Joe Morris, July '09
Soda Point Lookout
Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation
Elevation: ~ 6700
Status: Standing
Year Built: 1962
Structure type: Metal pole with a small, round deck on the top.
According to Joe Morris (Fire Management Officer on Ute Reservation, 7/17/09) Soda Point Lookout still exists but has one cable loose. Because the Park Point Lookout is nearby, there are no plans to maintain it. It is a "perch" type lookout similar to the Cedar Tree Lookout in Mesa Verde.
From a message to Allen Farnsworth from Joe Morris: In the annual Mesa Verde NP forestry report for 1962 the following was noted, "With the permission of the Ute Mountain Tribe, another secondary fire tower was erected on Chapin Mesa near the Mancos River. The tower consists of a 22-foot section of 6-inch pipe with a platform on top. A surplus pair of artillery spotting binoculars, mounted on the pipe above the platform, serves in lieu of the conventional type range finder. Certain fires, especially those on the southern or lower portions of the Mesas and on the Ute Reservation, can now be located far more accurately." Allen added: Since that southern end of Chapin Mesa is best accessed from the park, we respond to many initial attack fires on the Ute Mountain lands. Although a little shakey, I did climb this tower in the summer of 2008 to look for a fire. The binoculars still work but they are a little fogged.
Visit the National Historic Lookout entry for Soda Point.