FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Greenlee County, Arizona

Reno Lookout

Greenlee County, Arizona, tower on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest; its 1965 replacement is listed as standing and it reportedly survived the 2011 Wallow Fire.

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 tower54-foot K-brace steel tower with CL-100 cab and catwalk (1965 replacement)The designs: CL-100, Aermotor
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
9,094 ft (2,772 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Greenlee County, Arizona
Coordinates
33.62083, −109.42889
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-reno

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. 1931 BuiltOriginal 48-foot Aermotor tower, per the register's description; the Arizona history gives no date for the first towerSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1931 and 1965
  3. 1965 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. 1965 Replaced by a new structureRegister Built field gives 1965; the Arizona history says an earlier Aermotor model LX-25 was replaced by a 54-foot K-brace towerSources: nhlr.org, westlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1965 and 2009
  6. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 2, 2009, as US 830, AZ 77Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2011 FireWallow Fire started a few days before a June 1, 2011 post placed it a couple of miles from the lookout; a June 2, 2011 post reported the tower safe after a burnoutSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 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.

Reno Lookout is on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Greenlee County, Arizona, at 9,094 feet.1 The register's Built field gives 1965.1 Its description says an original 48-foot Aermotor built on the forest in 1931 has since been replaced by a taller tower.1 The register also describes the new tower as 54 feet tall, with a CL-100 cab and a catwalk.1

A separate Arizona lookout history also dates the replacement to 1965 and gives the new tower's height as 54 feet.2 The two accounts differ on the first tower. The register calls it a 48-foot Aermotor.1 The Arizona history calls it an Aermotor model LX-25 and gives no separate date for that earlier tower.2

The sources read do not say who staffed the lookout or when.

In June 2011 a post on the Arizona history page reported a fire that had started a few days earlier a couple of miles from the lookout, the Wallow Fire.2 A second post, dated June 2, said the tower was safe after a burnout was done around it.2

The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Arizona list shows Reno as standing, although the list carries no date.3

The sources read do not say whether the lookout is open to visitors or available to rent. The register names the U.S. Forest Service as its administrator.1 Anyone planning a visit should check with the forest first, and should stay away from any structure that is closed.

  1. Reno Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/reno-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. ARIZONA - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (westlookouts.weebly.com), https://westlookouts.weebly.com/arizona.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Arizona Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Reno 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, 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, 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.