Hunter Mountain Fire Tower
Encyclopedia
The Hunter Mountain Fire Tower is located on the summit
of the eponymous mountain
, second highest of the Catskill Mountains
in the U.S. state
of New York
. It was the first of 23 fire lookout tower
s built by the state in the region, and the next-to-last of the five still standing to be abandoned.
Today it remains a popular attraction for hikers
climbing the mountain. After it fell into disrepair in the 1990s and was recommended for removal by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC), which had operated the tower, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1997. Local enthusiasts were able to raise money, matched
by DEC, to restore the tower and adjacent observer's cabin
to serve as a museum, with volunteers in the cab on some weekends.
Panoramic views of not only the mountains but the adjacent Hudson Valley, Massachusetts
, Connecticut
and sometimes southwestern Vermont
are available from it. Likewise, it can be seen from many of the surrounding mountains, the village of Hunter
and the upper slopes of the ski area
. It is the highest fire tower still standing in the state and the second-highest in the entire Northeast
.
often ignited surrounding brush, and investigate reports of fires started by logging or quarrying operations on state land (illegal under the legislation that created New York's Forest Preserve
, now Article 14 of the state constitution).
But the Forest, Fish and Game Commission, DEC's predecessor, was hopelessly understaffed and could not even begin to focus on fire prevention
. Severe fires during drought
s in 1903 and 1908 caused thousands of dollars in damages and led to public calls for better fire control efforts. In December of the latter year, James Whipple, head of the state's Forest, Fish and Game Commission (FFGC, a predecessor agency of DEC), began looking into what could be done. His counterpart in Maine
, E.E. Ring, wrote back to one of his inquiries highly recommending the use of strategically placed observation towers similar to the nine his state had already installed. "In my opinion, one man located at a station will do far more effectual work in discovering and locating fires than a hundred men already patrolling," he said.
s already in existence on some summits were excellent places to station trained observers
, who could see vast portions of the range and report the location of new fires quickly via dedicated telephone lines
. The area around Hunter had historically been very fire-prone, due to heavy logging (less than a square mile (2.6 km²) of virgin forest
remains on the mountain) and lightning
strikes. The following year, forest rangers built the first Hunter Mountain fire tower, a 40-foot (12 m) structure made from three trees, on level ground near the summit. It was one of the first fire lookout towers in the Catskills. Observers stood on an open platform and at first had to live in a nearby tent, until a cabin was built.
Eight years later it was replaced with a more permanent steel 60-foot (36 m) tower, the current structure, by what was then the Conservation Commission. It was hauled in sections up the dirt road from Spruceton (now the Spruceton Trail) with a team of horses. At the top was an enclosed cab complete with a map, field glasses and the telephone.
In 1953, it and the cabin were moved a thousand feet (300 m) northwest along the ridge to the mountain's true summit, where it remains today (footings
of the original tower are still visible at the trail junction where it stood). At an elevation of 4,040 feet (1,234 m) above sea level it is the highest fire tower in the state and second-highest in the entire Northeast
after 4,088-foot (1,246 m) Avery Peak on Maine's Mount Bigelow.
It remained open and accessible to the hiking public, however. In the 1990s, a DEC forester's recommendation in a draft planning document that another of the remaining firetowers be dismantled and removed as a nonconforming structure triggered (as he had hoped) a movement to save them. DEC's guidelines governing the use of the Forest Preserve do allow the retention of otherwise incompatible structures within it if they enhance the public's understanding of the Forest Preserve, and many visitors and past observers wrote about how seeing the vastness of the Catskill wildlands at once helped them appreciate the importance of protecting it.
In 1996, Hunter and the other four towers were added to the Historic Lookout Register, and then to the National Register the following year. Local committee
s raised money for their repair, and on October 7, 2000 DEC formally reopened the Hunter tower to the public as observation towers with interpretive materials, including an alidade in the tower cab.
and red spruce
, the dominant tree species in the boreal forest found at high elevations in the Catskills. The observer's cabin, with a small protected porch
, is just to the southeast. Its windows are covered in steel mesh
to protect it from porcupine
s, abundant in the Catskill forests, which chew on the wood.
