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Fire lookout · Iron County, Michigan

Tepee Lookout Tower

CCC men from the Paint Lake Camp erected this 100-foot Aermotor steel tower in Michigan's Ottawa National Forest in 1933; staffed until the late 1960s.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower100-foot Aermotor steel tower with 7 by 7 foot metal cab, reached by an outside ladderThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1933
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
1,698 ft (518 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Ottawa National Forest (Kenton Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Iron County, Michigan
Coordinates
46.37772, −88.83695
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mi-tepee

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 4.1 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. 1933 BuiltErected by men of the CCC Paint Lake Camp, per the register and Forest LookoutsSources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1933 and 1969
  3. 1969 Last staffedRegister says only 'staffed until the late 1960s'; the year shown is an approximation of that rangeSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1969 and 1999
  5. 1999 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 1, 1999 as US 311, MI 3Source: nhlr.org
  6. 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.

Tepee Lookout Tower was erected in 1933 by men of the CCC's Paint Lake Camp, on the Ottawa National Forest in Iron County, Michigan.1,2 The 100-foot Aermotor steel tower was built with a 7-by-7-foot metal cab, reached by an outside ladder.1,2

The register also mentions a groundhouse and a CCC garage at the site, and reports that neither survives.1 Staff worked the lookout until the late 1960s.1 We found no account of fires it spotted, and nothing we read says the tower was moved, burned or taken down.1

The register entry dates from March 1, 1999, and names the U.S. Forest Service as administrator.1 Public information is thin today. The Forest Service's page for Tepee Lake describes the lake as a place for boaters and fishermen, and places it on the Kenton Ranger District.3 We found no visiting, rental or climbing information for the tower itself, so please do not climb it.1 Check with the Kenton Ranger District before going near the site.3

  1. Tepee Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mi/tepee-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Teepee Lake, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/teepee-lake.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Tepee Lake, USDA Forest Service Ottawa National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/ottawa/recreation/tepee-lake (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Tepee Lookout 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, ownership, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, 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.