Fire Towers in New York State

After a series of devastating forest fires in the Adirondacks in the early 1900s, New York state began utilizing forest fire detection stations all across New York State. These stations were managed by the NY DEC, Bureau of Forest Fire Control from 1909 until 1990. At first many towers were nothing more than wooden platforms, until the standard steel towers began being used. There were a total of 127 fire detection stations across the state.

A total of 110 steel towers were owned by NY DEC - Bureau of Forest Fire Control (DEC-FFC). Of the 110, 53 were removed over the years and 57 are still standing.  Nearly thirty are currently in some sort of restoration.  Five were relocated to another location. Many are available to climb and explore, especially in the Adirondacks. The ADK Fire Tower Challenge was created by one of the chapters of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) to popularize the hiking trails to many of the fire towers of the Adirondacks.

Look below for a list, sorted by county, of all the fire detection stations that were once being used by the DEC-FFC. We did not include any of the ten fire towers that were once in Suffolk County on Long Island. They have all been removed. There are also five fire towers that were privately owned that we did put on the main list below. Those were on Buck Mountain (Hamilton County), Meenagha Mountain (Franklin County), Mount Electra (Herkimer County), Rock Mountain (Lewis County) and Salmon Lake Mountain (Hamilton County). You can find a Google map of most of the active fire towers here courtesy of Will Fisher.

Remember that the fire towers on private property are just that, on PRIVATE PROPERTY.  Do not trespass in order to visit those fire towers.  You can find out more on the Adirondack and Catskill Fire Towers from the book Views From On High: Fire Tower Trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills.

 

