Discover Historic Fire Towers

Historic fire tower hikes are a great way to go hiking in the Adirondacks while also exploring the history of our region and still having a set destination end point in mind. Fire tower hikes are especially fun for families and children adding an element of discovery to your day hiking. Get creative and have fun while outdoors by challenging yourself to visit all of the fire towers in the Adirondacks during your vacation.

If you are searching for summit hikes or paths to lakes and ponds we have plenty of those too!

Take the Fire Tower Challenge

There are 5 Hamilton County fire towers: Blue Mountain, Owls Head, Pillsbury Mountain, Snowy Mountain, & Wakely Mountain Fire Towers. Three towers are restored, and the other 2 have restoration plans underway.

Four (4) of these: Blue, Owls Head, Pillsbury and Snowy towers are open to the public. However, Wakely Mountain Fire Tower is currently closed for repairs.

To complete the challenge and receive the full color patch, you must climb these 4 mountains, document the date and fill out a comment for each summit reached. Climbing each tower is not required, nor recommended, in order to receive your patch.

Download the Fire Tower Challenge Guide and Instructions.