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Fire lookout · Passaic County, New Jersey

Windbeam Lookout Site

Passaic Co., NJ tower built on Windbeam Mountain in 1920; moved in 1971 and 1983, and now stands at Ramapo Mountain State Forest, not on the original summit.

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. The Windbeam Mountain site is gone. The tower was moved and has stood at Ramapo Mountain State Forest since 1983, as the Ramapo Lookout (US 45, NJ 2).

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
Staffed during fire season (as of 2007)

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a towerSteel angle-iron tower with a one-room penthouse for the warden (1931 newspaper description); the moved tower is an Aermotor, LS-40 or LS-42 per the two registers, with a 7'x7' cabThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1920
Height
45 ft (13.7 m)
Elevation
958 ft (292 m)
Agency
NJ Forest Fire Service administers the moved tower (NHLR); North Jersey District Water Supply is listed for the original site (FFLOS)
Land
Unknown
Location
Passaic County, New Jersey
Coordinates
41.08344, −74.29822
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-nj-windbeam

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.4 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. 1920 BuiltBuilt with funds from the Ringwood Company; the state annual report says in service from June 15, 1920Sources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org
  2. No record between 1920 and 1971
  3. 1971 MovedMoved off Windbeam Mountain. The Windbeam entry says Pierson Ridge; the Pierson Ridge entry says Ringwood State Park, with National Guard and volunteer laborSources: firetower.org, firetower.org
  4. 1971 Removed'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "1971".Source: FFLOS register entry
  5. 1983 MovedRemains moved to Ramapo Mountain State Forest and rebuilt from 1983 per the Pierson Ridge entry; NHLR says present location since 1983Sources: firetower.org, nhlr.org
  6. No record between 1983 and 2007
  7. 2007 StaffedNHLR visit report dated May 1, 2007 for the Ramapo Lookout answers yes to Staffed?Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2014 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: April 16, 2014Source: FFLOS register entry
  9. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Windbeam lookout stood on the summit of Windbeam Mountain in Passaic County, New Jersey, on property of the Ringwood Company.1 The state's 1919–20 annual report says a 45-foot steel tower and two miles of telephone line went into service on June 15, 1920.1 The register says the tower was built with funds from the Ringwood Company.2 A 1923 newspaper said the state and the company built it jointly, and gave its height as fifty feet.1

A 1931 newspaper described a steel angle-iron structure rising above the treetops, topped by a one-room penthouse for the warden.1 The register says Section 2 personnel operated the lookout.2 In 1926 a newspaper said visitors who climbed the mountain and wished to could also go to the top of the tower.1

The Windbeam register says the tower went to Pierson Ridge around 1971.2 The Pierson Ridge entry says that year's move to Ringwood State Park relied on National Guard and volunteer labor.3 It also says vandals later destroyed the tower, and that the remains went to Ramapo Mountain State Forest, where the tower was rebuilt beginning in 1983.3

The Windbeam entry tells the later story differently. It says the tower moved to Ramapo Mountain State Forest in 1983 and remains in active use there as of 2014.2

The National Historic Lookout Register calls the Ramapo Lookout the former Wind-beam Lookout, says it has been moved twice, and says it has occupied its present location since 1983.4 That entry describes an LS-40 Aermotor with a 7-by-7-foot cab. The Pierson Ridge entry describes a 60-foot LS-42 with a 7-by-7-foot steel cab.3,4 Wikipedia's list of state fire towers names the tower Ramapo Station, previously the Wind-beam Lookout, and gives its height as 50 feet.5

Today the tower stands in Ramapo Mountain State Forest, just south of the New York state line.4 A visit report on the National Historic Lookout Register, dated May 1, 2007, notes chipping paint and answers yes when asked whether the tower is staffed.4 The Windbeam entry describes it as in active use as of 2014, and the National Historic Lookout Register lists the New Jersey Forest Fire Service as its administrator. Treat it as a working fire tower, but confirm with that agency before climbing, since the newest staffing answer we found is from 2007.2,4

No source we read describes what remains on Windbeam Mountain today, so we cannot say whether footings or other traces survive, or whether the summit is open to the public.

  1. Windbeam, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/windbeam.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Windbeam Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/nj/windbeam-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Pierson Ridge Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/nj/pierson-ridge-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Ramapo Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/nj/ramapo-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. List of New Jersey Forest Fire Service fire towers, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_Jersey_Forest_Fire_Service_fire_towers (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Photo of Windbeam Lookout 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, status, register numbers, agency, 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 LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: type, 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, status, agency, staffing, 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.