Blue Mountain is a peak in the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Located east of

Blue Mountain Lake Blue Mountain Lake may refer to: * Blue Mountain Lake (Arkansas), a reservoir in Arkansas * Blue Mountain Lake (New York lake), a lake in Hamilton County in the central Adirondacks, New York * Blue Mountain Lake (hamlet), New York, a hamlet in the T ...

, Hamilton County, the peak reaches a height of . For

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, the

elevation gain In running, cycling, and mountaineering, cumulative elevation gain refers to the sum of every gain in elevation throughout an entire trip. It is sometimes also known as cumulative gain or elevation gain, or often in the context of mountain travel, ...

is and the trail length is four miles. The

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. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...

elevation is . It is the location of the

Blue Mountain Fire Observation Station The Blue Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Blue Mountain at Indian Lake in Hamilton County, New York. The station includes a , steel frame lookout tower erected in 1917, an observer's cabin buil ...

, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2001.

Blue Mountain (New York) winter summit tower view 02

History

In September 1911, the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

(CCC) built a wooden tower. In 1917, the CCC replaced the wooden tower with a Aermotor LS40 tower. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

the threat of nuclear annihilation was a serious concern. The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

developed and deployed what where known as "gap-filler" radar stations, which had a range of around . One of these stations was built on Blue Mountain and became operational in January 1959 and was decommissioned in December 1967. The fire tower ceased fire lookout operations in 1990, and was one of the last operating fire towers in New York State. It was one of the longest operating towers in New York, second only to the St. Regis Mountain fire tower. In 1992, the fire tower and cabin were seriously vandalized by unknown individuals. The incident occurred around the same time that Pharaoh Mountain tower was toppled, and some believe it may have been done by the same people. The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The FFLA, Team Rubicon, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation did significant restoration work on the tower in 2019.

References

External links

The Fire Towers of New York
{{Mountains of New York Adirondacks Mountains of Hamilton County, New York Tourist attractions in Hamilton County, New York Mountains of New York (state)