There have been other structures at the site. One observer's son recalls that the state built his father a garage
to protect his truck from the porcupines. Catskill forest historian Michael Kudish
reports that a small shed
near the cabin was removed in the early to mid-1990s.
As part of the renovations, DEC installed a pit privy
in the nearby woods. Later that decade it improved the Spruceton Trail to better allow the equestrian
use it already permitted. It added a hitching rack, drinking barrel and mounting chute at the summit near the tower, corresponding with similar facilities elsewhere along the trail and at the trailhead
.
Spruceton Trail, is the most common route to the tower. Horses and riders may use it, and it can be traveled in the winter with snowshoe
s or cross-country skis. Most visitors come from the west, 2.7 miles (4.3 km) away, where it leaves Spruceton Road and climbs more than 2,000 vertical feet (608 m) to the summit. Along the way it picks up traffic from the ski area, which operates its summit chairlift
in the summer months, via the Colonel's Chair Trail.
A short yellow-blazed spur from the steep Becker Hollow Trail comes in from the north as well, but it is infrequently used. From the east, at Stony Clove Notch
, the Devil's Path
climbs to the junction with another short trail, the Hunter Mountain Trail, which in turn climbs to the junction with the Spruceton and Becker Hollow trails at the pre-1953 tower site.
The area has long been part of the Hunter Mountain Wild Forest, a New York-specific class of protected area
that allows for slightly higher-impact recreational uses than wilderness. Recent proposed changes to the Catskill State Land Master Plan would keep the Spruceton Trail within a small wild forest corridor while merging much of the remaining land with the nearby West Kill Wilderness Area, in order to allow for other possible uses of the trail, such as mountain biking
.
, 360-degree views are extremely rare. The only ones available are from the fire towers.
Due to Hunter's dominance of the northern Catskills, many of the peaks in that region can be seen. The distinctive comb of the Blackhead Range
, the third through fifth highest Catskill peaks, can be seen to the north, and to the northeast Kaaterskill High Peak
adds another of the Catskills' most recognizable shapes. Less recognizable from this angle are the Devil's Path
peaks to the east.
South of Hunter can be seen officially-unnamed Southwest Hunter
, known as a difficult bushwhack due to the difficulty of finding the summit register
. The central Catskill peaks around Slide Mountain, the highest Catskill peak, can be seen on reasonably clear days, and closer to Hunter fellow Catskill High Peaks
West Kill
and Rusk
stand out to the southwest and west. The ski area's summit station, chairlift and trails are also visible.
Summit (topography)
In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation...
of the eponymous mountain
Hunter Mountain (New York)
Hunter Mountain is in the towns of Hunter and Lexington, just south of the village of Hunter, in Greene County, New York, USA. At approximately 4,040 feet in elevation, it is the highest peak in the county and the second-highest peak in the Catskill Mountains.While the mountain is closely...
, second highest of the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It was the first of 23 fire lookout tower
Fire lookout tower
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness...
s built by the state in the region, and the next-to-last of the five still standing to be abandoned.
Today it remains a popular attraction for hikers
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
climbing the mountain. After it fell into disrepair in the 1990s and was recommended for removal by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for the conservation, improvement, and protection of natural resources within the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1970, replacing the previous Conservation Department...
(DEC), which had operated the tower, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1997. Local enthusiasts were able to raise money, matched
Matching funds
Matching funds, a term used to describe the requirement or condition that a generally minimal amount of money or services-in-kind originate from the beneficiaries of financial amounts, usually for a purpose of charitable or public good.-Charitable causes:...
by DEC, to restore the tower and adjacent observer's cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
to serve as a museum, with volunteers in the cab on some weekends.
Panoramic views of not only the mountains but the adjacent Hudson Valley, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and sometimes southwestern Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
are available from it. Likewise, it can be seen from many of the surrounding mountains, the village of Hunter
Hunter (village), New York
Hunter is a village in Greene County, New York, USA. The population was 502 at the 2010 census.The Village of Hunter is in the northwest part of the Town of Hunter on Route 23A.- History :...
and the upper slopes of the ski area
Hunter Mountain (ski area)
Hunter Mountain is a ski resort located about three hours up the New York State Thruway north-northwest of New York City. It features a vertical drop....
