FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Douglas County, Wisconsin

Brule Lookout

An 80-foot Wisconsin standard fire tower built in 1932 in Douglas County, staffed as late as 1950 and still standing; its post-2015 fate and public access are not in the sources.

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
Staffed during fire season (as of 1950)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot Wisconsin standard tower with an external protected ladderThe design: Wisconsin standard tower
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1932
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,362 ft (415 m)
Agency
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (per the National Historic Lookout Register); Central US Lookouts places the site in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Wisconsin
Coordinates
46.46606, −91.56577
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wi-brule

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 4.1 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. 1932 BuiltRegister gives 1932 as the build yearSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1932 and 1950
  3. 1950 StaffedPhoto caption places a fire guard at Brule Tower in 1950Source: foresthistory.org
  4. No record between 1950 and 2015
  5. 2015 EventStatewide plan, announced December 2015, to stop using the DNR lookout towers after an early-2015 assessment of 72; the sources found do not name BruleSource: dailyreporter.com
  6. 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 16, 2017 as US 1222, WI 26Source: nhlr.org
  7. 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.

The National Historic Lookout Register describes the Brule Lookout as a standard Wisconsin design, 80 feet tall, with a protected ladder on its outside, and dates its construction to 1932.1 The tower sits at about 1,362 feet above sea level, and the register lists the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as its administrator.1

A second listing, from Central US Lookouts, places the site inside the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.2 The two sources describe the setting differently, and the records do not settle who holds the land.1,2

The tower was staffed at least as late as 1950.3 A Forest History Society photo caption identifies Raymond Thompson as a fire guard at Brule Tower that year, photographed locating a blaze with a firefinder.3 Forest Service lookouts widely relied on the Osborne Firefinder through the 20th century.3 The instrument let them fix a fire's position from the direction of its smoke.3

In December 2015 the Wisconsin DNR announced plans to stop using its lookout towers.4 An assessment earlier that year found that the 72 towers, still in use to varying degrees, cost more to keep up than they were worth for fire detection.4 The sources do not say whether Brule was among the towers sold, given away or removed, or whether anyone still staffs it.4,1

The Forest Fire Lookout Association still lists the tower as standing.5 The register added it on August 16, 2017.1 The sources give no public visiting hours, climbing days or rental details, so anyone interested should ask the land manager before planning a trip.1

  1. Brule Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wi/brule-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Brule - Forest Lookouts, Central US Lookouts, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/brule.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Fire Lookouts, Forest History Society, https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/policy-and-law/fire-u-s-forest-service/fire-lookouts/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. DNR fires up plans to decommission old lookout towers (UPDATE), The Daily Reporter, https://dailyreporter.com/2015/12/17/state-to-take-fire-outlook-towers-out-of-commission/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Wisconsin Lookouts (by County), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wi/wi-co/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Brule Lookout
Photo: Brian Ziegler, via 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, 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 LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: ownership, links centraluslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.