FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Pohopoco Fire Tower

1935 International-Stacey fire tower in Delaware State Forest, Monroe County; NHLR-registered 1995; fenced and unstaffed at a 2017 visit; steps replaced 2021, completion expected 2026.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Fenced in at the July 2017 visit; no current public-access statement found

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot International-Stacey tower with 7 by 7 foot cabThe design: Other steel maker
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
2,205 ft (672 m)
Agency
Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
Land
State land
Location
Monroe County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
41.02669, −75.50486
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-pohopoco

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. 1934 BuiltSource: Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky)
  2. 1935 BuiltConstructed by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry within the Delaware State ForestSource: nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1935 and 1995
  4. 1995 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 6, 1995; nominated by Anthony J. Cardwell, District Forester (D-19)Source: nhlr.org
  5. No record between 1995 and 2017
  6. 2017 Condition assessmentVisit report dated July 27, 2017: fenced in, some wooden steps falling apart, not staffedSource: nhlr.org
  7. 2021 AlteredPennsylvania Outdoor Corps worked to replace wooden steps and landings; completion expected in 2026Source: elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov
  8. 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.

Pohopoco Fire Tower stands in the Delaware State Forest in Monroe County, in the heart of the Pocono Mountains.1 The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry built it in 1935 as an 80-foot International-Stacey tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab.1 The Register listed it on June 6, 1995, with a nomination from Anthony J. Cardwell, the district forester (D-19).1

A visit report on the Register page, dated July 27, 2017, says the tower was not staffed.1 The visitor viewed it from the ground, where it was fenced in, and noted that some wooden steps were falling apart and that the cabin may be missing some glass.1

The Bureau's 2026 activity plan for the Delaware State Forest says the Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps worked to replace wooden steps and landings at the tower in 2021, and that the project was expected to be finished in 2026.2 The plan does not say whether the work is done, so I could not confirm the tower's present condition.2

The visit report places the tower in the Dixon R. Miller Recreation Area and describes a road up to it, with signed directions.1 I found no current statement on public access, and the only access evidence I have is from 2017, when the tower was fenced. Until you confirm otherwise, treat it as restricted, check with the Bureau before you visit, and do not climb the structure.1

  1. Pohopoco Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/pa/pohopoco-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Delaware State Forest District 2026 Activity Plan, Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, https://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/PDFProvider.ashx?action=PDFStream&docID=3557762&chksum&revision=0&docName=FD19+Delaware+District+Activity+Plan+2021&nativeExt=pdf&PromptToSave=False&Size=184624&ViewerMode=2&overlay=0 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

July 27, 2017 photo
July 27, 2017 photo (2017)Photo: Jan Braidech, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
NHLR marker in March 2018
NHLR marker in March 2018 (2018)Photo: Mark Haughwout, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
March 2018 photo
March 2018 photo (2018)Photo: Mark Haughwout, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Pohopco
PohopcoPhoto: Shawn Lesitsky -- PA Fire Towers StoryMap (Esri ArcGIS StoryMaps) · 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, 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. Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky) Gave us: height, ownership, dates, 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. 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.