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Fire lookout · Albany County, Wyoming

Medicine Bow Peak Lookout Site

Medicine Bow Peak WY ground lookout: wooden cabin about 1909, later a cupola building; staffed 1910s-30s; gone; old remains in the saddle below the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Listed as gone by the Forest Fire Lookout Association and firelookout.com; a bare caption on Forest Lookouts reads 'Burned by the Forest Service' without a date or structure; a 2022 blog describes old remains in the saddle below the summit

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Site lies in Medicine Bow National Forest and a 2022 hiking blog describes hiking up from Sugarloaf Campground; no closure notice found, but no current visitor rules found either

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Remains of the old lookout sit in the saddle below the summit, not on top; a sign on the route points out to them (2022 blog)

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabSmall wooden ground cabin built about 1909, later replaced by a larger structure with a cupolaThe design: Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1909
Height
500 ft (152.4 m)
Elevation
12,009 ft (3,660 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Albany County, Wyoming
Coordinates
41.36035, −106.31737
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wy-medicine-bow-peak

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

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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. 1909 BuiltSmall wooden ground cabin built on the site about 1909 (FFLOS gives circa 1909)Source: firetower.org
  2. 1909 EventContract awarded in July 1909 for a telephone line between Centennial and the peakSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1910 StaffedFred J. Miller recommended for appointment as lookout in July 1910; by 1912 described as the ranger who occupied the post during the summer and fallSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1913 FireLightning-caused fire on the lookout point, reported by Fred Miller; covered about an acre before it was put outSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1919 RebuiltNewspaper item reports a new observatory built on the peak with glass on all sidesSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1921 FireLate September 1921: smoke that Miss Lindsley reported in the vicinity of Foxpark became a fire that for a time threatened the settlementSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1921 StaffedLorraine Lindsley of Centennial took the lookout post; she resigned effective October 9, 1921 to return to the University of WyomingSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1922 EventMarch 1922 notice: women would no longer be employed as lookout observers in the region, citing isolation and supply problemsSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1922 RebuiltJuly 1922 Forest Service advertised for bids for a new combination fire observatory and living quarters atop the peakSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1932 StaffedRoy Last of Saratoga again stationed at Medicine Bow PeakSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1936 StaffedArthur Strouts identified as forest lookout on Medicine Bow PeakSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  12. No record between 1936 and 2017
  13. 2017 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: December 7, 2017Source: FFLOS register entry
  14. 2019 EventPhotos taken September 10, 2019 show remains of the telephone line system on the peakSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  15. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Medicine Bow Peak lookout began as a small wooden ground cabin, built on the site about 1909.1 A later, larger building with a cupola took its place.1 The summit is listed at 12,009 feet (3,660 meters), though a 1920 notice gives 12,005 feet.1,2

In July 1909 a contract was awarded for a telephone line between Centennial and the peak.2 Fred J. Miller was recommended for appointment as the lookout in 1910, and by 1912 a newspaper described him as the ranger who kept the lonely post through the summer and fall.2

In 1921 Lorraine Lindsley of Centennial took the post, which one paper called the highest lookout held by a woman in the United States.2 She resigned that October to return to the University of Wyoming.2 A March 1922 notice said women would no longer be hired as lookouts in that region, citing isolation and supply problems.2 Roy Last was back at the station in 1932, and Arthur Strouts was the lookout in 1936.2

In July 1913 lightning started a fire on the lookout point, and by the time it was put out it had covered about an acre.2 In late September 1921 a smoke the lookout reported near Foxpark became a fire that for a time threatened the settlement.2

A 1919 item reported a new observatory on the peak, with glass on all sides.2 In July 1922 the Forest Service sought bids for a new combined fire observatory and living quarters on the summit.2 The dates for the summit buildings do not line up across these sources. The firelookout.com page lists the cabin as "Cupola cabin. Gone."3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Wyoming list marks the site as ground gone.4 A bare caption on the Forest Lookouts page reads "Burned by the Forest Service." It does not say which structure that was or when.2

The Former Fire Lookout Sites Register places the site in the Medicine Bow National Forest, administered by the U.S. Forest Service.1 A 2022 hiking blog found the old lookout in the saddle below the summit, not on top.5 The writer called it "much more than a cairn," and noted that a sign on the route points the way out to it.5 Forest Lookouts shows 2019 photos of remains of the telephone line system on the peak.2 The blog gives Sugarloaf Campground as the regular start point for the climb.5 We found no closure notice for the site, but no source we read gives current visitor rules either.

  1. Medicine Bow Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wy/medicine-bow-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Medicine Bow Peak, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/medicine-bow-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Medicine Bow Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wy/medicinebowpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Wyoming Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wy/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Medicine Bow Peak, Valhikes, https://valhikes.blogspot.com/2022/08/medicine-bow-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Medicine Bow Peak Lookout Site
Photo: American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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: 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 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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

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