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Fire lookout · Clarion County, Pennsylvania

Fire Tower #9

Also known as Cooks Forest, Cook Forest (Cooksburg), Cook Forest Fire Tower #9

Built in 1928 as a scenic viewing tower in Cook Forest State Park, it was later staffed as a fire lookout until a 1977 tornado knocked out its lines.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Tower open to visitors year-round; the cab itself opens only during interpretive programming.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotorThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1928
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
1,582 ft (482 m)
Agency
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Land
State land
Location
Clarion County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
41.32083, −79.20983
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-fire-tower-9

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. 1928 BuiltBuilt as a scenic viewing attraction for park visitors, not originally a fire lookoutSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1928 and 1946
  3. 1946 First staffedBegan service as a paid state forest observer positionSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1946 and 1966
  5. 1966 Last staffedEnd of paid observer staffing; volunteers took over in 1967Source: nhlr.org
  6. 1977 EventTornado destroyed the tower's phone and electric lines, ending volunteer watch dutySource: nhlr.org
  7. No record between 1977 and 2017
  8. 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, January 23, 2017Source: nhlr.org
  9. 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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Fire Tower #9 rises above Cook Forest State Park in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. Unlike most fire towers, it was not built to spot smoke first and foremost: it went up in 1928 as a scenic viewing attraction for park visitors.1 It became a working fire lookout later, staffed by a paid state forest observer from 1946 to 1966.1 Volunteers then took over watch duties, continuing until 1977, when a tornado tore out the tower's phone and electric lines.1

Since then, the tower has gone back to its original purpose. It stands today as a public viewing platform, with the cab itself opened only during scheduled interpretive programs, though the tower is open to visitors year-round.1 It is a popular stop in the park: during the summer season it can draw 200 to 400 visitors in a two-hour span.1

The lookout carries National Historic Lookout Register number US 1172 (Pennsylvania US 19), registered in January 2017.1 It stands at 1,582 feet elevation.1

If you visit, you can expect to see the steel tower up close and climb to the viewing level when it is open, but the enclosed cab at the top is not generally accessible outside of ranger-led programming — a reminder that this lookout now serves sightseers more than fire watchers.

  1. Fire Tower #9, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/pa/fire-tower-9/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

November 2006 photo
November 2006 photo (2006)Photo: Brian Powell, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cooks Forest
Cooks ForestPhoto: Shawn Lesitsky -- PA Fire Towers StoryMap (Esri ArcGIS StoryMaps) · source
Photo of Fire Tower #9
Photo: Pub. by Thomas, Photographer & Jobber, Warren, PA. "Tichnor Quality Views," Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Made Only by Tichnor Bros., Inc., Boston, Mass., via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · source

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

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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. Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky) Gave us: type, what it is built of, design, height, ownership, photos, links Pennsylvania fire towers StoryMap (ArcGIS) · No licence stated; facts only (county, agency, built year, height, builder). · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) 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
  4. 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
  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, 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.