. It is the highest fire tower still standing in the state and the second-highest in the entire Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
.
Catskill fire protection before towers
When the Catskill Park was created in 1885, one of the state's earliest missions was the control and suppression of forest fires which had long ravaged the land and damaged local crops and property. Wardens were hired to patrol railroad lines, where stray ashes from steam enginesSteam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
often ignited surrounding brush, and investigate reports of fires started by logging or quarrying operations on state land (illegal under the legislation that created New York's Forest Preserve
Forest Preserve (New York)
New York's Forest Preserve is all the land owned by the state within the Adirondack and Catskill parks, managed by its Department of Environmental Conservation. These properties are required to be kept "forever wild" by Article 14 of the state constitution, and thus enjoy the highest degree of...
, now Article 14 of the state constitution).
But the Forest, Fish and Game Commission, DEC's predecessor, was hopelessly understaffed and could not even begin to focus on fire prevention
Fire prevention
Fire Prevention is a function of many fire departments. The goal of fire prevention is to educate the public to take precautions to prevent fires, and be educated about surviving them. It is a proactive method of reducing emergencies and the damage caused by them. Many fire departments have a Fire...
. Severe fires during drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
s in 1903 and 1908 caused thousands of dollars in damages and led to public calls for better fire control efforts. In December of the latter year, James Whipple, head of the state's Forest, Fish and Game Commission (FFGC, a predecessor agency of DEC), began looking into what could be done. His counterpart in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, E.E. Ring, wrote back to one of his inquiries highly recommending the use of strategically placed observation towers similar to the nine his state had already installed. "In my opinion, one man located at a station will do far more effectual work in discovering and locating fires than a hundred men already patrolling," he said.
Tower construction and relocation
The FFGC realized that informal observation towerObservation tower
An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision. They are usually at least tall and made from stone, iron, and wood. Many modern towers are also used as TV towers, restaurants, or churches...
s already in existence on some summits were excellent places to station trained observers
Fire lookout
A fire lookout is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a fire lookout tower. These towers are used in remote areas, normally on mountain tops with high elevation and a good view of the surrounding terrain, to spot smoke caused by a wildfire.Once a possible fire...
, who could see vast portions of the range and report the location of new fires quickly via dedicated telephone lines
Dedicated line
In computer networks and telecommunications, a dedicated line is a communications cable or other facility dedicated to a specific application, in contrast with a shared resource such as the telephone network or the Internet....
. The area around Hunter had historically been very fire-prone, due to heavy logging (less than a square mile (2.6 km²) of virgin forest
Virgin Forest
Virgin Forest is a self-described B-movie starring Sarsi Emmanuel, who plays a barrio lass of Chinese ancestry; the late Miguel Rodriguez, as a Filipino-Spanish illustrado; and, Abel Jurado, who plays the lover of Sarsi's character.-Synopsis:...
remains on the mountain) and lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
strikes. The following year, forest rangers built the first Hunter Mountain fire tower, a 40-foot (12 m) structure made from three trees, on level ground near the summit. It was one of the first fire lookout towers in the Catskills. Observers stood on an open platform and at first had to live in a nearby tent, until a cabin was built.
Eight years later it was replaced with a more permanent steel 60-foot (36 m) tower, the current structure, by what was then the Conservation Commission. It was hauled in sections up the dirt road from Spruceton (now the Spruceton Trail) with a team of horses. At the top was an enclosed cab complete with a map, field glasses and the telephone.
In 1953, it and the cabin were moved a thousand feet (300 m) northwest along the ridge to the mountain's true summit, where it remains today (footings
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
of the original tower are still visible at the trail junction where it stood). At an elevation of 4,040 feet (1,234 m) above sea level it is the highest fire tower in the state and second-highest in the entire Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
after 4,088-foot (1,246 m) Avery Peak on Maine's Mount Bigelow.
