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Fire lookout · McCurtain County, Oklahoma

Carter Mountain Lookout

Aermotor lookout erected in 1936 after an earlier wooden tower; the NHLR says it remains in service, and a 2018 camp field trip is the latest visit evidence found.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower100-ft Aermotor tower with a 7x7-ft steel cab (1936)The design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1927
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
1,279 ft (390 m)
Agency
Oklahoma Forestry Services
Land
Unknown
Location
McCurtain County, Oklahoma
Coordinates
34.25000, −94.77645
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ok-carter-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 3.2 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. 1927 BuiltOriginal wooden tower. The NHLR gives 1927 as fact; the Forest Lookouts list marks it with a question mark.Sources: nhlr.org, centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1929 Event55-ft steel tower maintained by the Oklahoma Forest Service; 2,100 people from 20 states and Canada registered there during 1929.Source: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1930 FireIn June 1930 Baker spotted smoke about two miles from the tower and put out flames while a sleeping three-year-old's bedding was only starting to smoke.Source: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1930 StaffedBuddy Baker worked as a watchman on Carter Mountain for four years; the start year is not given.Source: centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1936 Replaced by a new structureA 100-ft Aermotor tower with a 7x7 steel cab. The NHLR says it replaced the original wooden tower; the Forest Lookouts list says it was erected.Sources: nhlr.org, centraluslookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1936 and 1997
  7. 1997 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, September 16, 1997.Source: nhlr.org
  8. No record between 1997 and 2018
  9. 2018 EventA state press release dated 03.27.2018 lists field trips to the Carter Mountain Fire Tower as part of a teen forestry camp.Source: ag.ok.gov
  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.

Carter Mountain sits in McCurtain County, in Oklahoma's southeastern corner.1 The National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) calls its tower the second lookout in the state, and it was registered on September 16, 1997.1

The first tower here was made of wood.1,2 The NHLR dates it to 1927,1 but the Forest Lookouts history is less sure and marks that year with a question mark.2 By 1929 the Oklahoma Forest Service maintained a 55-foot steel tower near Carter Mountain, and 2,100 people from 20 states and Canada registered there that year.2

A watchman named Buddy Baker spent four years on the mountain.2 In June 1930 he spotted smoke about two miles from his tower, reported it at the forest office in Broken Bow, and ran to the scene, where he put out the flames while a sleeping three-year-old's bedding was only starting to smoke.2

In 1936 a 100-foot Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot steel cab went up.1,2 The two accounts do not agree on the order of events. The NHLR says that tower replaced the original wooden one, but the 1930 newspaper report describes a 55-foot steel tower already in use in 1929.1,2

The register says the 1936 tower is still in service, and that Oklahoma Forestry Services administers it.1 A 2018 state press release mentioned that campers at a teen forestry camp visit the Carter Mountain Fire Tower.3 I found no published rules for visiting. Because it is still a working lookout,1 check with Oklahoma Forestry Services before you go, and do not climb it without permission.

  1. Carter Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ok/carter-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Carter Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/carter-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Forestry youth camp registration is open, Oklahoma Forestry Services, https://ag.ok.gov/forestry-youth-camp-registration-is-open/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Carter Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Carter Mountain Lookout
Photo: Nonfiction, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, status, 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 LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, links centraluslookouts.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. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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.