FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Custer County, South Dakota

Rankin Ridge Lookout

Wind Cave National Park's 1956 steel lookout on Rankin Ridge: a 1952 crow's-nest stopgap, regular fire use until 1998, still standing but closed to climbing.

Closed

The site is closed to visitors. Climbing the tower is not permitted. The trail to the high point is open to the public.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Closed. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
One-mile (1.6 km) trail through ponderosa pine to the high point, with parking at the trailhead. No pets. Climbing the historic tower is not permitted.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerInternational Derrick CL100 steel tower with 14x14 live-in cab and catwalkThe designs: CL-100, IDECO
Built of
Steel
Built
1956
Height
53 ft (16.2 m)
Elevation
5,013 ft (1,528 m)
Agency
National Park Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Custer County, South Dakota
Coordinates
43.62555, −103.48230 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-sd-rankin-ridge

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 3.3 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. 1939 EventPlanning for a lookout on the ridge began, but Emergency Conservation Work and CCC activity and then World War II stopped it.Source: npshistory.com
  2. 1952 MovedA 40-foot cedar pole crow's nest from Elk Mountain was moved to Rankin Ridge in July as a temporary lookout.Sources: npshistory.com, westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1954 FireA newspaper reported a lightning fire near Pringle spotted by the ridge lookout; three surveyors controlled it.Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1956 BuiltPermanent steel tower and cab erected by park staff, finished around September 1 at a total cost of $14,880.89.Sources: nhlr.org, npshistory.com
  5. No record between 1956 and 1998
  6. 1998 ClosedPublic access to the catwalk and the inside of the tower became limited.Source: npshistory.com
  7. 1998 Last staffedRegular use during fire seasons ended.Source: npshistory.com
  8. No record between 1998 and 2014
  9. 2014 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 3, 2014 on the National Historic Lookout Register as US 1040.Source: nhlr.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.

Rankin Ridge is the high point of Wind Cave National Park, at 5,013 feet.1,2 Plans for a lookout there go back to 1939, but Emergency Conservation Work and CCC activity stopped any planning, and World War II made the question moot.2 The ridge received its official name in January 1952.2 That July the park moved an old 40-foot cedar pole crow's nest from Elk Mountain to the ridge as a temporary lookout.2,3

The permanent tower followed in 1956.1,2 The register describes an International Derrick CL100 design with a 14-by-14-foot cab and a catwalk around it.1 The park's proposal had called for a 54-foot tower, while firelookout.com gives the finished all-steel tower as 53 feet, so the two figures do not match.2,4 Park staff put the tower up after the parts reached Hot Springs by rail in May 1956, and the work was finished around September 1, costing $14,880.89 in all.2

In July 1954 a local newspaper reported a blaze near Pringle that a lookout on Rankin Ridge had spotted.3 Lightning caused it.3 Three surveyors controlled it, and the Pringle Fire Department did the mop-up.3

The tower stayed in regular use during fire seasons until 1998.2 Since then, public access to the catwalk and tower interior has been restricted, and the last public visit to the top came during the park's 2003 centennial.2 Today it is used only now and then, to spot fires or keep an eye on severe weather.2

The tower still stands, and it has been on the National Historic Lookout Register since September 3, 2014.1,4 A one-mile Park Service trail climbs through ponderosa pines to the high point, but climbing the tower itself is not permitted.5

  1. Rankin Ridge Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/sd/rankin-ridge-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Rankin Ridge Lookout Tower, Wind Cave National Park: Assessment of Qualification for Listing on the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, https://npshistory.com/publications/wica/rankin-ridge-lookout-tower.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Rankin Ridge - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (westlookouts.weebly.com), https://westlookouts.weebly.com/rankin-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Rankin Ridge Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/sd/rankinridge.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Rankin Ridge Nature Trail, U.S. National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/places/rankin-ridge-nature-trail.htm (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Rankin Ridge Lookout - 2011
Rankin Ridge Lookout - 2011 (2011)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Rankin Ridge Lookout
Photo: Brad Wheeler, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Rankin Ridge in 2018
Rankin Ridge in 2018 (2018)Photo: Samsara Duffey and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Rankin Ridge in 2023
Rankin Ridge in 2023 (2023)Photo: Samsara Duffey and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Rankin Ridge Lookout
Photo: User:Magicpiano, via Wikimedia Commons · GFDL · 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.

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 location by 1.6 km (1.0 mi).

    • NHLR: 43.62555, −103.48230
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 43.61137, −103.48797

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

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. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, photos, links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: photos, 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: 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
  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.