Fire lookout · Washington County, New York
Colfax Fire Tower
Also known as Colfax Mountain
80-foot Aermotor LS40 tower on Colfax Mountain, Washington County, NY; ceased lookout use in 1970 and now a fenced NYSDEC radio site.
- Standing
- Closed
- Verified
Closed
The site is closed to visitors. Closed to the public since 1970 and surrounded by fencing; it carries radio repeater equipment for NYSDEC.
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Closed. See the warning at the top of this page.
- Can you climb it?
- No
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
- Trail
- Fenced radio site, closed to the public.
- Staffing
- Not staffed (as of 1970)
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower80-foot Aermotor LS40 steel towerThe design: Aermotor LS-40
- Built of
- SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- 1950
- Height
- 80 ft (24.4 m)
- Elevation
- 1,266 ft (386 m)
- Agency
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
- Land
- Private land
- Location
- Washington County, New York
- Coordinates
- 43.08340, −73.39000
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-ny-colfax
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 3.9 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
- 1950 BuiltNHLR build year; a Times Record piece from April 1951 still describes the tower as being builtSources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- 1951 First staffedErnest L. Bennett's roster service begins April 1951; he is named as observer in April 1951Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1951 and 1970
- 1970 ClosedClosed to the public (NHLR); ceased operations as a lookout (roster)Sources: nhlr.org, nhlr.org
- 1970 Last staffedJennie B. Bennett is the last observer on the roster, serving through November 1970Source: nhlr.org
- No record between 1970 and 2022
- 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 23, 2022 as US 1700, NY 52; nominated by Laurie RankinSource: nhlr.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
In October 1950 the Post-Star reported that a state fire tower for the southern part of Washington County was about to go up. A tower had been shipped to the Town of Jackson and was being stored temporarily on a private property there while the state picked a site, and Mount Colfax was generally considered the likely site, though two other sites were also under consideration.1 The National Historic Lookout Register gives 1950 as the build year.2 A Times Record piece from April 1951, though, still describes the tower as being built on Mount Colfax, so the year it went up is uncertain.1
The tower is an 80-foot Aermotor LS40 steel structure.2,1 The 1951 paper said it would be 81 feet high, the tallest in that section.1
That same paper named Ernest Bennett as the tower's observer. The state's observer roster lists Ernest L. Bennett from April 1951 to November 1966, and Jennie B. Bennett from April 1967 to November 1970.1,3
The tower was closed for the season by November 1953, and emergency fire calls were to go to the ranger in Hudson Falls.1
The Register says the tower was closed to the public in 1970.2 The state roster says it ceased operations that same year.3 It did not come down. According to the roster, the structure was later used to carry two-way radio gear and antennas for several agencies.3
Today the Register describes a fenced site where the tower carries radio repeater gear for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.2 The Register lists that department as its administrator, and it was registered on December 23, 2022, as US 1700, NY 52, nominated by Laurie Rankin.2 Because it is fenced and closed to the public, it is not a place to visit or climb.
- Colfax Mountain, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/colfax-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Colfax Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ny/colfax-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Roster of the Fire Tower Forest Fire Observers of New York State, compiled by Bill Starr, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/media/2971/new_york_fire_tower_observer_roster_by_bill_starr_3-18-11.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) Gave us: type, register numbers, ownership, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site) 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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
- NHLR register entry US 1700 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Roster of the Fire Tower Forest Fire Observers of New York State (compiled by Bill Starr) (National Historic Lookout Register) (opens another site)
- FFLA New York lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Colfax Mountain (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.