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Fire lookout · Navajo County, Arizona

Springer Mountain Lookout

Apache-Sitgreaves lookout; CCC-built 1933 30-ft MC-24 tower, cab remodeled 1967, registered 2002; listed standing; a lookout was on duty there in 2005.

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
Staffed during fire season (as of 2005)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerMC-24 tower, 30 ft (9.1 m), with 12x12-ft cabThe design: Aermotor MC-24
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
7,153 ft (2,180 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Lakeside Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Navajo County, Arizona
Coordinates
34.14720, −109.94780
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-az-springer-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.

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 says the tower was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933Source: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1933 and 1967
  3. 1967 AlteredNHLR says the cab was remodeled in 1967 by the Apache-Sitgreaves National ForestSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1967 and 2002
  5. 2002 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on March 4, 2002 as US 424, AZ 31Source: nhlr.org
  6. 2005 StaffedA July 2005 Arizona Highways feature mentions a lookout working at Springer Mountain on the Lakeside Ranger DistrictSource: arizonahighways.com
  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.

The Springer Mountain Lookout stands on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Navajo County, Arizona, at about 7,153 feet.1 The National Historic Lookout Register says the Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1933.1 It is a 30-foot MC-24 tower with a 12-by-12-foot cab, and the Register says the national forest remodeled the cab in 1967.1

The Register accepted the lookout on March 4, 2002, as US 424, AZ 31, and lists the Lakeside Ranger District as its cooperator.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Arizona list shows the tower as standing under the same register number.2

A July 2005 Arizona Highways feature mentions a lookout working at Springer Mountain on the Lakeside Ranger District.3 The same piece says a lookout decides whether visitors may climb a tower, and that visitors should ask first.3 That is a general description of Forest Service practice, not a statement about this tower today.3

The Register says the cab was remodeled while the tower was in active service, which does not tell us its status today.1 The sources I read do not say who staffs the tower now, what fires it has watched, or whether it is open to visitors. Anyone planning a visit should ask the Lakeside Ranger District first.1,2,3

  1. Springer Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/az/springer-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Arizona Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/az/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Jo Baeza, "Forest Service Lookouts Require a Taste for High Living," Arizona Highways, July 2005, https://www.arizonahighways.com/archive/issues/chapter/Doc.1022.Chapter.13 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Springer Mountain 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: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, staffing, 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.