do not say whether the public may visit the tower or who staffs it now. The Register lists the Bradshaw Ranger District as a cooperator.1

  1. Mount Union Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/mount-union-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Mount Union, Forest Lookouts (westlookouts.weebly.com), https://westlookouts.weebly.com/mount-union.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Union Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Camper at Mount Union Lookout in July 1961
Camper at Mount Union Lookout in July 1961 (1961)Photo: Brad Russell, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
July 1961 photo
July 1961 photo (1961)Photo: Brad Russell, via 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: 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

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