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Fire lookout · Ulster County, New York

Overlook Mountain Fire Tower

Catskill tower: the register says built 1917, the DEC says 1927 on Gallis Hill and at its present location since 1950; restored and reopened 1999 with weekend volunteers.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. reached by a 5-6 mile hike on the Overlook Spur Trail; volunteers on duty weekends and holidays; motor vehicle access by permit (CP-3) was proposed in a draft plan and opposed by the FFLA in a December 15, 2016 letter

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
five to six miles on the Overlook Spur Trail, moderate to difficult, per the DEC
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower60-foot steel Aermotor LS-40 tower with a 7 by 7 foot metal cab (register: 7’x 7’ metal cab)The design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1917
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
3,120 ft (951 m)
Agency
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Land
State land
Location
Ulster County, New York
Coordinates
42.08474, −74.09261
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ny-overlook-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 3.6 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. 1917 Builtregister: constructed by the New York Department of Conservation (now DEC) in 1917; conflicts with the DEC's 1927 dateSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1927 BuiltDEC: originally constructed in 1927 on Gallis Hill, just west of KingstonSource: dec.ny.gov
  3. No record between 1927 and 1950
  4. 1950 MovedDEC: at its present location since 1950Source: dec.ny.gov
  5. No record between 1950 and 1971
  6. 1971 Closedregister: in active service for 54 years until it closed in 1971; a second source for this year was not availableSource: nhlr.org
  7. No record between 1971 and 1997
  8. 1997 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterNational Historic Lookout Register registration date April 28, 1997Source: nhlr.org
  9. 1999 Restoredrestored as a joint venture of the Catskill Forest Center, the Highlands Group of the FFLA and the NYS-DEC; reopened 1999Source: nhlr.org
  10. 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 Overlook Mountain fire tower sits near Woodstock in the Catskill Park, on a summit that the state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) administers.1,2 The register lists the summit at 3,120 feet, while the DEC gives 3,140 feet.1,2

The register says the state Department of Conservation built the tower in 1917.1 The DEC's challenge page says the tower was originally constructed in 1927 on Gallis Hill, just west of Kingston, and has been at its present location since 1950.2 I could not settle the first date from these sources, so both accounts stand side by side.

The register describes a 60-foot steel Aermotor LS-40 tower with a 7-by-7-foot metal cab, and the DEC gives the same height.1,2

The register says the tower served for 54 years before closing in 1971.1 I could not confirm that closing year from a second source I could open.

The tower reopened in 1999 after a restoration by the Catskill Forest Center, the Highlands Group of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, and the DEC.1 Since the reopening, the Catskill Fire Tower Project has kept a volunteer on duty on weekends and holidays each year.1

The register added the tower to its listings on April 28, 1997.1

Reaching the tower means a hike.2 The DEC describes the Overlook Spur Trail as five to six miles and moderate to difficult. It follows an old carriage road that once carried guests to the Overlook Mountain House. The ruins of the never-completed Overlook Mountain House come into view about 1.6 miles in.2

Motor vehicle access was part of a draft plan for the Overlook Mountain Wild Forest.2,3 In a December 2016 letter to the DEC, the Forest Fire Lookout Association called motor vehicle access by permit, known as CP-3, a poor decision.3

  1. Overlook Mountain Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ny/overlook-mountain-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Catskills Fire Tower Challenge, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/hiking/catskills-fire-tower-challenge (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Forest Fire Lookout Association comments on the draft Overlook Mountain Wild Forest plan, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/media/3074/ffla-ny-comments.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Overlook Mountain Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
4/11/04 Warren Johnsen photo (courtesy Bill Starr
4/11/04 Warren Johnsen photo (courtesy Bill StarrPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Overlook 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, 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: 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
  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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  7. 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.