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Fire lookout · McKinley County, New Mexico

McGaffey Lookout

Standing 1965 54-ft steel tower with CL-100 cab on the Cibola NF; earlier Aermotor MC-39 (1934); staffed in 1943 and 1947; re-evaluated as NRHP-eligible in 2020.

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
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower54-foot steel tower with 14x14 ft CL-100 metal cab (1965)The designs: CL-100, Aermotor MC-39
Built of
Steel
Built
1934
Height
54 ft (16.5 m)
Elevation
8,137 ft (2,480 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
McKinley County, New Mexico
Coordinates
35.36363, −108.50952
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-mcgaffey

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. 1934 Built59-ft Aermotor MC-39 tower, the earlier tower on the siteSources: nhlr.org, westlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1943 StaffedGallup Independent announced Mrs. Richard Clawson would serve as lookout May to July; the paper believed it a first for the CibolaSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1947 StaffedGallup Independent said the lookout was manned by Garland WillcoxsinSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1947 and 1965
  5. 1965 BuiltPresent 54-ft steel tower with 14x14 ft CL-100 metal cab went into serviceSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.org, westlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1965 and 2005
  7. 2005 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 1, 2005Source: nhlr.org
  8. No record between 2005 and 2020
  9. 2020 Condition assessment2020 report: not eligible in 1988 due to age; since re-evaluated as eligible for nomination. Year from the report's title, 2020 Year-End Report (in the text, 55 years old and built 1965)Source: 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.

McGaffey Lookout stands in McKinley County, New Mexico, on the Mount Taylor Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest.1,2

Its first structure was a wood tower from the 1920s.1 The National Historic Lookout Register also gives a 59-foot Aermotor MC-39 tower, dated 1934.1,3

The present tower dates from 1965 and is 54 feet tall, with a 14-by-14-foot CL-100 metal cab, a catwalk and a corrugated roof.1,3 The 2020 report also notes a tool storage shed and a vault toilet at the site.2

In 1943 the Gallup Independent announced that Mrs. Richard Clawson would serve as lookout during May, June and July. The paper believed it was the first time a woman had done that job on the Cibola.3 In 1947 the same paper said the lookout was manned by Garland Willcoxsin.3

The Register, the 2020 report and the Forest Lookouts page all date the present tower to 1965.1,2,3 A hiker's blog gives 1959 and says the lookout is manned during high fire danger.4

In 1988 the lookout was judged not eligible for the National Register, with its age given as the reason.2 The 2020 report says a later review found it eligible for nomination.2

A lookout listing shows the tower as standing.5 One hiker reported the landing was closed on their visit, so check before going up.4 The sources do not say whether the public may climb it.

  1. McGaffey Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/mcgaffey-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. New Mexico lookout report, Forest Fire Lookout Association New Mexico Chapter, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-nm-2020.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. McGaffey, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/mcgaffey.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Tampico Springs Trail, Jan's Jaunts and Jabberings (blog), https://jansjaunts.wordpress.com/tag/tampico-springs-trail/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. New Mexico Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/nm/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of McGaffey 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, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 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, agency, 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.