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Fire lookout · Catron County, New Mexico

El Caso Lookout

Also known as EICaso

El Caso Lookout, Gila NF: 1934 WPA tower and ground house, NRHP-listed 1988; 2020 chapter report says it is unstaffed, neglected and in need of restoration.

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
Not staffed (as of 2020)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower31.6-foot Aermotor MC-24 tower with a restored R3 12x12 low-sill cab (register)Cab: Region 3 cab; tower: Aermotor MC-24
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
31 ft (9.6 m)
Elevation
8,847 ft (2,697 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Catron County, New Mexico
Coordinates
34.10299, −108.49420
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-el-caso

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. 1934 BuiltLookout and ground house built by the Works Progress Administration on the Gila National ForestSources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org, firelookout.org
  2. No record between 1934 and 1988
  3. 1988 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesLookout complex (with ground house) added to the National Register of Historic PlacesSource: en.wikipedia.org
  4. No record between 1988 and 2006
  5. 2006 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register January 2, 2006; nominated by Dave LorenzSource: nhlr.org
  6. 2019 EventPhoto taken 20 June 2019, captioned 'El Caso Lookout abandoned' in the 2020 report. This dates the photo; it does not say when the lookout was abandoned or last staffed.Source: firelookout.org
  7. 2020 Condition assessmentChapter year-end report: complex neglected, in need of serious restoration to return it to its National Register condition; not staffedSource: firelookout.org
  8. 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.

El Caso Lookout stands in the Gila National Forest, north of Apache Creek in Catron County, New Mexico, at about 8,847 feet.1,2 The Works Progress Administration built the complex in 1934, and it was one of three New Deal-era forest fire lookouts built in the county.2,3

The register describes a 31.6-foot Aermotor MC-24 tower and calls it one of the best examples of that model in the Southwest. The register also says the lookout and its ground house have National Register status.1 The National Register listing is dated January 28, 1988.2 The lookout was registered with the National Historic Lookout Register on January 2, 2006.1

The register and the 2020 report both describe a restored cab.1,3 The 2020 report, though, says the complex has been neglected and needs major restoration to meet its National Register standard.3

The 2020 report, from the New Mexico chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, says El Caso is definitely not staffed.3 A photo in that report, taken on June 20, 2019, carries the caption "El Caso Lookout abandoned."3 None of these sources gives the year the lookout was last staffed, and none describes a notable fire at the site.

The register lists the U.S. Forest Service as the administrator, with the Quemado Ranger District as a cooperator.1 No source confirms public access or says whether anyone can go up the tower. Anyone planning a trip should check with the Gila National Forest first, and should keep off a structure the 2020 report describes as abandoned.3

  1. El Caso Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/el-caso-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. El Caso Lookout Complex, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Caso_Lookout_Complex (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. 2020 Year-End Report, Forest Fire Lookout Association New Mexico Chapter, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-nm-2020.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of El Caso Lookout
Photo: 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: register numbers, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 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, 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.