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Fire lookout · Caledonia County, Vermont

Burke Mountain Fire Tower

Standing 54-ft Aermotor tower with 7x7 cab on Burke Mountain, Caledonia County, VT; NHLR-registered 1998; steps and cab rebuilt in 2023, railings added 2025.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Register says the tower, in Darling State Forest, is open to the public (line undated). A closure to the public from May 15 to July 31 (2025) was announced in a news article posted May 2, 2025, as part of a restoration project on state fire towers.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2006-09-02)

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower54’ Aermotor tower with 7’ x 7’ steel cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1912
Height
54 ft (16.5 m)
Elevation
3,220 ft (982 m)
Agency
Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks, and Recreation
Land
Unknown
Location
Caledonia County, Vermont
Coordinates
44.57041, −71.89281
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-vt-burke-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 3.6 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. 1912 BuiltFirst lookout tower, built by Elmer A. Darling with a camp, per Forest Lookouts. The register dates the site's establishment to 1913.Sources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  2. 1916 First staffedEarliest staffing found: a lookoutman, Mr. Burrington, reported on Burke Mountain in the 8th Annual Report of the Vermont State Forester.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1916 and 1932
  4. 1932 DestroyedFebruary 1932 newspaper: tower blown down. 1932 state report: tower collapsed under snow and ice. Sources disagree on the cause.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 Replaced by a new structureDecember 1934: an enclosed 45 ft. 6 in. steel tower erected on the identical site. A July 1935 newspaper also reports a new lookout tower on the summit.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1937 DestroyedRegister: the wooden octagonal-cab tower was blown down in the great hurricane of 1937. Forest Lookouts lists 1937 but quotes a September 1938 newspaper saying a gale swept the tower from the peaks.Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1938 BuiltA 54-foot Aermotor tower with 7x7 cab completed, per Forest Lookouts. The register describes this as the current tower.Sources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  8. 1948 StaffedJohn Austin named as fire tower watchman and general caretaker of the Burke Mountain area.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1951 StaffedJohn Dunphy began work at the forest fire tower in late April.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1957 Staffed1957-58 state report: station converted from part time to full time, with a base radio installed in the tower and a remote control unit in the cabin.Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  11. No record between 1957 and 1984
  12. 1984 Last staffedForest Lookouts: tower discontinued in the fall of 1984, one of the final two towers in use. The register instead says the tower was deactivated in the 1970s.Sources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  13. 1990 AlteredFAA gave the tower a facelift in exchange for hanging a microwave dish on it (register).Source: nhlr.org
  14. 1998 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 1, 1998 as US 274, VT 5; nominated by Mark W. Haughwout, Vermont Registrar.Source: nhlr.org
  15. 2006 Condition assessmentRegister visit report dated September 2, 2006 answers the staffed question with No.Source: nhlr.org
  16. 2007 RestoredThe concrete steps at the Burke Mountain tower were repaired in 2007, but no work was done on the cab or tower itself.Source: firelookout.org
  17. No record between 2007 and 2023
  18. 2023 RestoredVermont Forest, Parks and Recreation staff with a seasonal employee replaced all steps, landings and the cab floor with white oak on galvanized hardware.Source: firelookout.org
  19. 2025 AlteredSafety railing added to the cab floor; metal fencing installed along the sides, stairs and landings.Source: firelookout.org
  20. 2025 EventClosure to the public May 15 to July 31 announced in a news article posted May 2, 2025 (Bear Hill first, then Burke).Source: mychamplainvalley.com
  21. 2025 RestoredTower maintenance completed at Okemo, Burke and Bear Hill: lightning protection, paint, interior cab railings, wire mesh on stairs and landings.Source: firelookout.org
  22. 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.

Burke Mountain Fire Tower stands on the summit of Burke Mountain, in Caledonia County, Vermont.1,2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists it as standing.2 The register describes a 54-foot Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot steel cab, the fourth tower to stand on the summit.1

The lookout history starts earlier than the current tower.3 Forest Lookouts dates the first lookout tower and its camp on the mountain to 1912, when Elmer A. Darling built them.3 The register dates the site to 1913 and places it second among Vermont's oldest lookout sites.1 The two sources differ by a year.

The early towers did not last. A February 1932 newspaper report, quoted on the Forest Lookouts page, said wind had blown the tower down.3 A state report from that year gave a different cause, saying the tower collapsed under snow and ice, so the accounts disagree.3 An enclosed 45-foot, 6-inch steel tower went up on the same site in December 1934.3 The register says the wooden tower that stood before the current one was lost in the great hurricane of 1937.1 The Forest Lookouts timeline also gives 1937, but it quotes a September 1938 newspaper report saying a gale swept the tower from the peaks.3 Forest Lookouts dates the present 54-foot Aermotor tower, with its 7-by-7 cab, to 1938.3

People staffed the tower in the 1940s and 1950s.3 A lookoutman is recorded on the mountain as early as 1916.3 In 1948 John Austin served as watchman and caretaker for the Burke Mountain area, and in 1951 John Dunphy started work at the tower.3 The 1957 to 1958 state report says the station had become full time, with a base radio installed in the tower.3 The Forest Lookouts page says the tower was discontinued in the fall of 1984, while the register says it was deactivated in the 1970s.3,1

In 1990 the FAA refreshed the tower's appearance in exchange for a microwave dish hung on it.1 The register added the tower on September 1, 1998.1 A September 2, 2006 visit report on the register's page answers "No" to whether the tower was staffed.1

In 2023 Vermont Forest, Parks and Recreation staff, with a seasonal employee, replaced the steps, landings and cab floor with white oak on galvanized hardware.4 In 2025 the work added a safety railing to the cab floor and metal fencing to the sides, stairs and landings.5 A news report posted May 2, 2025 says the Burke tower would close to the public from May 15 to July 31, as part of a restoration project on state fire towers.6

The register says the tower sits in Darling State Forest and is open to the public.1 That line is undated, and the 2025 restoration work came with a closure, so check with the state before visiting.

  1. Burke Mountain Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/vt/burke-mountain-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Vermont fire tower list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/vt/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Burke Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/burke-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Vermont fire tower chapter report, 2023, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-vt-2023.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Vermont fire tower chapter report, 2025, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/cr-vt-2025.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Restoration project set to begin on Vt. fire towers, ABC22/FOX44 via MyChamplainValley, https://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/local-news/vermont/restoration-project-set-to-begin-on-vermont-fire-towers/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Burke Mountain Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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.

    • FFLA: Standing
    • NHLR: Standing
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com): Ruins

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, 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. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.