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Fire lookout · Cherry County, Nebraska

Valentine NWR - Hackberry Lookout Tower

A 100-ft CCC-built Aermotor steel tower from 1935 on Nebraska's Valentine NWR, used for a 1937 fire watch and now reached by a walking trail to an observation deck.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Walking trail leads to an observation deck on the old fire tower; refuge rates the trail easy

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Civilian Conservation Corps Fire Tower Trail, 0.66 mi, easy; starts at the parking area at the west end of Hackberry Lake
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerType MC-39 Aermotor steel tower, 100 feet highThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
Steel
Built
1935
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
3,124 ft (952 m)
Agency
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Cherry County, Nebraska
Coordinates
42.56089, −100.70209
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ne-valentine-nwr-hackberry

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 3.2 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. 1935 BuiltErected by the CCC as a Type MC-39 Aermotor steel tower, 100 ft highSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1937 StaffedAugust 1937 CCC report: fire watch established in the Hackberry tower; phone installed but not yet connectedSource: jimherzog.org
  3. No record between 1937 and 1999
  4. 1999 AlteredObservation deck added to the tower to accommodate visitorsSource: nhlr.org
  5. No record between 1999 and 2026
  6. 2026 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 9, 2026 as US 1846, NE 4Source: nhlr.org
  7. 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 Hackberry Lookout stands on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in Cherry County, Nebraska, in the Sand Hills.1,2 The Civilian Conservation Corps put up its steel tower in 1935, the same year the Valentine Migratory Waterfowl Refuge was set up by executive order.1 The tower is a Type MC-39 Aermotor steel structure, 100 feet high.1

Its lookout years are documented only in part. An August 1937 CCC work report records that a fire watch had been established in the Hackberry tower.3 The same report says a phone was installed there but was not yet connected, because of a July 27 loss of fire equipment and an illness in the installer's family.3

Beyond that report, the sources found say little about who staffed the tower or when its fire watch ended, and none names a specific fire it spotted. The Forest Fire Lookout Association still lists the tower as standing.2

A 1999 change gave the tower a visitor role, with a viewing deck put in for guests.1 The refuge now calls it the old fire tower. Its Civilian Conservation Corps Fire Tower Trail is 0.66 miles and rated easy, starting at the parking area at the west end of Hackberry Lake and leading to that deck, which offers a view of the prairie.4 The refuge's page calls the same walk the Civilian Conservation Corps Nature Trail in its description, and it appears to be one route.

The National Historic Lookout Register registered the tower on August 9, 2026, as US 1846, NE 4.1 The register lists the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the tower's administrator.1 Nothing consulted says whether the cab is still in use or what condition it is in, so visitors should stay on the marked trail and follow posted refuge rules.

  1. Valentine NWR - Hackberry Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ne/valentine-nwr-hackberry-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Nebraska Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ne/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. CCC Work Projects 1937, Jim Herzog, https://www.jimherzog.org/Private/fb/Valentine_CCCWorkProjects%E2%80%93August%201937.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Visit Us: Trails, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, https://www.fws.gov/refuge/valentine/visit-us/trails (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

August 20, 2012
August 20, 2012 (2012)Photo: Ron Kemnow photo, via 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, what it is built of, 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. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, 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 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 Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. 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.