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Fire lookout · Rio Arriba County, New Mexico

Dead Man's Peak Lookout

Also known as Deadman

A Santa Fe NF tower on Dead Man's Peak, erected 1933, with a 2002 steel cab per the 2020 chapter report; NHLR-registered 2014; reported staffed in 2020.

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 2020)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower30-ft Aermotor MC-24 tower with a 12x12 ft cab; the 2020 chapter report says a steel cab replaced the wooden one in 2002, while the NHLR text still says woodenThe 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
8,786 ft (2,678 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
Coordinates
36.42672, −106.77615
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-dead-mans-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 3.2 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. 1913 EventThe site has held a fire tower since at least 1913Source: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1913 and 1933
  3. 1933 BuiltErected in 1933 as a 30-ft Aermotor MC-24 with a 12x12 ft wooden cab; the Civilian Conservation Corps built it per the 2020 chapter reportSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.org
  4. 1933 Replaced by a new structureReplaced an earlier wooden platform tower built in the 1920sSource: nhlr.org
  5. No record between 1933 and 1963
  6. 1963 RebuiltRenovation approved under the Accelerated Public Works Program; the tower was rebuilt in the mid-1960sSource: firelookout.org
  7. 1969 AlteredRoof modified and original nine-pane windows replacedSource: nhlr.org
  8. No record between 1969 and 1988
  9. 1988 Condition assessmentEvaluated for the 1988 thematic NRHP nomination; found not eligible because of loss of integritySource: firelookout.org
  10. 2002 Replaced by a new structureA contractor built a new steel cab modeled on the wooden one; it was trucked in and set by craneSource: firelookout.org
  11. 2014 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 24, 2014; nominated by Scott WaltemeyerSource: nhlr.org
  12. 2020 StaffedDescribed as staffed in 2020 (the 2020 report's 'currently staffed') and the only lookout on the Cuba Ranger DistrictSource: firelookout.org
  13. 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.

Dead Man's Peak sits in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, at 8,786 feet.1 The register dates a fire tower on the site to at least 1913, and the present lookout sits on the Cuba Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest.1 It was erected in 1933 as a 30-foot Aermotor MC-24 tower, replacing an earlier platform tower of wood from the 1920s.1 The 2020 chapter report says the Civilian Conservation Corps put up the tower with a 12-by-12-foot wooden cab.2

The tower has been reworked several times. The 2020 report, quoting a 2017 account, says a renovation was approved in 1963 under the Accelerated Public Works Program, and the structure was rebuilt during the mid-sixties.2 The register notes that the roof was modified and the nine-pane windows replaced in 1969.1 In 1988 the lookout was found not eligible for the National Register because its original design had lost integrity.2 The 2020 report also says a contractor produced a new steel cab in 2002, modeled on the wooden one, and set it on the tower by crane.2 The register still describes a wooden cab, so the two sources disagree. I followed the later 2020 account.

The register listed the lookout on April 24, 2014, on a nomination by Scott Waltemeyer.1 The 2020 report says the lookout was staffed at the time of writing and was the only one the Cuba Ranger District had.2 I found no fire history for the site in the sources I read.

Today I could not confirm current staffing or whether visitors may climb the tower. Ask the Cuba Ranger District about access before planning any visit.

  1. Dead Man's Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/dead-mans-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. New Mexico Chapter 2020 Year-End Report, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-nm-2020.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

2014 photo
2014 photo (2014)Photo: Mark Gutzman, USFS, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1950s photo
1950s photoPhoto: Mark Gutzman, USFS, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1988 photo
1988 photo (1988)Photo: Mark Gutzman, USFS, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

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. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: what it is built of, 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
  4. 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
  5. 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.