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Fire lookout · Lincoln County, New Mexico

Gallinas Peak Lookout

Also known as Galilnas Peak

Cibola/Lincoln NF lookout on Gallinas Peak, erected 1933 on a 46-ft steel Aermotor tower; NHLR-registered 2007; standing, with a road to the summit.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. A road reaches the summit. I could not confirm whether the tower or cab is open to visitors.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
No trails in this part of the forest; forest roads reach the summit
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower7x7 ft MC-39 cab on a 46-ft steel Aermotor tower, part of a complex with an observer's cabin and tool shedThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
Steel
Built
1933
Height
46 ft (14.0 m)
Elevation
8,615 ft (2,626 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lincoln County, New Mexico
Coordinates
34.24690, −105.78800
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-gallinas-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 3.3 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. 1922 EventConstruction of a telephone line for the Gallinas lookoutSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1932 EventJune 1932: fire guard Paul Porter injured in a fall from the ladder to the lookout towerSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1932 Replaced by a new structureSeptember 1932 newspaper: new steel towers replaced worn-out wooden ones, including a 48-ft tower on GallinasSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1933 BuiltErected in 1933 as a 7x7 ft MC-39 cab on a 46-ft steel tower (2020 chapter report); a June 1933 newspaper item reports a new tower erectedSources: westlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.org
  5. 1938 AlteredRemodeling and improvements completed on the Gallinas, Wofford and Mayhill towers and cabins (newspaper spellings)Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1938 and 2004
  7. 2004 FireFires ravaged the mountain; the summit was sparedSource: summitpost.org
  8. 2007 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 17, 2007; nominated by Dave Lorenz; described as recently returned to active serviceSource: nhlr.org
  9. 2020 Condition assessmentNot evaluated in the 1988 thematic NRHP nomination; the 2020 chapter report says it should be evaluated and nominated if eligibleSource: 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.

Gallinas Peak rises in Lincoln County, New Mexico, at 8,615 feet, and the lookout is on the Mountainair Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest.1 The cab is 7 by 7 feet and sits on a 46-foot steel tower, an Aermotor MC-39 design.1,2 The complex also has an observer cabin and a shed for tools.2

The lookout was first part of the Lincoln National Forest, which erected it, and was afterward handed over to the Cibola.2 A 1922 newspaper item mentions building a telephone line for the Gallinas lookout.3 In September 1932 a newspaper reported that new steel towers had replaced worn-out wooden ones, including a 48-foot tower on Gallinas.3 The 2020 report gives 1933 as the year the present tower was erected.2 Items from February and April 1933 describe a 40-foot tower on its way and a 50-foot tower staked out, and a June 1933 item reports a new tower erected.3 The sources disagree on height and date. The register and the 2020 report both give 46 feet, so I used that figure.1,2

In June 1932 a fire guard, Paul Porter, was hurt in a fall from the ladder to the lookout tower.3 Fire swept the slopes in 2004, but the top came through unscathed.4

The register listed the lookout on June 17, 2007, and described it as back in active use.1 A 1938 newspaper item says remodeling of several lookout towers and cabins, Gallinas among them, was completed.3 The 2020 report says the lookout was not evaluated in the 1988 National Register study. The report puts its age at 87 years and recommends evaluating it for possible nomination.2

Today a road reaches the summit, which has radio towers and the lookout.4 I could not confirm whether the cab is open to visitors. For the latest information, contact the Mountainair Ranger District.4

  1. Gallinas Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/gallinas-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). ↩
  3. Gallinas Peak, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/gallinas-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Gallinas Peak, SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/gallinas-peak/153607 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Gallinas Peak 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. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: 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: design, height, 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, access, visiting details, 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

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