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Home / Preserve / Fire Towers / Regional List

Regional List

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The following information, a list of all the fire towers built during the 20th century in the Adirondack Park, was provided by Bill Starr, former Forest Fire Observer and Fire Tower Historian.

Existing Towers, Public Land (20)

Mt. Arab – Town of Piercefield, St. Lawrence County – Adopted & restored by the Friends of Mt. Arab (with DEC assistance)
Azure Mountain – Town of Santa Clara, Franklin County – Adopted & restored by the Friends of Azure Mountain (with DEC assistance)
Belfrey Mountain – Town of Minerva, Essex County – Open to public, maintained by NYSDEC
Black Mountain – Town of Dresden, Washington County – Used for communications purposes by NYS Police
Blue Mountain – Town of Long Lake, Hamilton County – Adopted & restored by the Blue Mountain Fire Tower Restoration Committee (with DEC assistance)
Gore Mountain – Town of Johnsburg, Warren County – Used for communications purposes
Hadley Mountain – Town of Hadley, Warren County – Adopted & restored by the Hadley Fire Tower Committee (with DEC assistance)
Hurricane Mountain – Town of Elizabethtown, Essex County – Adopted and restored by Friends of the Hurricane Mountain Fire Tower (with DEC assistance)
Kane Mountain – Town of Caroga, Fulton County – Adopted & restored by the Canada Lake Protective Association and NYSDEC
Lyon Mountain – Town of Ellenburg Depot, Clinton County – Land recently came into Forest Preserve and fire tower is now owned by New York State, maintained by DEC, and open to the public
Owl’s Head Mountain – Town of Long Lake, Hamilton County – Restoration by DEC and Friends of Owl’s Head Fire Tower
Pillsbury Mountain – Town of Arietta, Hamilton County – Adopted & restored by the New York chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association (with DEC assistance)
Rondaxe (Bald) Mountain – Town of Webb, Herkimer County – Adopted and restored by the Friends of Bald Mountain (with DEC assistance)
St. Regis Mountain – Town of Brighton, Franklin County – Adopted and restored by Friends of the St. Regis Mountain Fire Tower (with DEC assistance)
Snowy Mountain – Town of Indian Lake, Hamilton County – Restored by DEC and open to the public
Spruce Mountain – Town of Corinth, Saratoga County
Vanderwacker Mountain – Town of Minerva, Essex County – Restored in 2004 by DEC, Americorps volunteers of the Student Conservation Association and the Friends of Vanderwacker
Wakely Mountain – Hamilton County – Restoration approved but awaiting funding and volunteer efforts
Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain – Town of Chesterfield, Essex County – Adopted and restored by Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine (with DEC assistance)
Woodhull Mountain – Town of Webb, Herkimer County – Fire tower restoration approved but awaiting funding and volunteer efforts

Existing Towers, Private Land (some with public easement access) (11)

Note: Some of these are accessible to the public. See Views from on High: Fire Tower Trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills by Jack Freeman (Adirondack Mountain Club, 2001) for more information.

Adams Mountain – Town of Newcomb, Essex County – Land owned by the Open Space Institute and fire tower and cabin being restored by NYSDEC and local volunteers for public use
Buck Mountain
Cathead Mountain
– DEC uses tower for communications purposes. No public access.
Goodnow Mountain – – Land owned by SUNY ESF and fire tower restored and open to the public.
Loon Lake Mountain – Town of Franklin, Franklin County – Tower and cabin abandoned, some efforts underway to create public access and allow restoration
Meenagha Mountain
Mount Morris
Palmer Hill
Salmon Lake Mt.
Stillwater Mountain
– Town of Webb, Herkimer County – Tower abandoned but intact
Swede Mountain – Town of Hague, Warren County – Tower abandoned, some efforts to provide public access and allow restoration and public use underway

Plus (3)

Tooley Pond Mountain – Near Wanekena, St. Lawrence County – This tower was re-erected at Cathedral Rocks by the New York State Ranger School students, staff, and alumni
Adirondack Experience – Blue Mountain Lake, Hamilton County – Originally on Whiteface Mountain
Adirondack History Center Museum – Elizabethtown, Essex County – Made of parts from the towers on West and Kempshall Mountains

Towers Removed (26)

Ampersand Mountain
Bald Mountain
Beaver Lake Mt.
Boreas Mountain
Cat Mountain
Catamount Mountain
Crane Mountain
Debar Mountain
Dunn Brook Mountain
Fort Noble Mountain
Hamilton Mountain
Kempshall Mountain
– Parts of this tower were used in erecting a tower at the Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown
Makomis Mountain
Moosehead Mountain
Moose River Mountain
Mount Electra
Number Four
Ohmer Mountain
Pharoah Mountain
Prospect Mountain
T-Lake Mountain
Tomany Mountain
Tooley Pond Mountain
– This tower was taken down but re-erected at Cathedral Rocks by the New York State Ranger School at Wanakena
West Mountain – Parts of this tower were used in erecting a tower at the Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown
Whiteface Mountain – This tower was taken down but re-erected at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake
Whites Hill

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