ClimbingTheGloucesterTree 2005 SeanMcClean

A lookout tree is a simple

fire lookout tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower, or lookout tower is a tower that provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout", whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit ...

created by attaching a ladder or a series of spikes to a tall straight tree with a view of the surrounding lands, allowing rangers or fire crews to conveniently climb the tree to survey their surroundings. The simplest kind consist only of a ladder to a suitable height: this kind was called a "ladder tree." Some ladder trees had platforms on the ground next to them for maps and a fire finder. A more elaborate version often created a platform on top of the tree trunk by cutting off approximately the last of the treetop and building a railed wooden platform on the resulting stump. These "platform trees" were often equipped with telephones, fire finder tables, seats and guy wires. Accommodation for the watcher was provided by a tent or shelter at the bottom of the tree. Lookout trees were widely used in the

Kaibab National Forest Kaibab National Forest (, ) borders both the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon, in north-central Arizona. Its 1.6 million acres (650,000 ha) is divided into three sections: the ''North Kaibab Ranger District'' (offices in Fredonia), the ...

of northern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, United States as well as in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The

Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree The Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, a tall karri tree, was pegged for climbing to celebrate Australia's bicentenary in 1988. It is in Warren National Park in southwestern Australia. Although it has been used as a fire lookout, it is used mainl ...

in Western Australia reaches 75m, while the tallest lookout in the United States was the Cook Creek Spar Tree near

Lake Quinault Lake Quinault ( or ) is a lake on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington state. It is located in the glacial-carved Quinault Valley of the Quinault River, at the southern edge of Olympic National Park in the northwestern United States. One ...

, Washington, at high from 1927 to 1955.

Australia

Eight karri trees were adapted as lookout trees in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. The

Gloucester Tree The Gloucester Tree is a giant karri (''Eucalyptus diversicolor'') tree located in the Gloucester National Park of Western Australia. The tree is tall, and a major tourist attraction to the town of Pemberton, Western Australia, Pemberton. It is ...

features a cabin in its top and may be climbed by visitors, as can the even taller

. The

Diamond Tree The Diamond Tree is a giant karri tree located 10 km south of Manjimup, Western Australia on the South Western Highway. A wooden viewing platform built in 1939 is located 49 metres up, and was the oldest wooden platform fire look-out in u ...

continues in occasional use as a fire lookout.

United States

Lookout trees were used as ''ad hoc'' towers throughout the American West in the early 20th century. The most significant concentrations were in northern Arizona and the Coast Range of Washington and Oregon.

Arizona

Many of the surviving lookout trees in Arizona have been placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Lookout trees in Kaibab National Forest were used from about 1916 until the 1960s. Some of the early trees were replaced by towers built by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

in the 1930s.

Arkansas

The Look See Tree in

Coleman, Arkansas Coleman is an unincorporated community in Drew County, Arkansas, United States. Coleman is located at the junction of Arkansas Highway 83 and Arkansas Highway 277, north-northeast of Monticello. The Look See Tree, a lookout tree listed on the ...

was used as a fire lookout for roughly ten to fifteen years from c. 1930 to c. 1940.

Washington

Although the Cook Creek Spar Tree was cut down in 1955 due to rot, another lookout tree remains, constructed in 1918 near

Darrington, Washington Darrington is a town in Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is located in a North Cascades mountain valley formed by the Sauk River (Washington), Sauk and Stillaguamish River, North F ...

. Abandoned as a lookout in the 1930s, it can be reached by the Lookout Tree Trail.

References

External links

Pemberton's Climbing Trees
{{authority control Fire lookout towers Wildfire suppression