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Fire lookout · Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Monterey Fire Tower

Also known as Mount Wilcox (Monterey)

Monterey Fire Tower on Mount Wilcox, MA: CCC-built 1934 (several sources say 1935), 60-ft Aermotor MC-39, still in state use per a 2025 hiking post.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Fenced state fire tower on Mount Wilcox in Beartown State Forest; a hiking-history page says a visitor who asks permission while a guard is on duty might be invited up the tower, and that with no guard there is a fence and cameras

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Park at the CCC Camp and walk the Mt. Wilcox Trail, a six-mile loop, per a 2025 hiking post
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower60-ft Aermotor MC-39 steel tower; original 7x7 wooden cab, new 10x10 cab and fence in 1966The design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
Steel
Built
1934
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
1,805 ft (550 m)
Agency
Mass. Bureau of Forest Fire Control
Land
Unknown
Location
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Coordinates
42.21944, −73.23306
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ma-monterey

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 3.7 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. 1934 BuiltErected by CCC Camp S-66; first day of operation April 1, 1934 per hiking-history page; Register description, Forest Lookouts and a 2025 hiking post say 1935Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1939 EventMassachusetts Geodetic Survey team visited and took measurements off the tower legsSource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1948 AlteredPower line run and two-way radios installedSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. No record between 1948 and 1966
  5. 1966 AlteredNew 10x10 cab and chain-link fence builtSource: willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1966 and 1988
  7. 1988 StaffedAn observer is listed for 1988 on a hiking-trail history pageSource: willhiteweb.com
  8. No record between 1988 and 2003
  9. 2003 AlteredNew roof builtSource: willhiteweb.com
  10. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 15, 2004Source: nhlr.org
  11. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Monterey Fire Tower on Mount Wilcox, and the Register calls it the first tower the CCC built in Berkshire County.1 The sources disagree on the year. A hiking-history page says CCC Camp S-66 erected it in 1934, while the Register's description, the Forest Lookouts page and a 2025 hiking post say 1935.1,2,3,4

The same hiking-history page describes a 60-foot Aermotor MC-39 tower with a 7-by-7 wooden cab, and gives April 1, 1934 as the first day of operation.3 The Register describes a 60-foot steel structure with a perched 10-by-10 wooden cab.1 The page says a new 10-by-10 cab and chain-link fence went up in 1966.3 It also lists a 1939 visit by a Massachusetts Geodetic Survey team that took measurements off the tower's legs, power and two-way radios in 1948, a new roof in 2003, and a 1988 observer.3

A 2025 hiking post says the tower is still used today, and suggests parking at the CCC Camp for a six-mile loop on the Mt. Wilcox Trail in Beartown State Forest.4 Beartown State Forest is run by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, with a listed address of 69 Blue Hill Road in Monterey.5

The hiking-history page says that with no guard, the tower has a fence and cameras. It adds that a visitor who asks permission while a guard is on duty might even be invited up the tower.3 The sources do not say the tower is generally open to climbing, so enjoy it from the trail.

  1. Monterey Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ma/monterey-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount Wilcox, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/mount-wilcox.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mt. Wilcox - Monterey Fire Tower, WillhiteWeb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/appalachian_trail/fire_lookouts/mount_wilcox/monterey_fire_tower_054.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mt. Wilcox and the Monterey Fire Tower, Western Mass Hilltown Hikers (2025-09-30), https://westernmasshilltownhikers.com/2025/09/30/mt-wilcox-and-the-monterey-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Beartown State Forest, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, https://www.mass.gov/locations/beartown-state-forest (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

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

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, status, 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 LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: height, links easternuslookouts.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
  3. 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

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