FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Franklin County, New York

Loon Lake Mountain Fire Tower

A 35-foot Aermotor steel fire tower on Loon Lake Mountain, erected in 1917 and NRHP-listed in 2008; unused since 1971 and not restored, though the hike is popular.

Closed

The site is closed to visitors. Stairs removed to keep people from climbing; DEC says the tower has not been restored. The hiking trail itself is popular.

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
At the March 2018 visit the trail was well marked and the lot was plowed; active logging may have been under way nearby.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower35-foot steel-frame Aermotor fire lookout tower with cab, on the Loon Lake Mountain summitThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1912
Height
35 ft (10.7 m)
Elevation
3,332 ft (1,016 m)
Agency
Unknown
Land
Unknown
Location
Franklin County, New York
Coordinates
44.55820, −74.15163
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-loon-lake-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 3.5 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. 1912 BuiltWooden fire tower built, per Wikipedia; replaced in 1917Source: en.wikipedia.org
  2. 1917 BuiltSteel-frame Aermotor tower erected 1917 (NHLR, NRHP metadata and Wikipedia agree)Sources: nhlr.org, en.wikipedia.org, npgallery.nps.gov
  3. 1917 Replaced by a new structureSteel-frame tower replaced the wooden towerSource: en.wikipedia.org
  4. 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
  5. 1927 RebuiltNHLR says reconstructed after a hurricane blew it down; Wikipedia does not mention thisSource: nhlr.org
  6. 1928 DestroyedThe tower fell over onto a lean-to during the winter of 1927-28, per a March 1928 local newspaper report.Source: nysffla.org
  7. No record between 1928 and 1971
  8. 1971 AbandonedUnused since 1971Source: en.wikipedia.org
  9. No record between 1971 and 2008
  10. 2008 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesAdded to the National Register on December 5, 2008 (NRIS 08001144)Sources: en.wikipedia.org, npgallery.nps.gov
  11. 2013 EventNY DEC rebuilt the hiking trailSource: nhlr.org
  12. 2015 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 3, 2015 as US 1072Source: nhlr.org
  13. 2018 Condition assessmentMarch 17, 2018 visit: poor condition; window repair, wood and paint neededSource: nhlr.org
  14. 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.

Loon Lake Mountain's fire tower dates to 1917, when a steel-frame Aermotor tower about 35 feet tall went up on the summit in Franklin County.1,2 It replaced a wooden tower that Wikipedia says was built in 1912.1 The register tells a different early story: it says the tower was reconstructed in 1927 after a hurricane blew it down.3 Wikipedia does not mention a 1927 rebuild, so that part is unconfirmed.1

The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 5, 2008, as part of a multiple listing of New York Forest Preserve fire observation stations.1,2 It has been unused since 1971, and its stairs were removed to keep people from climbing it.1 The condition reports are not recent. A 2007 visit found the steel and cab structurally sound but in need of considerable work before public use, and a 2018 visit found the windows, wood and paint in poor shape.3

NY DEC rebuilt the hiking trail in 2013, and the register calls the hike a popular destination.3 A 2018 visit found the parking lot well plowed and the trail well marked, though it noted that active logging may be going on in the area.3 DEC says the tower has not yet been restored, though the summit still offers views.4 Across New York, fire towers began to be phased out in the 1980s.4

Visitors can hike the trail, but the tower itself is not open to climbing, since its stairs were removed.3,1 Treat the structure as closed.

  1. Loon Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loon_Lake_Mountain_Fire_Observation_Station (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Loon Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station, NPGallery (NRHP NRIS 08001144), https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/08001144 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Loon Lake Mountain Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ny/loon-lake-mountain-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Fire Towers, NYSDEC, https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/100900.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

CNYHiking.com photo
CNYHiking.com photoPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Loon Lake Mountain Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, 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. 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
  4. 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
  5. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, 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.