FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Eddy County, New Mexico

Dark Canyon Lookout

A 1949 Aermotor MC-99 steel lookout in the Lincoln National Forest, Guadalupe Ranger District, built on a site used for fire detection since 1910.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Listed by the Forest Service as an open observation site. The register marks the lookout as available for rental. No current booking listing was found.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor MC-99 steel tower, 48 ft high (the top 48 ft of a 90 ft U.S. Army surplus tower), with a 7 x 7 ft steel cab; CCC observer's cabin and shed beside itThe designs: L-1400 steel tower, Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,968 ft (2,124 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Lincoln National Forest, Guadalupe Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Eddy County, New Mexico
Coordinates
32.08169, −104.73959
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-dark-canyon

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. 1910 EventFire detection begins at the site using two tall pine trees with ladders and platformsSources: nhlr.org, fs.usda.gov
  2. No record between 1910 and 1948
  3. 1948 Replaced by a new structureSteel tower with International Derrick cab erected; one of only two Aermotor MC-99 towers still standing in the Southwestern Region.Source: firelookout.org
  4. 1949 BuiltSurplus U.S. Army tower received and erected; original 90 ft, top 48 ft usedSources: nhlr.org, fs.usda.gov
  5. No record between 1949 and 2015
  6. 2015 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, August 30, 2015Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2016 EventForest Service proposed a $65 per night fee for overnight rental of the lookout and cabin; neither was yet open for overnight useSource: govinfo.gov
  8. 2016 Opened as a rentalBecame the first approved cabin rental on the Lincoln NF, on the Guadalupe Ranger District; expected to be available summer 2017.Source: firelookout.org
  9. 2020 EventLookout complex nominated to the National Register and in final transmittal for listing, per the 2020 chapter reportSource: firelookout.org
  10. 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.

Dark Canyon has been used to spot fires since 1910, when the site relied on two tall pine trees fitted with ladders and platforms.1,2 A steel tower that another national forest had condemned was brought in, set up and taken down within a year, and the trees went back into use.1,2 The Civilian Conservation Corps later built the cabin and toolshed that still stand beside the lookout.1,2 The sources differ on the year. The register and the Forest Service say the late 1930s, while a 2020 chapter report says late 1939.1,2,3

The present tower arrived in 1949 as a surplus steel tower from the U.S. Army.1,2 It is an Aermotor MC-99 type with a 7 by 7 foot steel cab.1,2 The tower started out 90 feet tall, and the Forest Service used only the top 48 feet.1,2 The Forest Service says the tower is one of just two surviving MC-99 types in its southwestern Region.2

According to the 2020 chapter report, the lookout is used for fire detection on an as-needed basis.3 I did not find any particular fire credited to the tower in the sources I read.

The register added the lookout in 2015.1 A 2016 federal notice proposed a $65 a night fee for overnight rental of the tower and its cabin, which had not yet been open for overnight use.4 The 2020 chapter report said the complex would join the cabin rental program once it was running, and that it had been nominated to the National Register and was in the final steps before listing.3

The Forest Service lists the site as an open observation site.2 The register marks the lookout as available for rental.1 I did not find a current booking listing, so ask the Guadalupe Ranger District about rental and access before you plan a visit. I also could not find a source that says whether visitors may climb the tower, so please do not climb it unless the district says it is allowed.

  1. Dark Canyon Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/dark-canyon-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Dark Canyon Lookout Observation Site, Lincoln National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/lincoln/recreation/dark-canyon-lookout-observation-site (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. 2020 Year-End Report, Current Chapter: New Mexico, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-nm-2020.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Notice of New Fee Site; Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, Title VIII, Pub. L. 108-447, Federal Register, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-04-11/html/2016-08172.htm (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Dark Canyon Lookout
Photo: Mark Gutzman, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

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  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1949
    • recreation.gov: 1949
    • Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: 1939

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

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. Recreation Information Database (recreation.gov) Gave us: what it is built of, ownership, access Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: design, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, access, 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.