Abandonment and revival
Observations continued, but fire danger declined over the years along with the industries that had caused many early fires. Airplane flights supplemented the work of the observers, and the public showed greater vigilance in reporting new blazes. DEC finally closed the tower in 1989.It remained open and accessible to the hiking public, however. In the 1990s, a DEC forester's recommendation in a draft planning document that another of the remaining firetowers be dismantled and removed as a nonconforming structure triggered (as he had hoped) a movement to save them. DEC's guidelines governing the use of the Forest Preserve do allow the retention of otherwise incompatible structures within it if they enhance the public's understanding of the Forest Preserve, and many visitors and past observers wrote about how seeing the vastness of the Catskill wildlands at once helped them appreciate the importance of protecting it.
In 1996, Hunter and the other four towers were added to the Historic Lookout Register, and then to the National Register the following year. Local committee
Committee
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
s raised money for their repair, and on October 7, 2000 DEC formally reopened the Hunter tower to the public as observation towers with interpretive materials, including an alidade in the tower cab.
Site
The tower is located near the center of the small clearing left by early 20th-century logging operations. It is surrounded on all sides by tall balsam firBalsam Fir
The balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States .-Growth:It is a small to medium-size evergreen tree typically tall, rarely to tall, with a narrow conic crown...
and red spruce
Red Spruce
Picea rubens is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and from New England south in the Adirondack Mountains and Appalachians to western North Carolina.-Physical description:...
, the dominant tree species in the boreal forest found at high elevations in the Catskills. The observer's cabin, with a small protected porch
Porch
A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...
, is just to the southeast. Its windows are covered in steel mesh
Mesh
Mesh consists of semi-permeable barrier made of connected strands of metal, fiber, or other flexible/ductile material. Mesh is similar to web or net in that it has many attached or woven strands.-Types of mesh:...
to protect it from porcupine
Porcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
s, abundant in the Catskill forests, which chew on the wood.
There have been other structures at the site. One observer's son recalls that the state built his father a garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
to protect his truck from the porcupines. Catskill forest historian Michael Kudish
Michael Kudish
Michael Kudish is an author, railroad historian, forester, and retired professor. He received his Ph.D. in 1971 from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse. His dissertation, on the history of Catskill forests, was the beginning of a lifelong...
reports that a small shed
Shed
A shed is typically a simple, single-storey structure in a back garden or on an allotment that is used for storage, hobbies, or as a workshop....
near the cabin was removed in the early to mid-1990s.
As part of the renovations, DEC installed a pit privy
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
in the nearby woods. Later that decade it improved the Spruceton Trail to better allow the equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
use it already permitted. It added a hitching rack, drinking barrel and mounting chute at the summit near the tower, corresponding with similar facilities elsewhere along the trail and at the trailhead
Trailhead
A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles...
.
Access
The old truck road, now the blue-blazedTrail blazing
Trail blazing, or trailblazing, is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with blazes, markings that follow each other at certain — though not necessarily exactly defined — distances and mark the direction of the trail...
Spruceton Trail, is the most common route to the tower. Horses and riders may use it, and it can be traveled in the winter with snowshoe
Snowshoe
A snowshoe is footwear for walking over the snow. Snowshoes work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation"....
s or cross-country skis. Most visitors come from the west, 2.7 miles (4.3 km) away, where it leaves Spruceton Road and climbs more than 2,000 vertical feet (608 m) to the summit. Along the way it picks up traffic from the ski area, which operates its summit chairlift
Chairlift
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...
in the summer months, via the Colonel's Chair Trail.
A short yellow-blazed spur from the steep Becker Hollow Trail comes in from the north as well, but it is infrequently used. From the east, at Stony Clove Notch
Stony Clove Notch
Stony Clove Notch is a narrow pass, roughly 2,220 feet in elevation located in the Town of Hunter in Greene County, New York, deep in the Catskill Mountains. It is traversed by New York State Route 214, although in the past the Ulster and Delaware Railroad went through it as well.The notch divides...
, the Devil's Path
Devil's Path (hiking trail)
The Devil's Path is a hiking trail in the Greene County section of the Catskill Mountains of New York, often described as the toughest hiking trail in the Eastern United States...
climbs to the junction with another short trail, the Hunter Mountain Trail, which in turn climbs to the junction with the Spruceton and Becker Hollow trails at the pre-1953 tower site.
