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Fire lookout · Grant County, New Mexico

Reeds Peak Lookout

A 1929 48-ft Aermotor LX-24 tower in the Gila National Forest; cab replaced 1959, stairs added 1965; sources disagree on its 1988 NRHP listing.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Foot access only, by a 12-mile trail into the Leopold Wilderness. No source found says whether climbing or entry is permitted.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
12-mile trail into the Leopold Wilderness on the Gila National Forest
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower48-ft Aermotor LX-24 steel tower with a 7x7-ft metal cabThe design: Aermotor LX-24 / LX-25
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
48 ft (14.6 m)
Elevation
9,990 ft (3,045 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Grant County, New Mexico
Coordinates
33.14292, −107.85422
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nm-reeds-peak

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. 1929 BuiltErected 1929 as a 48-ft Aermotor LX-24 with a 7x7 cabSources: en.wikipedia.org, westlookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1929 and 1957
  3. 1957 StaffedOrlan Johnson named as a Forest Service lookout stationed there (newspaper item quoted on the Weebly history page)Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1959 AlteredOriginal cab replacedSource: en.wikipedia.org
  5. 1965 AlteredMetal stairs added; outside metal ladder left in place and no longer usedSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.org
  6. 1974 StaffedJanice Weir worked as a lookout for part of the summer (newspaper item quoted on the Weebly history page)Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1988 Condition assessmentEvaluated for NRHP under the thematic nomination; the 2020 chapter report says it was not eligible at that timeSource: firelookout.org
  8. 1988 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesListed January 28, 1988 per Wikipedia and NPGallery. The 2020 chapter report says the property listed was the 1925 Observer's Cabin, not the tower.Sources: en.wikipedia.org, npgallery.nps.gov, firelookout.org
  9. No record between 1988 and 2006
  10. 2006 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 2, 2006 as US 654, NM 19; nominated by Dave LorenzSource: 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.

Reeds Peak Lookout sits in the Gila National Forest in Grant County, New Mexico, at 9,990 feet (3,045 meters).1 The tower went up in 1929 as a 48-foot Aermotor LX-24 steel tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab.1,2,3 None of the sources consulted explains why this spot was chosen. The National Register later filed it under a multiple listing called National Forest Fire Lookouts in the Southwestern Region.4

Its original cab was swapped for a new one in 1959.2 Metal stairs went in during 1965, and the outside metal ladder stayed where it was, though it is no longer used.1,5 Accounts of the 1965 work are not identical: one history page calls the new stairs interior ones.3

Few staffing records have surfaced. A 1957 newspaper item, quoted on a lookout history page, names Orlan Johnson as a Forest Service lookout stationed there.3 A 1974 item says Janice Weir spent part of that summer working as a lookout at the site.3 These two notices are the only staffing details found. They show the tower was manned in those years, but not how long it stayed in service.

The National Historic Lookout Register recorded the tower on January 2, 2006, on a nomination by Dave Lorenz.1 Wikipedia and the National Park Service record both give its National Register listing date as January 28, 1988.2,4 A 2020 year-end report from the New Mexico chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association disagrees about the listing. It says a 1988 review found the tower not eligible because of the 1965 stairs, that the property actually listed was the 1925 Observer's Cabin, and that the tower should be re-evaluated.5

The tower is listed as standing.6 Access is on foot. The register puts the route at 12 miles of trail running into the Leopold Wilderness.1 No source found says whether the cab is open to climbers or who looks after it now, so check with the Wilderness Ranger District before planning a visit.1,5

  1. Reeds Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nm/reeds-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Reeds Peak Lookout Tower, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reeds_Peak_Lookout_Tower (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Reed's Peak, Forest Lookouts (history pages), https://westlookouts.weebly.com/reeds-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Reeds Peak Lookout Tower, National Register Information System 87002472, NPGallery, National Park Service, https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/87002472 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. 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). ↩
  6. New Mexico lookout list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/nm/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Reeds Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Reeds Peak Lookout
Photo: 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.

    • Wikidata: 1929
    • Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: 1925

    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. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: height, register numbers, dates, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: what it is built of, design, 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, height, status, agency, access, 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.