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Fire lookout · Douglas County, Wisconsin

Gordon Lookout

Also known as Gordon Fire Tower Cabin

A 100-foot Aermotor fire tower near Gordon, Wisconsin, built in 1935, decommissioned by the state in 2015 and saved by local volunteers, with scheduled free climbs and a cabin rental listed in 2021-2022 reports.

Visit & stay

You can rent this lookout for overnight stays through Airbnb.

Managed by
local non-profit group

Book on Airbnb

This rental is listed by the Forest Fire Lookout Association’s rentals list, checked 12 Oct 2026; the association does not run rentals. Rules, fees and seasons change, so confirm on the booking page before you go.

Access

Open to the public. Free public climbs on scheduled days, run by the nonprofit owner. A one-room cabin at the base is rented through Airbnb.

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Free climbs on scheduled Sundays (every other Sunday from May through October in one undated report); the Friends group publishes its dates
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower100-foot Aermotor steel tower, likely an MC-39 model, with a Forest Service-style stairway whose treads and landings were upgraded to expanded steelThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,142 ft (348 m)
Agency
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (operated the tower until 2015); the site is now owned by the Friends of the Bird Sanctuary
Land
Unknown
Location
Douglas County, Wisconsin
Coordinates
46.24484, −91.80750
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 12 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wi-gordon

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 4.2 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. 1935 BuiltRegister dates the tower to August 1935 at a site about 736 ft elevation; it was later moved to its current location at an unknown dateSources: nhlr.org, fotbs.org, stcroix360.com
  2. No record between 1935 and 2015
  3. 2015 AbandonedDecommissioned by the Wisconsin DNR and set to be torn downSources: fotbs.org, stcroix360.com
  4. 2015 Last staffedStaffed intermittently during spring fire season until 2015Source: nhlr.org
  5. 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 6, 2017 as US 1260, WI 46Source: nhlr.org
  6. 2020 MovedCabin moved to the site, listed as of September 2020; the 2021 news report says it was donated and moved from a nearby lakeSources: centraluslookouts.weebly.com, stcroix360.com
  7. 2021 Opened as a rentalTower and one-room cabin opened for rentals through Airbnb, nightly fee from $67Source: stcroix360.com
  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.

The register describes this tower as a 100-foot Aermotor, likely an MC-39 model, first built in August 1935 at an elevation of about 736 feet, and later moved to its present spot on a date the register does not give.1 Other accounts also give 1935 as the year it went up.2,3,4

The register notes a Forest Service-style stairway whose treads and landings were later upgraded from wood to expanded steel.1 The tower was staffed on and off during spring fire season until 2015.1 That year the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources began decommissioning its towers, and this one was set to be torn down.2,3

Local citizens and a nonprofit stepped in to buy it instead.3 The Friends of the Bird Sanctuary now owns the site, and it held several fundraisers to buy the land.3,2 A Central US Lookouts entry dated September 2020 says a cabin had been moved to the site.5 A 2021 news report adds that the cabin was donated and brought in from a nearby lake.3

The tower and cabin opened for rentals through Airbnb in 2021.3 The nightly fee started at $67 for a one-room cabin with a composting toilet and no running water.3

The Friends group published open-climb dates for 2022, and one report describes every other Sunday afternoon from May through October, when the public can climb for free.2,4 The sources found do not show whether that schedule still runs. According to volunteers, the cab was left as the last lookout left it, with a phone, compass and stove still inside.4 A 2022 visit report on the register says the condition was good and that the tower is sometimes staffed.1

  1. Gordon Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wi/gordon-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Historic Gordon Fire Tower, Friends of the Bird Sanctuary, https://www.fotbs.org/historic-gordon-fire-tower.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Historic fire tower overlooking upper St. Croix River now open with cabin rental, St. Croix 360, https://www.stcroix360.com/2021/06/historic-fire-tower-overlooking-upper-st-croix-river-now-open-with-cabin-rental/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Gordon Firetower welcomes tour groups on Sundays, cabins on weekdays, Fox 21 (KQDS-TV), https://www.fox21online.com/news/local/gordon-firetower-welcomes-tour-groups-on-sundays-cabins-on-weekdays/article_12f9954f-5653-4da9-81d6-1f3120ac6d9e.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Gordon, Forest Lookouts (Central US Lookouts), https://centraluslookouts.weebly.com/gordon1.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Gordon Lookout
Photo: Brian Ziegler, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Gordon Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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 Fire Lookout Association: lookout rentals Gave us: rental details, links Forest Fire Lookout Association rentals list (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only (state, name, booking link, manager, closure note), no prose copied. The FFLA says it is not involved in managing any rental program. · retrieved 12 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- central US (centraluslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: links centraluslookouts.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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.