FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Franklin County, New York

Azure Mountain Fire Tower

1918 steel fire tower on Azure Mountain: staffed to 1978, NRHP-listed 2001, restored by DEC and volunteers, reopened 2003; a 2018 visit found it in good condition.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Hike of about one mile from a parking lot on Blue Mountain Road, with a 944-foot climb. The 2018 register visit report says the Azure Mountain Friends maintain the trail and tower. No source sets out current rules for the cab, and none confirms that visitors can climb it now. A July 2007 register visit report says the tower was open to the public at that time; that is too old to treat as current.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About one mile from the parking lot to the summit, with a 944-foot climb; hiking boots or shoes are recommended
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2018)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower35-foot Aermotor LS-40 tower with a 7x7-foot metal cab (register); the group's chronology calls the steel galvanizedThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Not recorded
Height
35 ft (10.7 m)
Elevation
2,500 ft (762 m)
Agency
New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Land
State land
Location
Franklin County, New York
Coordinates
44.54283, −74.50460
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-azure-mountain

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. 1914 BuiltFirst lookout on the site: a wood observation station or platformSources: nhlr.org, azuremountain.org
  2. 1918 BuiltPresent 35-foot Aermotor LS-40 steel tower erected; the register says New York DEC built it for $300, the group's chronology says $530; Wikipedia gives 40 feetSources: nhlr.org, azuremountain.org, en.wikipedia.org
  3. 1922 RestoredExisting observer's cabin repaired and put in first-class shape in 1922 as part of the new observer housing standard.Source: nysffla.org
  4. 1936 BuiltObservers' cabin (Model 1936) built; removed in 1995Sources: nhlr.org, azuremountain.org
  5. 1936 EventThe observer's cabin at the foot of the mountain was built.Source: azuremountain.org
  6. No record between 1936 and 1978
  7. 1978 ClosedClosed by the DEC; lower two sets of stairs removed to prevent tower accessSource: azuremountain.org
  8. 1978 Last staffedLookout staffed until 1978 per the registerSource: nhlr.org
  9. No record between 1978 and 1995
  10. 1995 EventDEC tore down the neglected observer's cabin near the foot of the mountain.Sources: azuremountain.org, azuremountain.org
  11. 1995 RemovedDEC removed the 1936 observers' cabinSources: nhlr.org, azuremountain.org
  12. 2001 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesTower named to the National Register of Historic Places with six other fire towers; the only one of the seven not yet restored; Azure Mountain Friends formed that fallSource: azuremountain.org
  13. 2001 EventThe tower was named to the National Register of Historic Places with six other fire towers; the state announced plans to remove it, which led to Azure Mountain Friends forming.Sources: azuremountain.org, azuremountain.org
  14. 2002 RestoredRestored by NYSDEC personnel, AmeriCorps workers and Azure Mountain Friends volunteersSources: azuremountain.org, nhlr.org
  15. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register September 30, 2003Source: nhlr.org
  16. 2003 EventTower officially reopened with a Sept. 27 observanceSource: azuremountain.org
  17. 2003 RestoredAzure Mountain tower restoration was finished in summer 2003 and opened with a grand opening in August; Friends of Azure Mountain volunteers act as weekend guides.Source: firelookout.org
  18. 2017 RestoredA Student Conservation Association crew recently painted the tower, according to photos on the Friends of Azure Mountain website (reported Aug 2017).Source: nysffla.org
  19. 2018 Condition assessmentNHLR visit report March 11, 2018: good condition, recently painted, glass not intact, not staffedSource: nhlr.org
  20. 2018 AlteredThe security fencing on the tower was replaced by Dave Vana and a helper (13 hours of work) as a centennial present, before the July 2018 celebration.Sources: nysffla.org, nysffla.org
  21. 2018 EventCentennial of the tower observed July 29, 2018Source: azuremountain.org
  22. 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.

Azure Mountain's first lookout was a wooden observation station built in 1914.1,2 The state's present tower followed in 1918, a 35-foot Aermotor LS-40 with a metal cab.1,2 The register says New York's Department of Environmental Conservation built it for $300, but the volunteer group that helped restore the tower gives the cost as $530.1,2 The Wikipedia article on the site gives the height as 40 feet, against 35 feet in the other two accounts, so the sources disagree on both figures.1,2,3

The lookout stayed staffed until 1978, when the DEC closed the tower and removed the lower two sets of stairs to block access.1,2 The 1936 observers' cabin came down in 1995.1,2

In 2001 the tower joined six other fire towers on the National Register of Historic Places. Of the seven, it was the one still awaiting restoration.2 Azure Mountain Friends formed later that same year.2 The tower was restored in 2002 by state staff, AmeriCorps workers and volunteers, and it reopened at a September 27, 2003 observance.2 The National Historic Lookout Register recorded the tower on September 30, 2003.1 The tower marked its centennial in July 2018.2

As of the register's 2018 visit, the Azure Mountain Friends group was keeping up the trail and tower and ran a volunteer steward program.1 Azure Mountain sits on Blue Mountain Road, and the summit is about a mile from the parking lot, with a climb of 944 feet. The group advises that hiking boots or shoes are highly recommended.4 The group's site describes the view from the tower cab, but no source confirms that visitors can climb to it now.4 At a March 11, 2018 visit, the register's inspector found the tower in good condition and recently painted. The glass was not intact, and the lookout had no staff.1

  1. Azure Mountain Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ny/azure-mountain-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Azure Mountain Chronology, Azure Mountain Friends, https://www.azuremountain.org/history (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Azure Mountain Fire Observation Station, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Mountain_Fire_Observation_Station (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Azure Mountain Friends, home page, http://www.AzureMountain.org (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

March 2018 photo
March 2018 photo (2018)Photo: Laurie Rankin, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Azure Mountain Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1936-New Cabin
1936-New Cabin (1936)Photo: NYS-DEC (courtesy Bill Starr), via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Model 1936 Cabin
Model 1936 Cabin (1936)Photo: Bill Starr, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1974-Model 1936 Cabin
1974-Model 1936 Cabin (1974)Photo: Bob Eckler (courtesy Bill Starr), via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Azure Mountain 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter: 1918
    • Azure Mountain Friends: 1914

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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. Map and Coordinates List for NYS DEC Firetowers (Andy Arthur) Gave us: ownership, links Andy Arthur, andyarthur.org (CC BY 3.0) · CC BY 3.0, credit: Andy Arthur, andyarthur.org. Facts + short description text reused under that licence. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. 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
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter (nysffla.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the chapter newsletter it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR and FFLA records (the chapter publishes none). · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. Azure Mountain Friends Gave us: staffing, dates, links Azure Mountain Friends (azuremountain.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the AMF page or newsletter it comes from. The position is copied from the NHLR record (AMF publishes none). · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  8. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.