What's Left of an Abandoned Fire Lookout Tower in Wyoming

It's a faint reminder of a long gone era when wildfire detection began on Wyoming mountain tops. A new hike shows what's left of one of the lookouts from that era that ended 50 years ago.

This is Cabin Creek Peak lookout tower in Wyoming's Salt River Range. Some hikers recently made a trek to the tower to show what remains. Here's a little of what they shared about their adventure:

The Cabin Creek Peak Fire Lookout Tower was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression in the late 30's or early 40's. In the early 70's, fire detection shifted from manned towers to aerial surveillance and these historic structures were no longer needed...In this video we hike the 20 mile round trip trail up Strawberry Creek to McDougal Pass and then on to the Cabin Creek Peak Lookout Tower.

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If you're not familiar with this part of Wyoming, the Cabin Creek Peak lookout is located far south of Yellowstone in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

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The USDA Forest website doesn't retain much information about Cabin Creek Peak. That's understandable considering the video shows there's nothing left that can be rented or used for accommodation. It's just a distant memory of how wildfire prevention and monitoring was handled before the era of satellites and computers.

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