FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lincoln County, New Mexico

Monjeau Lookout

A CCC stone-and-timber lookout above Ruidoso, first built in 1936 and rebuilt in 1940, now a popular (unstaffed) visitor stop on the National Register.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Reached by about 5.5 miles of Forest Service gravel/dirt road north of Ruidoso; final mile sometimes gated to vehicles (closed part of 2020, reopened by mid-2021) and the road can close in winter snow. No potable water on site.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2007)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerCCC rustic design: 14x14 ft native stone base with living quarters, topped by a 7x7 ft metal observation cabThe design: Stone lookouts
Built of
Stone
Built
1936
Height
Unknown
Elevation
9,582 ft (2,921 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lincoln County, New Mexico
Coordinates
33.43080, −105.73146
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-monjeau

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1936 BuiltCCC built an original lookout on the siteSources: livingnewdeal.org, fs.usda.gov
  2. 1940 BuiltSource: recreation.gov
  3. 1940 RebuiltCCC rebuilt the lookout as the stone-base/metal-cab structure that stands today; this is the only construction date given by NHLR and WikipediaSources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org, fs.usda.gov
  4. No record between 1940 and 1988
  5. 1988 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesListed on the National Register of Historic Places January 27, 1988 (ref 87002483), as part of the thematic nomination 'National Forest Fire Lookouts in the Southwestern Region'Source: npgallery.nps.gov
  6. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate registered per NHLR detail page: November 26, 1996Source: NHLR register entry
  7. 2004 RestoredRestored in November to its original design after earlier alterations.Source: firelookout.org
  8. 2010 RestoredWindows restored to the original style, mentioned in an aside in the Black Mountain entry.Source: firelookout.org
  9. 2012 FireBurned over in the Little Bear Fire; the lookout survived and was later restored.Sources: firelookout.org, firelookout.org, firelookout.org
  10. 2013 RestoredRestoration completed after the 2012 burn-over; later described as a partial reconstruction under a small-business contract, with a National Register plaque installed afterward.Sources: firelookout.org, firelookout.org, firelookout.org
  11. 2015 RestoredWater seepage damage in the observer cabin below the cab repaired with a new wood-look tile floor and various water sealants; repair contract let in 2015.Source: firelookout.org
  12. 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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Monjeau Lookout sits above the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest, at 9,582 feet, a few miles north of Ruidoso.1 Two sources, Living New Deal and the Lincoln National Forest's own visitor page, say the Civilian Conservation Corps put up a first lookout here in 1936 and then rebuilt it in 1940.2,3 The National Historic Lookout Register and Wikipedia mention only the 1940 structure, so the 1936 original may have been a simpler or short-lived building that the later one replaced.1,4

What stands today is unusual for a fire lookout: a 14-by-14-foot base of native stone, built to double as living quarters, with a small 7-by-7-foot metal cab set on top for the actual watch.1 It was recognized as architecturally significant for that rustic CCC design, and in 1988 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of a thematic listing covering fire lookouts across the Forest Service's Southwestern Region.5 It also went on New Mexico's State Register of Cultural Properties that same year.4 In 1996 it became the first lookout in New Mexico entered into the National Historic Lookout Register, nominated by the Forest's own archaeologist.1

A 2007 volunteer visit report found the tower unstaffed, with signage poor and water damage rotting the wood inside; a restoration contract had gone out to bid but no work had yet been done.1 Staffing since then is not documented here. The lookout remains standing and is a popular stop for forest visitors, reached by about 5.5 miles of Forest Service gravel and dirt road; the final stretch is sometimes gated to vehicles, closed to cars for part of 2020 and reopened by mid-2021, and the road itself can close in winter snow.4,3 There is no potable water on site.3

  1. Monjeau Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/monjeau-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Monjeau Lookout, Living New Deal, https://livingnewdeal.org/sites/monjeau-lookout-alto-nm/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Monjeau Lookout, Lincoln National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/lincoln/recreation/monjeau-lookout (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  4. Monjeau Lookout, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monjeau_Lookout (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  5. Monjeau Lookout, National Register of Historic Places nomination record (NRIS 87002483), National Park Gallery, https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/87002483 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Monjeau Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Monjeau Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Monjeau Lookout
Photo: E. L. Perry, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · source

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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: what it is built of, 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: type, ownership, access, dates Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 12 Oct 2026
  4. 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
  5. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: register numbers, photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  7. 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
  8. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, 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

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