FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Clinton County, Pennsylvania

Tamarack Fire Lookout

Steel lookout in Sproul State Forest, Clinton County, in service from 1919 or 1920 by different accounts and rebuilt around 2018 to 2020; staffed in fire season.

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 sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor tower (65 ft, 7 by 7 ft cab) later replaced by a modern galvanized steel structureThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1919
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
2,234 ft (681 m)
Agency
Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
Land
State land
Location
Clinton County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
41.39784, −77.85444
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-tamarack

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 3.0 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. 1919 BuiltRegister gives 1919 for service start. A 1926 account and the story map say 1920.Sources: nhlr.org, arcgis.com, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1919 and 2008
  3. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterListed on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register as the Tamarack Tower Site, a separate entry describing a bald tower used around 1917 that is no longer standingSource: firetower.org
  4. 2013 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 1, 2013 as NHLR US 971Source: nhlr.org
  5. 2018 Replaced by a new structureStory map date for the replacement. The register says circa 2020.Source: arcgis.com
  6. 2020 Replaced by a new structureRegister says circa 2020, with a modern steel structure replacing the original towerSource: nhlr.org
  7. 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 Tamarack lookout stands in Clinton County, in the Sproul State Forest, and takes its name from the nearby village of Tamarack.1,2 A 1926 description says that village lies a few miles to the north of the tower.2

The register dates the lookout's service start to 1919.3 A compilation of Eastern lookouts is less sure. It quotes the Lock Haven Express from May 1920, which described a new steel fire tower at Tamarack as nearly finished, and it quotes a 1926 account dating construction to 1920.2 The story map also gives 1920.1 The sources differ by a year, and I could not settle which is right.

According to the register, the original was 65 feet tall, built by Aermotor, with a cab measuring 7 by 7 feet.3 The story map describes a 60-foot tower that was replaced in 2018, and its entry gives a height of 80 feet.1

The register puts the replacement with a modern steel structure at around 2020.3 The story map dates the replacement to 2018.1 A separate entry on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register covers a Tamarack tower site where a bald tower was in use around 1917 and has since gone. It is not clear whether that entry describes an earlier tower on this spot.4

The Bureau of Forestry still keeps staff at the lookout during fire season.3,1 A 2021 visit describes the current structure as galvanized steel and kept in pristine shape.3 I did not find accounts of notable fires from this tower in the sources I read. The sources do not give access rules, so check with the Bureau of Forestry before visiting.

  1. Fire Towers of Pennsylvania, ArcGIS story map, https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/ed47c97ebe7246868ce8ef3e7139a0b4/data?f=json (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Tamarack - Forest Lookouts, Eastern US Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/tamarack.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Tamarack Fire Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/pa/tamarack-fire-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Tamarack Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/pa/tamarack-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

New tower in October 2021
New tower in October 2021 (2021)Photo: Michael Jamicky, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1919 Lookout
1919 Lookout (1919)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tamarack Tower
Tamarack TowerPhoto: 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky): Standing

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, what it is built of, 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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, dates, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky) Gave us: design, 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
  4. 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
  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, 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.