I was looking for National Park campground information online when I came across this:
“Bunk in a Fire Lookout Tower – These are mostly historic fire lookouts once used by wildland firefighters, like 55-foot tall Spruce Mountain Fire Lookout located at 10,000 feet.”
I’ve seen these towers in the distance, perched over Arizona forests, and thought how awesome it would be to see the view from there. I had no idea it was a possibility (without years of training and a Forest Service job) until I read that. I also hadn’t thought about them no longer being in use.
I guess nowadays fires just send a text-?
The catch:
“Most offer panoramic views of mountains, forests and wildlife but may not offer electricity, running water, or road access.”
You may have to pack in all your food, water, and gear. You may also have to climb down a ladder to use the bathroom.
Inconvenient, but still, I’d stay in one for a night.
How about you?
—
How to find fire towers you can stay in on recreation.gov:
- Type “camp” in the search box.
- Under category, choose “campgrounds.”
- Under looking for, choose “lookouts.”
—
Images via recreation.gov (except #2).
- Spruce Mountain Fire Lookout, Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming.
- Via iOS7 Text generator.
- Bald Butte Lookout, Fremont-Winema National Forest, Oregon. “The lookout was built in 1931 and served as a Forest Service fire detection site for over 50 years. It was constructed from an Aladdin L4 ground-mounted lookout kit in which all of the pieces were pre-cut in six-foot lengths or less so the entire kit could be packed by horses into the remote site.”
- (+ top/featured image) McCart Lookout, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana. “It has been restored to reflect a lookout of the 1940s, including the stove, furniture, dishes and other small touches.”
- Screenshot.