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Fire lookout · Essex County, New York

Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower

Huntington Wildlife Forest tower built 1922; sources disagree on fire-watch end (1970 vs 1979); restored 1995; closed for 2025 repairs, with a reopening ceremony scheduled for October 14, 2025.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. open to the public per the register and Wikipedia; closed July 7, 2025 for repairs; the college scheduled an October 14, 2025 ribbon cutting for the reopening (not confirmed in the sources read)

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
trail from the trailhead on the Huntington Wildlife Forest; the register says 3 miles and the college says four miles
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower60-foot Aermotor LS40 towerThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1922
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
2,690 ft (820 m)
Agency
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (current steward)
Land
State land
Location
Essex County, New York
Coordinates
43.96017, −74.20983
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-goodnow-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 3.8 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. 1922 Builtregister credits the NY Dept. of Conservation; Wikipedia credits the Civilian Conservation Corps; ESF says it was erected in 1922Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org, esf.edu
  2. No record between 1922 and 1970
  3. 1970 Last staffedregister says staffed until 1970Source: nhlr.org
  4. 1979 Last staffedWikipedia says the tower closed at the end of the 1979 seasonSource: en.wikipedia.org
  5. No record between 1979 and 1995
  6. 1995 Restoredcollege and Town of Newcomb partnered on a restoration effortSource: nhlr.org
  7. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterNational Historic Lookout Register registration date December 4, 2003Source: nhlr.org
  8. No record between 2003 and 2020
  9. 2020 ClosedThe cab of the Goodnow tower was locked to the public (stairs open at first, then reported closed through Dec) while SUNY ESF sought funds to repair its roof.Sources: nysffla.org, nysffla.org, nysffla.org
  10. 2022 ClosedThe cab of Goodnow tower was closed to the public pending repairs, as listed from May 2022.Sources: nysffla.org, nysffla.org, nysffla.org
  11. 2025 Closedtower and trail closed July 7, 2025 for about three months of repairsSources: esf.edu, adirondackalmanack.com
  12. 2025 Restoredgalvanized steps, roof and landings airlifted by helicopter; cabin restored; reopening ceremony set for October 14, 2025Source: esf.edu
  13. 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 Goodnow Mountain fire tower stands in the Huntington Wildlife Forest in Newcomb, Essex County, New York, on a summit the register puts at 2,690 feet.1,2 Wikipedia gives the peak as 2,664 feet, so the sources disagree on that figure.3

The 60-foot tower went up in 1922, but the sources disagree on who built it.1,3 Wikipedia credits the Civilian Conservation Corps,3 while the register says the state Conservation Department built it.1

The register says the tower was staffed until 1970.1 Wikipedia says it closed at the end of the 1979 season, so the end of its fire watch is unclear.3

Later, the tower passed to the SUNY College of Forestry.3 The register says the college restored it and that it is open to the public.1 The college and the Town of Newcomb also worked together on a restoration in 1995.1

In 2025 the college closed the tower and trail on July 7 for about three months of repairs.4,2 A helicopter flew new galvanized steps, a roof and landings up to the summit, and the project also repainted the tower and restored the cabin at its base.4

Today the summit's view is often described as among the best in the Adirondack Park.2 The register describes a 3-mile trail, while the college describes a four-mile trail, so plan for a hike of roughly three to four miles.1,4 The college scheduled a ribbon-cutting for 1 p.m. on October 14, 2025, to mark the reopening.4 The sources I read do not confirm whether the reopening went ahead as planned, so check the college's notices before you go.

  1. Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ny/goodnow-mountain-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower Temporarily Closed for Repairs Beginning July 7, Adirondack Almanack, https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2025/07/goodnow-mountain-fire-tower-temporarily-closed-for-repairs-beginning-july-7.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Goodnow Mountain, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnow_Mountain (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. SUNY ESF to Cut Ribbon on Newly Renovated Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, https://www.esf.edu/news/2025/esf_celebrates_goodnow_fire_tower_renovation.php (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower, 2002
(2002)Photo: Bill Starr, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
May 2002--Model 1928 Cabin
May 2002--Model 1928 Cabin (2002)Photo: Bill Starr, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Goodnow 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.

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: 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. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: 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
  7. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: height, access, dates, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  8. 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

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