FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Gila County, Arizona

Signal Peak Lookout

1934 MC-39 Aermotor lookout in Tonto National Forest, Gila County, Arizona, replacing a 1920 wooden tower; NHLR-registered 2002; listed as standing.

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 tower59-foot MC-39 Aermotor tower with a metal 7 by 7 foot cabThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
59 ft (18.0 m)
Elevation
7,781 ft (2,372 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Gila County, Arizona
Coordinates
33.29312, −110.83595
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-signal-peak

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 2.9 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. 1920 Eventwooden tower dating to 1920, replaced by the present towerSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1934 Builtpresent tower built in 1934 (NHLR); replaced the 1920 wooden towerSource: nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1934 and 2002
  4. 2002 Added to the National Historic Lookout Registerregistered July 20, 2002 as US 444, AZ 40; nominated by Dave Lorenz, AZ/NM registrarSource: nhlr.org
  5. 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.

Signal Peak Lookout stands on a 7,781-foot mountain in the Tonto National Forest, in Gila County, Arizona.1 The U.S. Forest Service administers it, with the Globe Ranger District as a cooperator.1 The National Historic Lookout Register lists it as US 444, AZ 40.1 Dave Lorenz, the AZ/NM registrar, nominated it, and the Register recorded it on July 20, 2002.1

The Register says the present tower was built in 1934, succeeding a wooden tower from 1920.1 It also gives the tower as a 59-foot MC-39 Aermotor, with a metal cab 7 feet by 7 feet.1

The sources read do not say who staffed the tower over the years or which fires it watched.1,2

The Register calls the site an active station.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Arizona index lists the tower as standing under the same register number.2,3 Neither listing mentions a closure, rebuild, or rental.2,3

Peakbagging's Arizona lookout table, revised October 2, 2024, assigns the structure code A, meaning its condition is good and it could be staffed.4 That describes the building, not who staffs it now.4

The sources do not say whether the public can drive up, visit, or climb the tower.1,2 Anyone planning a trip should check with the Tonto National Forest first, and should stay away from any tower that is closed or off limits.

  1. Signal Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/signal-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Arizona Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Arizona Lookouts (by County), Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/az-co/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Arizona Fire Lookouts, Table 1, Peakbagging (peakbagging.com), http://www.peakbagging.com/Peak%20Lists/AZ_Lookout1.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Signal Peak 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, 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.