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Fire lookout · Apache County, Arizona

PS Knoll Lookout

Also known as P S Knoll Lookout Tower

CCC-era fire tower and historic cabin in Arizona's Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, built 1933, NRHP-listed 1988; standing, staffing and visiting status not found.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. A hiking site says forest roads provide access but notes its location is approximate and not a guarantee of access. No current visit report or closure notice was found in the sources read.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Check with the Alpine Ranger District before visiting; no staffing or climbing status found.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor fire tower with a 7x7 ft cab (NHLR model MC-39), with a historic cabin on a nine-acre siteThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
46 ft (14.0 m)
Elevation
8,045 ft (2,452 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Alpine Ranger District, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests)
Land
Federal land
Location
Apache County, Arizona
Coordinates
33.75444, −109.39833
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-ps-knoll

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 3.0 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. 1933 BuiltNHLR gives 1933 as build year and says the CCC constructed the tower in the mid-1930s; Wikipedia says the Aermotor Windmill Company constructed it in 1933Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org, npgallery.nps.gov
  2. 1939 EventNRHP metadata lists 1939 as a significant year; the nomination PDF has not been digitized, so the reason is unknownSources: npgallery.nps.gov, npgallery.nps.gov
  3. No record between 1939 and 1988
  4. 1988 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesAdded to the National Register of Historic Places (ref. 87002451) on January 28, 1988Sources: en.wikipedia.org, npgallery.nps.gov
  5. No record between 1988 and 2009
  6. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 2, 2009 as US 829, AZ 76; nominated by Dave LorenzSource: nhlr.org
  7. 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.

PS Knoll Lookout is a fire tower and a historic cabin in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, in Apache County, Arizona, near Maverick.1,2 The National Historic Lookout Register says the Civilian Conservation Corps built a 50-foot Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab in the mid-1930s, and it gives the build year as 1933.1 Wikipedia instead credits the Aermotor Windmill Company with constructing the tower in 1933 and gives its height as 45.9 feet, so the sources disagree on both the builder and the height. The manufacturer and a crew may both have had a hand in it, but none of the sources I read explains how.2

The site covers nine acres and includes a historic cabin.1,2 Wikipedia also lists a house, a storage shed and an outhouse.2 The National Register listed the complex on January 28, 1988.2,3 The lookout register registered it on September 2, 2009, as US 829, AZ 76.1

The National Register record lists 1939 as a significant year alongside 1933, but the nomination PDF has not been digitized, so I could not find what happened in 1939.3,4

A Forest Fire Lookout Association list of Arizona towers shows PS Knoll as standing.5 The register lists the U.S. Forest Service as administrator, with the Alpine Ranger District as cooperator.1 None of the sources I read says whether the tower is staffed or open to visitors. According to a hiking site, forest roads offer access for people researching CCC-era towers, though its location is only approximate and not a guarantee of access.6 Check with the Alpine Ranger District before you plan a visit.

  1. PS Knoll Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/ps-knoll-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. PS Knoll Lookout Complex, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Knoll_Lookout_Complex (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. PS Knoll Lookout Complex, National Register Information System asset detail, National Park Service (NPGallery), https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/87002451 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. PS Knoll Lookout Complex, National Register nomination file, National Park Service (NPGallery), https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/17fc0cdc-f2a4-4279-b116-fbf47c346c5e/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Arizona Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. PS Knoll Lookout Complex, Nevada Hiking, https://nevadahiking.org/loc/ps-knoll-lookout-complex/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of PS Knoll Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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: register numbers, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, visiting details, 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.