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Fire lookout · Hamilton County, New York

Hamilton Mountain

Hamilton County, NY: 18-ft wood lookout built 1909, 50-ft steel tower from 1916, removed by DEC in Dec 1976; no official source describes the summit today, but a 2017 forum trip report describes relics and an overgrown summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The 50-foot steel tower was removed in December 1976. No official source found describes the summit today. A 2017 forum trip report describes relics of the old tower and an overgrown summit with no views.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. The peak lies in the Silver Lake Wilderness (forest preserve). A 2004 forum post says the trail is on private property. A 2017 forum post says private property on the west side ruled out that approach and that the area where the old trail had been is heavily posted; the same poster then reached the summit by an off-trail route from the east. No official access source found.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
No tower remains to climb. A 2013 forum post describes the old trail as being reclaimed by the forest. A 2017 forum post describes an off-trail climb to the summit and says the top is overgrown with no views. No current trail or access rules were found.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower18-foot wooden tower (1909); 50-foot steel Aermotor LL25 tower from 1916The design: Aermotor LL-25
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1909
Height
50 ft (15.2 m)
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Forest, Fish and Game Commission (1909); New York State Environmental Conservation Department (1976 removal)
Land
Unknown
Location
Hamilton County, New York
Coordinates
43.41159, −74.36630
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-hamilton-mountain

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and 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. 1909 Built18-foot wooden tower built in October 1909 by the Forest, Fish and Game Commission; a 1910 annual report gives the cost as $694.51Sources: en.wikipedia.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1916 Replaced by a new structureWooden tower replaced by a 50-foot steel tower (Aermotor LL25 per Wikipedia)Sources: en.wikipedia.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1924 EventA new cabin was erected at the siteSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1924 and 1971
  5. 1971 ClosedClosed at the end of the 1971 fire lookout season because aerial detection had improved (Wikipedia). A December 1976 report says it had been closed for six years, which points to about 1970Sources: en.wikipedia.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1976 RemovedDEC removed the tower in early December 1976 because it did not conform to forever wild rules; accounts of how it came down differSources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, weeklyexpressnews.com
  7. 1977 EventThe cabin was to remain on the peak until summer 1977 and then be removed (plan reported in December 1976)Source: weeklyexpressnews.com
  8. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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.

Hamilton Mountain is a peak in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, west-northwest of the hamlet of Wells.1 Wikipedia gives its height as 3,215 feet.1 A 1976 newspaper report, quoted by Forest Lookouts, gives 3,250 feet.2

The Forest, Fish and Game Commission built a lookout on the peak in October 1909.1 It was an 18-foot wooden tower.1 It cost $694.51.2 State fire superintendents had decided to add it to the six observation stations already in the Adirondacks and the three in the Catskills.2

In 1916 a 50-foot steel tower replaced the wooden one.1,2 Wikipedia names the new tower as an Aermotor LL25.1 A new cabin went up at the site in 1924.2

Sources disagree about when the lookout stopped being used. Wikipedia says the tower was shut once the 1971 lookout season ended, because aerial detection had improved.1 A 1976 report says it had been closed for six years.2

In December 1976 the state took the tower down, because it did not fit the forever wild rules for the Adirondack Park.2,3 Commissioner Peter Berle said it was the first of eight towers to come down.2

Accounts of the take-down differ. The Weekly Express says a strong wind had twisted the tower on its base, so crews lowered it to the ground with cat and guy ropes. They planned to dismantle it there and fly the parts out by helicopter.3 Forest Lookouts, quoting The Post-Standard, says DEC crews unbolted two of its legs and pulled it over with a power winch.2

Dates vary too. Wikipedia puts the removal around 1977,1 and a 2004 forum post says the tower was flown off in 1977 or 1978.4 The December 1976 reports look like the most precise.2,3 The cabin was to stay on the peak until summer 1977, when it was due to be removed.3

No official source we found describes the summit today. A 2013 forum post says the summit has no view now, though a ledge a short way south has an excellent southerly view. It also says an old trail is still visible at the top but is being reclaimed by the forest.4 A 2017 trip report says the summit is overgrown with no views, and that the writer found many relics of the old tower there.4 A list of New York lookouts marks the tower as gone.5

The tower stood in the Silver Lake Wilderness Area.1 That wilderness is forest preserve land.6 A 2004 post says the trail is on private property.4 A 2017 climber says private property on the west side ruled out that approach, and that the area where the old trail had been is heavily posted.4 We found no official source on access to the summit. Stay off posted private land.

  1. Hamilton Mountain (Hamilton County, New York), Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Mountain_(Hamilton_County,_New_York) (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Hamilton Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/hamilton-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. The Way Things Were: December 4, 2024, Weekly Express News, https://weeklyexpressnews.com/the-way-things-were-december-4-2024/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Hamilton Mountain Fire Tower, Adirondack Forum, https://www.adkforum.com/forum/the-adirondack-forum/adirondack-history-and-folklore/222-hamilton-mountain-fire-tower (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. New York lookouts list, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/ny/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  6. Silver Lake Wilderness, CNY Hiking, https://www.cnyhiking.com/SilverLakeWilderness.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. 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
  3. 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.