Near Grand Canyon Village in Coconino County, Arizona — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Grandview Lookout Tower
Fire Lookout
Photographed by Craig Baker
1. Grandview Lookout Tower Marker
This steel lookout tower, erected in 1936, is 80 feet tall. It replaced an earlier wooden lookout tower and platform. The two-room bungalow style cabin, also built in 1908, serves as the lookout's residence.
As guardians of our nation's vast timber reserves, the U.S. Forest Service has always given fire detection and control a high priority. In the first years after the Forest Service was established in 1905, fire guards patrolled the forest on horseback. The earliest form of lookout structure was simply a platform mounted in a tree. The fire guard would climb the tree, spot the fire, and then report it. Eventually, permanent lookout stations and towers were established on prominent points. These early towers were built with local materials, usually logs or lumber. The lookout used a device called an Osborne Fire Finder to pinpoint a fire's location. Telephones enabled lookouts to quickly report fires, speeding response time. Today, radios are the most common form of communication. In the early 1930s, the Forest Service developed a region-wide plan for fire detection and control. The plan included suggestions for lookout tower design and locations to ensure complete visual coverage of the landscape.
Largely as a result of this plan, and the influx of labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps, the 1930s became the most active period for lookout tower construction in the nation. Steel towers and cabs were built to standard Forest Service architectural plans. Grandview Lookout Tower, completed in 1906, is typical of others built during that era.
Hull Cabin Historic District, a National Register site, is located just 1.5 miles away on Forest Road 307. Follow the signs as you travel south on this road.
National Historic Lookout Register
This site listed on the National Historic Lookout Register, a national register recognizing fire lookout sites, structures and towers with historic and cultural significance to forest fire detection
this page online
Maintained in cooperation with federal, state, and private forestry agencies and landowners throughout the United States.
Erected by Kaibab National Forest.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & Forestry • Industry & Commerce • Parks & Recreational Areas. A significant historical year for this entry is 1936.
Location. 35° 57.454′ N, 111° 57.291′ W. Marker is near Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, in Coconino County. It is on Coconino Rim Road 1.3 miles south of Desert View Drive (Arizona Route 64), on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 100 Coconino Rim Rd, Grand Canyon AZ 86023, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Flagstaff & High Country and in Hopi. It is also in the American Southwest, in the Mountain West, on the Colorado Plateau, and at the Four Corners. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Hull Cabin (approx. 0.9 miles away); Mining on Horseshoe Mesa (approx.
Photographed by Craig Baker
2. Grandview Lookout Tower and Marker
Regarding Grandview Lookout Tower. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The Forest Service restored the cab and staircase in the 2000s for public safety. It occasionally serves as an active lookout during high fire danger. The room at the top is usually locked. The tower remains open to visitors willing to tackle its 92 open‑grate steps.
Also see . . . National Historic Lookout Register. There are over 1,700 U.S. lookouts on the register. (Submitted on September 11, 2026.)
Photographed by Craig Baker
3. Grandview Lookout Tower
Photographed by Craig Baker
4. Ladder Safety
Photographed by Craig Baker
5. Marker Detail - Osborne Fire Finder
Credits. This page was last revised on September 11, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 11, 2026, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. This page has been viewed 6 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 11, 2026, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.