List of Fire Towers in New York State

Fire Tower Location	County	Summit Elevation	Status of Fire Tower
Alma Hill	Allegany	2548 feet	on PRIVATE LAND
Jersey Hill	Allegany	2240 feet	REMOVED
Ingraham Hill	Broome	1860 feet	Radio/TV towers
Page Pond Hill	Broome	2000 feet	on PRIVATE LAND
Hatzfelt Hill	Cattaraugus	2410 feet	REMOVED
McCarty Hill	Cattaraugus	2323 feet	REMOVED
Summit Hill	Cattaraugus	2385 feet	REMAINS
Berry Hill	Chenango	1960 feet	REMAINS
Chenango Lake	Chenango	1966 feet	relocated to Brookfield
Lyon Mountain	Clinton	3820 feet	REMAINS
Palmer Hill	Clinton	1148 feet	on PRIVATE LAND
Alander Mountain	Columbia	2240 feet	Moved to Washburn Mountain
Beebe Hill	Columbia	1726 feet	REMAINS
Washburn Mountain	Columbia	1542 feet	Moved to Beebe Hill
Morgan Hill	Cortland	2020 feet	REMOVED in 1977
Bramley Mountain	Delaware	2817 feet	REMOVED
Rock Rift	Delaware	2402 feet	REMAINS
Twadell Point	Delaware	2296 feet	on PRIVATE LAND
Mount Utsayantha	Delaware	3214 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Beacon Mountain	Dutchess	1600 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Clove Mountain	Dutchess	1400 feet	on PRIVATE LAND
Stissing Mountain	Dutchess	1370 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Mount Adams	Essex	3250 feet	REMAINS
Belfry Mountain	Essex	1863 feet	REMAINS (Radio Towers)
Boreas Mountain	Essex	3776 feet	REMOVED
Goodnow Mountain	Essex	2690 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Hurricane Mountain	Essex	3678 feet	REMAINS
Makomis Mountain	Essex	1663 feet	REMOVED
Pharaoh Mountain	Essex	2556 feet	REMOVED
Poke-O-Moonshine	Essex	2165 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Vanderwhacker Mountain	Essex	3409 feet	REMAINS
Whiteface Mountain	Essex	4865 feet	Moved to Adirondack Museum
Ampersand Mountain	Franklin	3313 feet	REMOVED
Azure Mountain	Franklin	2500 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Debar Mountain	Franklin	3300 feet	REMOVED
Loon Lake Mountain	Franklin	3320 feet	REMAINS
Mount Morris	Franklin	3136 feet	on PRIVATE LAND
Saint Regis Mountain	Franklin	2874 feet	REMAINS
Kane Mountain	Fulton	2200 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Hunter Mountain	Greene	4040 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Blue Mountain	Hamilton	3759 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Cathead Mountain	Hamilton	2431 feet	on PRIVATE LAND
Dunn Brook Mountain	Hamilton	3605 feet	REMOVED in 1919
Hamilton Mountain	Hamilton	3238 feet	REMOVED
Kempshall Mountain	Hamilton	3346 feet	REMOVED
Owls Head Mountain	Hamilton	2812 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Pillsbury Mountain	Hamilton	3597 feet	REMAINS
Snowy Mountain	Hamilton	3897 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
T-Lake Mountain	Hamilton	3071 feet	REMOVED
Tomany Mountain	Hamilton	2579 feet	REMOVED
Wakely Mountain	Hamilton	3766 feet	REMAINS
West Mountain	Hamilton	2913 feet	REMOVED
Beaver Lake Mountain	Herkimer	1726 feet	REMOVED
Dairy Hill	Herkimer	1812 feet	REMOVED
Fort Noble Mountain	Herkimer	2338 feet	REMOVED
Moose River Mountain	Herkimer	2205 feet	REMOVED
Penn Mountain	Herkimer	1813 feet	REMOVED
Rondaxe Mountain (Bald Mtn)	Herkimer	2349 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Stillwater Mountain	Herkimer	2267 feet	on PRIVATE LAND
Woodhull Mountain	Herkimer	2365 feet	REMAINS (radio towers)
Bald Mountain	Lewis	1640 feet	REMOVED (the other Bald Mtn)
Gomer Hill	Lewis	2120 feet	REMAINS (radio towers)
New Boston	Lewis	1643 feet	Moved to Thompson Park in Watertown
Number Four	Lewis	1540 feet	Moved to Lowville DEC Demonstration area
Swancott Hill	Lewis	1500 feet	REMOVED
Brookfield	Madison	1900 feet	REMOVED
Morrow Mountain	Madison	2142 feet	REMOVED
Graham Mountain	Orange	1300 feet	REMAINS
Pocatello Mountain	Orange	1020 feet	Moved to Graham Mountain
Sterling Mountain	Orange	1320 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Castor Hill	Oswego	1560 feet	REMOVED
Hooker Hill	Otsego	2320 feet	REMOVED
Ninham Mountain	Putnam	1340 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Dickinson Hill	Rensselaer	1760 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Number Seven Hill	Rensselaer	2010 feet	REMOVED
Jackie Jones Mountain	Rockland	1260 feet	REMAINS
Arab Mountain	St Lawrence	2519 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Cat Mountain	St Lawrence	2260 feet	REMOVED
Catamount Mountain	St Lawrence	1820 feet	REMOVED
Moosehead Mountain	St Lawrence	2060 feet	REMOVED
Sand Hill	St Lawrence	320 feet	REMOVED
Tooley Pond Mountain	St Lawrence	1782 feet	Moved to Cathedral Rock
Whites Hill	St Lawrence	1436 feet	REMOVED
Cornell Hill	Saratoga	420 feet	Moved to Wilton Wildlife Preserve and Park
Hadley Mountain	Saratoga	2680 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Ohmer Mountain	Saratoga	2565 feet	REMOVED in 1915
Spruce Mountain	Saratoga	2009 feet	REMAINS
Leonard Hill	Schoharie	2620 feet	needs restoration
Petersburg Mountain	Schoharie	2320 feet	REMOVED
Sugar Hill	Schuyler	2090 feet	REMAINS
Erwin	Steuben	1710 feet	REMOVED
Prattsburgh	Steuben	2163 feet	REMOVED
Chapin Hill	Sullivan	1420 feet	REMOVED
Roosa Gap	Sullivan	1647 feet	REMAINS (radio equipment)
Padlock Hill	Tompkins	1900 feet	Moved to NY State Fair in 1985
Balsam Lake Mountain	Ulster	3720 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Belleayre Mountain	Ulster	3375 feet	REMOVED
Gallis Hill	Ulster	780 feet	Moved to Overlook Mountain
High Point Mountain	Ulster	2200 feet	REMOVED
Mohonk Mountain	Ulster	1610 feet	REMAINS (private resort)
Overlook Mountain	Ulster	3120 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Red Hill	Ulster	2980 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Slide Mountain	Ulster	4180 feet	REMOVED in 1915
Mount Tremper	Ulster	2720 feet	REMAINS & RESTORED
Crane Mountain	Warren	3420 feet	REMOVED
Gore Mountain	Warren	3562 feet	REMAINS (radio equipment)
Prospect Mountain	Warren	2020 feet	REMOVED
Swede Mountain	Warren	1900 feet	Possibly opening soon!!!
Black Mountain	Washington	2640 feet	REMAINS (radio equipment)
Colfax Mountain	Washington	2267 feet	REMAINS (radio equipment)
Cross River Mountain	Westchester	800 feet	REMOVED
Nelson Mountain	Westchester	540 feet	REMOVED

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Rondaxe Fire Tower on Bald Mountain in the Old Forge area of the Adirondacks