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Fire lookout · Sierra County, New Mexico

Lookout Mountain Lookout (Gila National Forest)

Also known as Lookout Mountain, Lookout Mountain (Gila)

A 30-ft Aermotor MC-24 tower in the Gila National Forest, dated 1933 by Forest Service sources; its steel cab was replaced in 1965.

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
Trail
Limited parking on Forest Road 226A serves the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (Trail #74).
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2020)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower30-ft Aermotor MC-24 steel tower; steel CL-100 series cab replaced the original 12x12 wooden cab in 1965The designs: CL-100, Aermotor MC-24
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
8,870 ft (2,704 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Gila National Forest (Black Range Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Sierra County, New Mexico
Coordinates
33.35211, −107.82151
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-lookout-mountain-gila-national-forest

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. 1933 Built30-ft Aermotor MC-24 steel tower constructed with a 12x12 wooden cab (Forest Service account, 2020 review); the register gives 1965Sources: westlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.org
  2. No record between 1933 and 1965
  3. 1965 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. 1965 EventRegister says the lookout was constructed in 1965 on the existing Aermotor towerSource: nhlr.org
  5. 1965 Replaced by a new structureOriginal observation cab replaced with a steel CL-100-series cab; upper flight of stairs modifiedSources: westlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.org
  6. No record between 1965 and 1988
  7. 1988 Condition assessmentFound not eligible in the 1988 thematic National Register review: loss of integrity of original designSource: firelookout.org
  8. No record between 1988 and 2020
  9. 2020 Staffed2020 review: actively staffedSource: firelookout.org
  10. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterUS 1651, NM 50, registered July 7, 2022Source: nhlr.org
  11. 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.

Lookout Mountain's tower is a 30-foot Aermotor MC-24 steel tower in Sierra County, on the Gila National Forest.1,2 The sources agree on the tower's design but not on its age. A fire-lookout history page that draws on a Forest Service account says a 30-foot MC-24 tower with a 12-by-12 wooden cab was constructed in 1933.2 A 2020 New Mexico review gives the same 1933 date for the tower.3 The register, by contrast, says the lookout was constructed in 1965 on the existing tower, and its photo caption gives 1934 for the MC-24 tower and cab.1

The cab changed in 1965. Its original observation cab was swapped for a steel cab in the Forest Service's CL-100 series, and the top flight of stairs had to be changed.2,3 The 2020 review says the lookout is actively staffed.3

A 1988 review for the National Register found the lookout not eligible, because its original design had lost integrity.3 The 2020 review suggests re-evaluating it in its current form, since that configuration is now 55 years old.3 The register added the lookout on July 7, 2022, as US 1651 (NM 50), with Brad Eells as nominator.1

The Forest Service's trailhead page describes a limited parking area on Forest Road 226A, Lookout Mountain Road, that serves the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (Trail #74).4 Its directions run north from Winston on New Mexico Highway 52 for 9 miles, then west on Highway 59 for about 14.5 miles, then south on Forest Road 226 for about 5.5 miles to Forest Road 226A.4 The sources I read do not say whether the cab itself is open to visitors. Because the 2020 review lists it as actively staffed, treat it as a working tower and do not climb it.

  1. Lookout Mountain Lookout (Gila National Forest), National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/lookout-mountain-lookout-gila-national-forest/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Lookout Mountain (Gila), FOREST LOOKOUTS (westlookouts.weebly.com), https://westlookouts.weebly.com/lookout-mountain-gila.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. New Mexico Lookouts 2020 Year-End Report, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-nm-2020.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Lookout Mountain CDNST Trailhead, Gila National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/gila/recreation/lookout-mountain-cdnst-trailhead (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Lookout Mountain Lookout - 2022
Lookout Mountain Lookout - 2022 (2022)Photo: jackmakin8, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mountain Lookout - Aermotor MC-24 & 12x12 cab built 1934
Lookout Mountain Lookout - Aermotor MC-24 & 12x12 cab built 1934 (1934)Photo: Gila National Forest, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1965
    • Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: 1933

    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, 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: 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: 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: what it is built of, design, height 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, staffing, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.