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Fire lookout · Otero County, New Mexico

Mayhill Lookout Site

Otero County, NM lookout built by the CCC in 1935; moved to James Ridge in 1967, where the tower stands open to the public. The original Mayhill site has no tower.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. No tower at the original Mayhill site. The tower was moved in 1967 and stands as the James Ridge Lookout (NHLR US 1110, NM 36)

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Forest Service lists the James Ridge Lookout as 'Site Open'. No access information for the original Mayhill site

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerAeromotor LX-24 cab with 7x7 foot cab and wooden steps, as first builtThe design: Aermotor LX-24 / LX-25
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,752 ft (2,363 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Lincoln National Forest (built by the Civilian Conservation Corps)
Land
Federal land
Location
Otero County, New Mexico
Coordinates
32.92192, −105.50774
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-mayhill

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and a typical height for a lookout like it.

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 by the CCC as part of Mayhill CCC camp F-24-NSources: firetower.org, fs.usda.gov
  2. 1938 AlteredRemodeling and improvements reported complete in the Alamogordo News, August 25, 1938Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1938 and 1967
  4. 1967 MovedMoved to James Ridge and now known as the James Ridge LookoutSources: fs.usda.gov, fs.usda.gov, nhlr.org
  5. No record between 1967 and 2015
  6. 2015 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register as US 1602, NM 1Source: firetower.org
  7. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Mayhill lookout in 1935, as part of its Mayhill camp, F-24-N.1,2 The camp had put up its permanent buildings in 1934.2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register describes a 62-foot Aeromotor LX-24 tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab and wooden steps.1 The Forest Service gives the tower as 48 feet tall, so the two sources disagree on its height.1,2

In August 1938 the Alamogordo News reported that remodeling of the Mayhill tower and cabin, along with two other towers, had been completed.3

In 1967 the tower was moved to James Ridge, where it became the James Ridge Lookout.2,4 The Forest Service says the 1967 move is the reference point for whether the tower can qualify for the National Register of Historic Places.4 The original site no longer has its tower, and the Forest Fire Lookout Association lists it as gone.5

The James Ridge tower stands on the Sacramento Ranger District and is also on the National Historic Lookout Register as US 1110, NM 36.4,6 The Forest Service lists the site as open.4 It says the lookout has been extensively remodeled since the move, sits on a 62-foot steel tower, and that no potable water is available there.4 At the original Mayhill site, a Flickr album titled Mayhill Lookout shows the former site and an antenna that now sits nearby.7 No other source we read describes what is at the old site now.

  1. Mayhill Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/nm/mayhill-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mayhill Lookout, Lincoln National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/lincoln/recreation/mayhill-lookout (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mayhill, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/mayhill.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. James Ridge Lookout, Lincoln National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/lincoln/recreation/james-ridge-lookout (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. New Mexico Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/nm/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. James Ridge Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/james-ridge-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  7. Mayhill Lookout, Flickr (lincoln_nf_lookouts album), https://www.flickr.com/photos/lincoln_nf_lookouts/sets/72157632233817114 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mayhill Lookout Site, 1935
(1935)Photo: USFS, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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 whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • recreation.gov: Standing

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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 12 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, status, agency, access, 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.