FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Allamakee County, Iowa

Yellow River Fire Tower

Also known as Yellow River State Forest Fire Tower

Iowa's only fire tower: 100-ft Aermotor on Yellow River State Forest, rebuilt 1962 (or 1963), NRHP-listed 2021; poor condition, fenced and closed to the public.

Closed

The site is closed to visitors. Fenced in and closed to the public per Wikipedia, which is undated. A 2020 local article says a friends group hoped to make it accessible to the public.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Closed. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Fenced in and closed to the public, per Wikipedia (undated).
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor LS40 tower with 7x7 ft metal cabThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1963
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
1,047 ft (319 m)
Agency
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Land
State land
Location
Allamakee County, Iowa
Coordinates
43.16202, −91.24114
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ia-yellow-river

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.

Downloads about 3.6 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. 1950 EventIowa DNR acquired the tower from the U.S. Forest Service.Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nhlr.org
  2. 1962 RebuiltRebuilt on the current site. NHLR and Wikipedia give 1962; Iowa DNR and the 2020 article give 1963 for the build.Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org
  3. 1963 BuiltConstruction year given by Iowa DNR and by a 2020 local article.Sources: iowadnr.gov, waukonstandard.com
  4. No record between 1963 and 1995
  5. 1995 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 1, 1995.Source: nhlr.org
  6. No record between 1995 and 2021
  7. 2021 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesListed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. Wikidata gives a September 2021 start date.Sources: en.wikipedia.org, wikidata.org
  8. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Yellow River Fire Tower stands in Yellow River State Forest in Allamakee County, Iowa, near Harpers Ferry.1,2 It is a 100-foot Aermotor LS40 tower with a 7-by-7-foot metal cab.1,3 The register says it is the state's sole fire lookout.1

The U.S. Forest Service owned the tower first.3,1 The Iowa Department of Natural Resources acquired it in 1950 and rebuilt it on its current site in 1962.3,1 Iowa's Department of Natural Resources and a 2020 local newspaper article instead give 1963 as the year it was built, so the completion date is disputed.4,5

The register recorded the tower on July 1, 1995.1 The tower joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.3

Wikipedia calls the tower in poor condition: most of its window sashes have been knocked out, the glass is gone, and the wooden stairs and cab have rotted, mostly from vandalism.3 Wikipedia also says the tower is now fenced off and shut to the public, for those reasons and for safety.3 In 2020 a friends group was exploring whether the tower could be restored and made open to the public.5

The state forest itself offers numerous outdoor recreation, including camping, hiking and fishing.4

  1. Yellow River Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ia/yellow-river-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Yellow River Fire Tower, Wikidata, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q86927265 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Yellow River State Forest, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River_State_Forest (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Yellow River State Forest, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-forests/yellow-river-state-forest (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Learn about Yellow River State Forest Fire Tower National Historic Register Nomination Project in pair of meeting options this week, The Standard Newspaper, https://www.waukonstandard.com/articles/2020/10/07/learn-about-yellow-river-state-forest-fire-tower-national-historic-register (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Yellow River Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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 Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: register numbers Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: register numbers Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: ownership, links centraluslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: height, register numbers, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.