The area has long been part of the Hunter Mountain Wild Forest, a New York-specific class of protected area
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
that allows for slightly higher-impact recreational uses than wilderness. Recent proposed changes to the Catskill State Land Master Plan would keep the Spruceton Trail within a small wild forest corridor while merging much of the remaining land with the nearby West Kill Wilderness Area, in order to allow for other possible uses of the trail, such as mountain biking
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
.
View
Hunter, like many other Catskill peaks, has a wide flat summit covered with forest. Since the entire Catskill range is below tree-lineTree-line
The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. Beyond the tree line, they are unable to grow because of inappropriate environmental conditions...
, 360-degree views are extremely rare. The only ones available are from the fire towers.
Due to Hunter's dominance of the northern Catskills, many of the peaks in that region can be seen. The distinctive comb of the Blackhead Range
Blackhead Range
The Blackhead Mountains range is located near the northern end of the Catskill Mountains, in Greene County, New York, where it divides the towns of Windham and Jewett...
, the third through fifth highest Catskill peaks, can be seen to the north, and to the northeast Kaaterskill High Peak
Kaaterskill High Peak
Kaaterskill High Peak is one of the Catskill Mountains, located in the Town of Hunter in Greene County, New York, USA. It was once believed to be the highest peak in the entire range, but its summit, at 3,655 feet in elevation, places it only 23rd among the Catskill High Peaks. It is, however,...
adds another of the Catskills' most recognizable shapes. Less recognizable from this angle are the Devil's Path
Devil's Path (Catskills)
The Devil's Path is the name of a mountain range and hiking trail in the Greene County portion of New York's Catskill Mountains. The mountains commonly considered to be part of the Devil's Path are, from west to east, West Kill, Hunter, Plateau, Sugarloaf, Twin, and Indian Head.The name comes from...
peaks to the east.
South of Hunter can be seen officially-unnamed Southwest Hunter
Southwest Hunter Mountain
Southwest Hunter Mountain is a subpeak of Hunter Mountain, located in Greene County, New York.SW Hunter is considered one of the Catskills' High Peaks in its own right, because of its separation from the main summit, and its topographic prominence.Hunter Mountain is named after John Hunter, who...
, known as a difficult bushwhack due to the difficulty of finding the summit register
Summit register
A summit book is a record of visitors to the summit of a mountain, usually one without a maintained trail. It is usually enclosed in a weatherproof, animalproof metal canister. Some books are maintained in an informal manner by an individual or small group, while others are maintained by a club...
. The central Catskill peaks around Slide Mountain, the highest Catskill peak, can be seen on reasonably clear days, and closer to Hunter fellow Catskill High Peaks
Catskill High Peaks
The Catskill High Peaks are all of the mountains in New York's Catskill Mountains above 3,500 ft in elevation whose summits are separated either by one-half mile or a vertical drop of at least 250 ft between it and the next nearest separate summit...
West Kill
West Kill Mountain
West Kill Mountain, or Westkill Mountain, is located in Greene County, New York.The mountain is named after the West Kill stream which flows along its northern side, and is part of the Devil's Path range of the Catskill Mountains....
and Rusk
Rusk Mountain
Rusk Mountain is a peak located in the towns of Jewett and Lexington in Greene County, New York, USA. At 3,680 feet in elevation, it is the 20th-highest peak in the Catskill Mountains and considered a member of the Catskill High Peaks...
stand out to the southwest and west. The ski area's summit station, chairlift and trails are also visible.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Greene County, New York
- Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation StationBalsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation StationThe Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station is located at the summit of the mountain of that name in the Town of Hardenburgh, New York, United States...
- Red Hill Fire Observation StationRed Hill Fire Observation StationThe Red Hill Fire Observation Station consists of a fire lookout tower, cabin and pit privy located on the summit of Red Hill, a Catskill Mountain peak in Denning, New York, United States. It is the southernmost fire tower in the Catskill Park....
External links
- The Fire Towers of New York
- Hunter Mountain Fire Tower at Catskill Center for Conservation and Development
- 360-degree panorama from fire tower.
- Hunter Mountain Hiking Information Catskill 3500 Club
- Hunter Mountain Fire Tower at the Fire Towers of New York website