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Fire lookout · Santa Cruz County, Arizona

Red Mountain Lookout

1973 R-6 wooden cab on Red Mountain in the Patagonia Mountains; newest Coronado National Forest lookout, now semi-active and sharing the summit with radio equipment.

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
Trail
Forest Road 4649 runs from Harshaw Road (Forest Road 58) south of Patagonia to the lookout. A 2010 hike log lists a distance of 6 miles and a gain of 2,000 ft.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingWooden R-6 flat-top dual cab, about 15 x 15 ft, with a roof overhang, on a 10 ft concrete foundationThe design: R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1973
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,758 ft (1,755 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Coronado National Forest (Sierra Vista Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Santa Cruz County, Arizona
Coordinates
31.50427, −110.71872 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-red-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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1973 BuiltConstructed 1973; newest fire lookout on the Coronado National ForestSources: nhlr.org, gvrhc.org
  2. No record between 1973 and 2003
  3. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 31, 2003 as US 452, AZ 45Source: nhlr.org
  4. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Red Mountain Lookout stands on Red Mountain in the Patagonia Mountains, southeast of the town of Patagonia in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.1,2 It was built in 1973 and is the newest fire lookout on the Coronado National Forest.1,2

The cab is wooden and of the R-6 type, with a flat roof that overhangs the walls, and it has a catwalk with a wooden railing. A 10-foot concrete foundation supports it.1,2 The R-6 design dates to 1953, when Region 6 of the Forest Service, which covers Washington and Oregon, first developed it.2 The cab measures 15 by 15 feet.2

The register entry is dated January 31, 2003, as US 452 and AZ 45.1 The site now has communications equipment. The register notes several communications towers at the lookout, and the 2020 summary says the site also carries radio relay service for the Forest Service, Border Patrol and the county sheriff.1,2 A memorial plaque to the Coleman family is on the site, but the summary has no further information about the family.2

The register describes the lookout as in active service.1 A January 2020 summary calls it semi-active and says the Sierra Vista Ranger District administers it.2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists it as standing.3 I found no account of a notable fire at the site.1,2,3

The sources disagree on elevation. The register gives 5,758 feet (1,755 m). The 2020 summary says the forest road ends at the lookout at 6,373 feet, and a 2010 hiking log gives the same figure for the summit.1,2,4

A January 2020 summary says forest road FR-4649 leaves Harshaw Road south of Patagonia and runs to the lookout.2 A 2010 hike log lists a distance of six miles and a gain of 2,000 feet.4 I did not find a current statement on whether visitors may go up into the cab, and the sources do not mention a gate. Check with the Sierra Vista Ranger District before you go, since the road and the site may have changed since those reports were written.

  1. Red Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/red-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Red Mountain Fire Lookout (January 2020 summary), Gila Valley Regional Historical Committee, https://gvrhc.org/Library/RedMountainFireLookout.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Arizona Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. The Mountains of Arizona: Red Mountain (Patagonia), surgent.net, https://surgent.net/highpoints/az/range/patagoniared.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Red Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tower before refurbishing
Tower before refurbishingPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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 770 m.

    • NHLR: 31.50427, −110.71872
    • FFLA: 31.50656, −110.72633

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.