GC9FT2B Swede Mt Fire Tower (Traditional Cache) in New York, United States created by Rusty O Junk

This cache has been archived.

Rusty O Junk: My apologies to those who haven't had the chance to visit this cache yet but it must go.

GC9FT2B ▼

A cache by Rusty O Junk Message this owner

Hidden : 8/31/2021

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

Swede Mountain fire tower was first established in 1912 and was a wood structure. In 1918 a new 47 foot Aermotor LS-40 was erected and still stands today. Swede fire tower was taken out of service in 1970 and remained unmaintained and neglected. The tower sets on Warren county property but access to it crosses private property owned by Lyme paper company and leased by a hunting club who posted the land closing off public access to the tower. Only recently has Warren County reached an agreement with the land owner and hunting club allowing a trail to be built and maintained to the tower.

The trail to Swede fire tower stats at the North Pond parking area where there is space for about 15 vehicles. At the west end of the parking lot look for the big yellow sign depicting Swede Mountain Fire Tower. Cross over the guard rail and drop down a small grade to cross the brook on stepping stones. From there it is very steep climb for about 30 feet away from the brook. From there its a relatively level easy .80 mile hike to the tower.

The tower, its footings and cab have been all fully restored. The observer's cabin on the other hand is beyond repair. The roof has fallen in, the porch is gone and what's left is severely rotting. Don't try to access the cabin, its very unsafe.

There is a benchmark station up there and I managed to find the two reference points but did not find the mark itself.

As mentioned earlier the trail cross the hunting club lease and the trail exists only with the stipulation it is closed during hunting season. As you will notice from the sign in the parking lot the trail is closed between September 10 to December 16. Any found it logs posted to this cache page during that time will be deleted.