FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Cass County, Minnesota

Ben Draper Lookout

Also known as Draper Lookout Tower

1937 CCC-built 110-ft Aermotor lookout in Cass County, MN; staffed until 1990, later emergency use and a radio repeater (undated, one history site); no public-access source.

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 tower110-foot Aermotor steel tower with a 7 by 7 foot metal cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1937
Height
110 ft (33.5 m)
Elevation
1,517 ft (462 m)
Agency
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Land
Unknown
Location
Cass County, Minnesota
Coordinates
46.92535, −93.92420
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mn-ben-draper

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 4.1 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. 1937 BuiltBuilt by the CCC with the Minnesota Division of Forestry (NHLR) or the Minnesota DNR (Historical Minnesota Fire Towers); Forest Lookouts also dates it 1937Sources: nhlr.org, tower.kjackson.us, centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1937 and 1990
  3. 1990 Last staffedStaffed regularly during fire season until 1990Source: tower.kjackson.us
  4. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 19, 1996 as US 156, MN 5Source: 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Ben Draper Lookout stands in Cass County on the Land o' Lakes State Forest, on a tract donated by Ben Draper, an early settler in the area.1,2 The Civilian Conservation Corps and the state's forestry agency built it in 1937.1,2 The National Historic Lookout Register describes a 110-foot Aermotor structure with a metal cab measuring 7 feet by 7 feet.1 A second history site also gives 110 feet, but the Forest Lookouts site says 100 feet, so the height is not settled.2,3

The tower was staffed regularly during fire season until 1990.2 A history site says the tower is now used on an emergency basis and also carries a radio repeater, but it gives no date for either.2

The register entry, dated January 19, 1996, said an information kiosk would be set up to interpret the historic site.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association still lists the tower as standing.4

Today the sources do not say whether the public may visit or climb it.1,2 The register names the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as the administering agency, so anyone who wants to see the tower should ask the DNR first.1

  1. Ben Draper Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mn/ben-draper-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Draper, Historical Minnesota Fire Towers, http://tower.kjackson.us/Draper.php (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Ben Draper, Forest Lookouts, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/ben-draper.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Minnesota Lookouts (Standing), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/mn/mn-st/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Ben Draper Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Ben Draper Lookout
Photo: Tlkremer, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, links centraluslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. 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.