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Fire lookout · Larimer County, Colorado

West White Pine Mountain Tower Site

Also known as White Pine, West White Pine

Roosevelt NF, Larimer County CO tower built 1939 by CCC; cab removed 1978 to Fort Collins, moved 2011 to Running Deer Natural Area and open since 2012; summit has only ruins.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at Running Deer Natural Area

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Original tower was taken down in the 1970s and only a few ruins remain at the summit. The cab was moved to Running Deer Natural Area in 2011 and has been open to the public since 2012.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Cab at Running Deer Natural Area is open to the public since 2012 per SummitPost and Forest Lookouts. Original summit has only ruins; SummitPost describes a long hike and no current source confirms that the route is open.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Running Deer Natural Area is a city natural area in Fort Collins; check the city's rules before going. The original summit is a long hike per SummitPost; no current source says whether it is open.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a timber towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1939
Height
Unknown
Elevation
10,305 ft (3,141 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (original site, Roosevelt National Forest); cab now looked after by Fort Collins Natural Areas staff
Land
Federal land
Location
Larimer County, Colorado
Coordinates
40.60528, −105.47165
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-co-west-white-pine-mountain

View from the cab

What you see from the cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.5 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1939 BuiltBuilt by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees with an L-4 cab, replacing an earlier lookoutSources: firetower.org, westlookouts.weebly.com, summitpost.org
  2. No record between 1939 and 1967
  3. 1967 Last staffedLast staff names in SummitPost list (John and Marilyn Henthorne, 1966-1967)Source: summitpost.org
  4. 1978 AbandonedForest Service decommissioned the lookout (Forest Lookouts); FFLOS says tower taken down in the 1970sSources: firetower.org, westlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1978 RemovedCab removed by helicopter in November 1978 to Lee Martinez City Park, Fort CollinsSources: westlookouts.weebly.com, summitpost.org
  6. No record between 1978 and 2009
  7. 2009 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 18, 2009 as FFLOS US 542, CO 14Source: firetower.org
  8. 2011 MovedCab moved August 25, 2011 about a half mile north to Running Deer Natural AreaSources: westlookouts.weebly.com, summitpost.org
  9. 2012 RestoredCab stabilized and repaired, then opened to the publicSources: westlookouts.weebly.com, summitpost.org
  10. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to Running Deer Natural Area.Source: FFLA
  11. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

West White Pine Mountain sits in the Roosevelt National Forest, in Larimer County, Colorado.1,2 The Civilian Conservation Corps built a timber tower on the summit in 1939, with an L-4 cab.1,2,3 The Forest Lookouts history says it replaced an earlier crow's nest lookout.2 SummitPost goes further back, arguing that a tree lookout stood there before, probably from June 1918.2,3

SummitPost's staff list opens with Frank Koenig, one of the tower's staffers.3 Henry (Hank) Martin served from 1941 to 1943, and John and Marilyn Henthorne are the last names listed, for 1966 to 1967.3 The sources we read name no notable fires.

The Forest Lookouts history says the Forest Service took the lookout out of service in 1978, but SummitPost's staff list ends in 1967.2,3 In November 1978 the cab was removed by helicopter and set down in Lee Martinez City Park in Fort Collins.2,3 The sources disagree about what came next. SummitPost says it went to Colorado State University's Environmental Learning Center, while the Forest Lookouts history skips that stop.2,3 The Register still places the cab at the university.1

In August 2011 Fort Collins Natural Areas staff moved the cab about half a mile north, to Running Deer Natural Area.3 They stabilized it and opened it to the public in 2012.3,2

The sources we read place the restored cab in Running Deer Natural Area.2,3 The Forest Lookouts history says the 2011 move was meant to make it more accessible to the public.2 Only a few ruins remain at the original summit.3 SummitPost describes a long route to the top, including a hike of 3.1 miles one way.3 We found no current source saying whether that route is open, so check with the Roosevelt National Forest before going.

  1. West White Pine Mountain Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/co/west-white-pine-mountain-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. West White Pine, Forest Lookouts, https://westlookouts.weebly.com/west-white-pine.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. West White Pine Mountain, SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/west-white-pine-mountain/893447 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of West White Pine Mountain Tower Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of West White Pine Mountain Tower Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of West White Pine Mountain Tower Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of West White Pine Mountain Tower Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: design, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, visiting details, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

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