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Fire lookout · Otero County, New Mexico

James Ridge Lookout

Lincoln National Forest tower moved from the 1935 Mayhill CCC-era site to James Ridge in 1967; volunteer-staffed as of 2020 and open to visitors.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Forest Service lists the site as open; no potable water; restroom information not available. Check current forest alerts before visiting.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Staffed by volunteers (as of 2020)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower62-foot steel tower with a 7-by-7-foot steel cab; the register calls the tower an Aermotor LX-24 type that has been remodeledThe design: Aermotor LX-24 / LX-25
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
8,598 ft (2,621 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Otero County, New Mexico
Coordinates
32.96494, −105.60524
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-james-ridge

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 3.1 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. 1935 BuiltBuilt as the Mayhill Lookout (LX-24 cab on a 48-foot tower) at the Mayhill CCC campSource: fs.usda.gov
  2. No record between 1935 and 1967
  3. 1967 AlteredRemodeled during the move, with metal stair treads and a partial catwalkSource: firelookout.org
  4. 1967 MovedMoved from Mayhill and re-erected at James RidgeSources: nhlr.org, fs.usda.gov, westlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1967 and 2015
  6. 2015 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered with the National Historic Lookout Register on August 30, 2015Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2020 EventNRHP addendum nomination to the 1988 thematic listing in process, per the 2020 chapter reportSource: 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.

James Ridge Lookout stands on James Ridge in the Lincoln National Forest, in Otero County, New Mexico.1 The New Mexico chapter's 2020 year-end report calls it the lookout for the area around the resort village of Cloudcroft.2

The tower did not start on James Ridge.3 The Forest Service says the Mayhill Lookout was constructed in 1935 as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Mayhill, and that its cab sat on a 48-foot tower.3

It was moved in 1967 and set up again on James Ridge.4,5 The 2020 report says the tower was remodeled during the move, and that it gained a partial catwalk and metal stair treads.2

The register and the Forest Service both describe the present tower as 62 feet high, with a 7-by-7-foot cab.1,4 The Forest Service says the lookout has been remodeled extensively since it left Mayhill.4 The 48-foot Mayhill figure and the 62-foot James Ridge figure come from different pages, and the sources do not explain the gap.3,4

The register recorded the tower on August 30, 2015.1 The 2020 report says the 1967 move is why it missed the 1988 thematic listing of lookouts. A nomination adding it to that listing was under way in 2020.2 The Forest Service says its future eligibility will be based on the 1967 move.4

The Forest Service lists the site as open.4 Its page says potable water is unavailable there and gives no restroom details.4 A volunteer mans the lookout each year, according to the 2020 report.2

The 2020 report marks the lookouts it proposed for the cabin rental program with a C. James Ridge does not carry that mark.2

Before you drive up, check current forest alerts. The Forest Service lists a temporary closure at Bluff Springs on the Sacramento Ranger District.4 None of the sources I read say whether visitors may climb the tower.

  1. James Ridge Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/james-ridge-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. 2020 Year-End Report, New Mexico Chapter, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-nm-2020.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Mayhill Lookout, Lincoln National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/lincoln/recreation/mayhill-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. James Ridge Lookout, Lincoln National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/lincoln/recreation/james-ridge-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. James Ridge, Forest Lookouts (westlookouts.weebly.com), https://westlookouts.weebly.com/james-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of James Ridge Lookout
Photo: Mark Gutzman, 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, 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: 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: 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
  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, 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.