Fire lookout · Rockland County, New York
Jackie Jones Lookout
Also known as Jackie Jones Mountain
1928 Aermotor steel fire tower in Harriman State Park; restored by volunteers in 2018, then fenced off and closed by November 2021 with no reopening found.
- Standing
- Closed
- Verified
Closed
The site is closed to visitors. Fenced off and closed by November 2021; the 2023 chapter report lists it as closed pending engineering inspection. No reopening found.
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
- Closed and fenced off in the latest sources; no reopening date found
- Staffing
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower60-foot Aermotor LS-40 steel tower with a 7-by-7-foot metal cab and windows of an unusual designThe design: Aermotor LS-40
- Built of
- SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- 1928
- Height
- Unknown
- Elevation
- 1,260 ft (384 m)
- Agency
- Palisades Interstate Park Commission
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Rockland County, New York
- Coordinates
- 41.22342, −74.07172
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-ny-jackie-jones
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 3.7 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
- 1928 BuiltConstructed by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which operated it until 1931Source: nhlr.org
- 1931 EventOperation passed to Forest Fire Control; the register says it closed in the 1970sSource: nhlr.org
- 1932 StaffedObserver on duty nine hours a day, April to November, per a 1932 Journal-News item quoted by Forest LookoutsSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1932 and 1997
- 1997 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 28, 1997 as US 213, NY 16; nominated by Lawrence G. PaulSource: nhlr.org
- No record between 1997 and 2017
- 2017 ClosedThe tower was reported closed to the public because of its condition; a restoration and repair project had been approved but had no work date yet (reported April 2017).Sources: nysffla.org, nysffla.org
- 2018 ClosedClosed by January 2018, with the bottom set of stairs removedSource: nhlr.org
- 2018 RestoredStairs, platforms, cab floor and windows replaced and tower painted over April and June 2018 weekendsSources: teamrubiconusa.org, hikethehudsonvalley.com
- 2021 Condition assessmentApril 2021 chapter newsletter: many cab windows missing and a great deal of graffitiSource: nysffla.org
- 2021 ClosedFenced off and closed by November 2021, perhaps permanentlySource: hikethehudsonvalley.com
- 2021 RestoredVolunteers painted over extensive graffiti in the Jackie Jones tower on May 21, 2021; replacing broken windows was planned for the same visit.Sources: nysffla.org, nysffla.org
- 2022 ClosedTower closed to the public pending an engineering inspection whose completion date was unknown; still closed in the 2023 report.Sources: firelookout.org, firelookout.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.
The Jackie Jones Lookout is a steel fire tower in Harriman State Park, in Rockland County, New York.1 The Palisades Interstate Park Commission put it up in 1928 and ran it until 1931. After that, Forest Fire Control operated it until the tower closed in the 1970s.1 The register also says it is the final steel fire tower in the Bear Mountain-Harriman area, and that its cab has windows of an unusual design.1
A 1932 newspaper item, quoted on a fire-lookout history site, describes the observer at the tower working nine hours a day from April until November, and able to spot a fire anywhere in the county from the tower.2 The sources read do not name any particular fire it caught.
By January 2018 the tower was closed, and its bottom set of stairs had been taken off.1 The register's visit notes say talks with the park commission about repairs had been going on since the summer of 2016.1 In April and June 2018, 50 members of Team Rubicon replaced the stairs and platforms, the cab floor and windows, and repainted the tower.3 A trail guide credits the work to volunteers from the forest fire association's New York chapter and Team Rubicon.4 A visitor in August 2018 found the tower completely renovated, but was not sure who had done the work.1
The trouble came back. In April 2021 the chapter's newsletter reported many cab windows missing and a great deal of graffiti.5 By November 2021, Hike the Hudson Valley reported that a fence now surrounded the tower, that it was shut, and that the closure might be for good.4 The chapter's 2023 annual report lists it among the towers closed while engineering inspections are pending.6
The most recent source found, the 2023 report, lists the tower as closed.6 I found no source giving a reopening date, so treat the tower as closed. Please do not try to climb a fenced tower, and check with Harriman State Park before you plan a trip to see it.
- Jackie Jones Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ny/jackie-jones-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Jackie Jones, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/jackie-jones.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- TR Restores Public Assets One Fire Tower at a Time, Team Rubicon, https://teamrubiconusa.org/news-and-stories/tr-restores-public-assets-one-fire-tower-at-a-time/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Harriman State Park: Jackie Jones Fire Tower, Hike the Hudson Valley, https://hikethehudsonvalley.com/hikes/harriman-state-park-jackie-jones-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter newsletter, April 2021, https://www.nysffla.org/News2021/Apr-2021-final.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter annual report (cr-ny-2023), https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/cr-ny-2023.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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, status, register numbers, 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: 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter (opens another site) 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports (opens another site) 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
- OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures (opens another site) Gave us: dates, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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
- NHLR register entry US 213 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- TR Restores Public Assets One Fire Tower at a Time (Team Rubicon) (opens another site)
- Harriman State Park: Jackie Jones Fire Tower (Hike the Hudson Valley) (opens another site)
- FFLA New York lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Forest Fire Lookout Association, New York State Chapter: work on Jackie Jones Lookout (opens another site)
- Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: work on Jackie Jones Lookout (opens another site)
- Jackie Jones (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site)
- OpenStreetMap node 732695892 (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.