FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Washakie County, Wyoming

James T. Saban (High Park) Lookout

Also known as High Park (James T. Saban), High Park, James T. Saban Lookout

CCC-built 1942 stone-and-wood L-4 lookout in the Bighorns, renamed in 2015 for a ranger who died in the 1937 Blackwater Fire; manned only in high fire seasons.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Forest Service recreation site; seasons of use depend on the weather

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingL-4The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
Unknown
Elevation
9,395 ft (2,864 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Bighorn National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Washakie County, Wyoming
Coordinates
44.14916, −107.20245 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wy-james-t-saban-high-park

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 3.9 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. 1937 BuiltSource: firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page
  2. 1937 EventJames T. Saban died fighting the Blackwater Fire on the Shoshone National Forest; the fire was not at this lookoutSource: nhlr.org
  3. 1941 EventPlanned summer 1941 completion; the rock work needed a stonemasonSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1942 BuiltCompleted by the CCC to standardized USFS plans; the register, nomination, Wikipedia and firelookout.com all give 1942Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org, npgallery.nps.gov
  5. No record between 1942 and 1979
  6. 1979 EventPaid lookouts until the late 1970s; the period of significance ends in 1979 as day-to-day operation moved to volunteersSource: npgallery.nps.gov
  7. 1991 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on November 15, 1991Source: nhlr.org
  8. No record between 1991 and 2013
  9. 2013 RestoredOne partial workday achieved: windows freshly caulked and the cab cleaned.Source: firelookout.org
  10. 2015 EventRenamed for James T. Saban by order of the Chief of the Forest Service on April 7, 2015Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2016 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesListed on the National Register in late 2016; Wikipedia gives November 15, the register says DecemberSources: en.wikipedia.org, nhlr.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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The James T. Saban Lookout was first named the High Park Lookout. It is a stone and natural wood structure, 14 feet square according to the register and Wikipedia, though the nomination gives a 20-foot exterior footprint.1,2,3 The Civilian Conservation Corps completed it in 1942, following standard Forest Service plans.1,3 Firelookout.com describes it as a two-story L-4 cab.4

The work ran past the summer of 1941, when the supervisor had planned to finish the lookout. A 1941 letter says the rock work would need a stonemason.3,5

The Chief of the Forest Service renamed the lookout for James T. Saban on April 7, 2015.1 Saban had been a CCC foreman and had also served as a Forest Service ranger. He lost his life fighting the Blackwater Fire on August 21, 1937.1 That fire killed 15 men and burned more than 1,200 acres of Shoshone National Forest land.1

Paid lookouts staffed the tower until the late 1970s, and volunteers took over until the mid-1980s.3 A 1956 memo reported 496 visitors that season.5 The Forest Service says three CCC-built lookouts in the Bighorn Mountains remain, and this one is staffed only in the seasons of highest fire danger.6

The register entry says the lookout was added to the National Register in December 2016. Wikipedia gives November 15, 2016.1,2 The nomination calls its present condition very good and faithful to its original form.3 Repairs included refinishing the wood floor and replacing the top-story entry door.3

The Forest Service lists it as a recreation site, with seasons of use that depend on the weather and a rule to pack out everything brought in.6 The page does not mention overnight rental, so check with the Powder River Ranger District office in Buffalo before you go.6 From Ten Sleep, head east on Highway 16 for roughly 23 miles, then turn right onto Forest System Road 429 and follow the signs.6

  1. James T. Saban (High Park) Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wy/james-t-saban-high-park-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. James T. Saban Lookout, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_T._Saban_Lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. James T. Saban Lookout, National Register of Historic Places nomination form (No. 16000781), National Park Service, https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/16000781_text (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. High Park (James T. Saban) Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wy/highpark.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. High Park, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/high-park.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. James T Saban Lookout, Bighorn National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/bighorn/recreation/james-t-saban-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

James T. Saban (High Park) Lookout - Undated
James T. Saban (High Park) Lookout - UndatedPhoto: Ron Kemnow Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2012
2012 (2012)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of James T. Saban (High Park) Lookout
Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
High Park in 2008
High Park in 2008 (2008)Photo: John Catterall, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of James T. Saban (High Park) Lookout
Photo: United States Forest Service, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · 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 1.1 km (0.7 mi).

    • NHLR: 44.14916, −107.20245
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 44.14163, −107.19395

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1937
    • Wikidata: 1942

    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. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, dates, 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. 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. 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, access, 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.