Featured Destinations

Mountain Fire Lookout Tower

The Mountain Fire Lookout Tower was built in 1935 by the U.S. Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps. It was once a part of an extensive lookout tower network in the former Nicolet National Forest. The Mountain Fire Lookout Tower was the first tower in Wisconsin to be placed on the National Historic Lookout Register and the National Register of Historic Places. It also was the 41st lookout tower to be registered in the United States. The tower was removed from service in 1970 and restored in 1994.

The Mountain Fire Lookout Tower was restored again in 2015-2016 through a partnership between the Lakewood-Laona Ranger District of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest with financial assistance from the Oconto County Economic Development Corporation, numerous local businesses, organizations, communities, and residents. Employees from the Lakewood-Laona Ranger District spent more than 500 hours doing the restoration work.  “This was a great partnership and community effort,” said Greyling Brandt, Recreation Program Manager in the Lakewood-Laona Ranger District. “Together, we were able to restore the tower and now can open it to visitors again to get an up-close look at a piece of Wisconsin’s history.” Today, the 100-foot steel tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab is one of the few remaining lookouts on the east side of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.