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Fire lookout · Pennington County, South Dakota

Norris Peak Lookout Site

Black Hills Forest Service lookout south of Deadwood, built 1932 as a 35-foot steel tower; one source says destroyed 1966; listed as gone; no current site description found.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Listed as gone; firelookout.com says destroyed in 1966, and no other source in this research gives a date.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go. No source found says whether the site is open to visitors.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower35-foot Aermotor steel tower with a 7-by-7-foot enclosed cab and a small cabin with a porchThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1932
Height
35 ft (10.7 m)
Elevation
4,990 ft (1,521 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Pennington County, South Dakota
Coordinates
44.09687, −103.42650
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-sd-norris-peak

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

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. 1931 EventCrow's nest before the tower, per firelookout.com onlySource: firelookout.com
  2. 1932 BuiltRegister gives 1932; May 1932 newspaper item describes a 35-foot steel tower due by July 1; firelookout.com gives a 40-foot towerSources: firetower.org, westlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  3. 1933 EventCCC sub-camp planned near the peak to build a shelter cabin for the lookoutSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1940 StaffedDescribed as a secondary or emergency lookout, used only in times of fire hazardSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1954 FireSpot fire near Pactola, controlled by the Pactola ranger and crew (July 1954)Source: westlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1963 StaffedVeterans Peak and Norris Peak stations to be manned depending on weatherSource: westlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1966 Destroyedfirelookout.com only; no second source foundSource: firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1966 and 2022
  9. 2022 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered May 22, 2022Source: firetower.org
  10. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Norris Peak, south of Deadwood in Pennington County, got a 35-foot steel tower in 1932.1,2 A May 1932 newspaper item said the lookout had been stationed high in a swaying pine or spruce tree the summer before.2 The register describes an Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot enclosed cab, plus a small residence cabin with a porch.1 Firelookout.com tells a different story, with a crow's nest in 1931 and a 40-foot steel tower with a log cabin in 1932.3

A July 1933 item said a Civilian Conservation Corps sub-camp would soon be established near the peak to build a shelter cabin for the lookout.2 In June 1940 the Rapid City Journal called Norris Peak a secondary, or emergency, lookout, used only when fire hazard ran high.2 In July 1954 the Pactola ranger and crew brought a spot fire at Norris Peak, near Pactola, under control.2 In June 1963 staffing at the Veterans Peak and Norris Peak stations was to depend on the weather.2

Firelookout.com says the tower was destroyed in 1966, but no other source in this research gives that date.3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's statewide list marks the site as gone.4 The register added the site on May 22, 2022.1

A Black Hills travel listing for Norris Peak places the site near where the now removed tower stood.5 No source describes what remains there today, or whether visitors can reach it.

  1. Norris Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/sd/norris-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Norris Peak, Forest Lookouts (quoting Rapid City Journal and other newspaper items, 1932 to 1963), https://westlookouts.weebly.com/norris-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Norris Peak Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://www.firelookout.com/sd/norrispeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. South Dakota Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/sd/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. NORRIS PEAK, Black Hills Backroad, http://blackhillsbackroad.com/?page_id=2326 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Stair base and tower anchors
Stair base and tower anchorsPhoto: Shawn Barrows, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · 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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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

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