Beebe Hill State Forest is a

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...

in the town of Austerlitz, Columbia County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Compromising in the

Taconic Mountains The Taconic Mountains () are a 150-mile-long sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains lying on the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England. The range, which played a role in the history of geological science, is separated from th ...

, it adjoins Harvey Mountain State Forest to the southeast. With around of multiple-use trails, the area is managed for environmental protection, recreation, and timber harvesting. The Barrett Pond is located within the state forest on the west side of Columbia County Route 5, and was home to numerous fish species when last sampled in 1983. The defunct Beebe Hill

Fire Tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower, or lookout tower is a tower that provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout", whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit ...

is located on the summit of Beebe Hill at an elevation of . As of late 2024, the tower was deemed unsafe, according to the state forest's web site ( see ref#2). Initially constructed in 1928 on

Alander Mountain Alander Mountain is a part of the south Taconic Mountains in southwest Massachusetts and adjacent to New York. The summit is grassy and covered with scrub oak and shrubs; the sides of the mountain are heavily forested. Several trails traverse ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, the tower was moved to Washburn Mountain in Columbia County in 1933, and finally to Beebe Hill in 1964. It remained in operation until 1987. In 1997, local residents, the

Forest Fire Lookout Association The Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) is a group dedicated to the worldwide research and restoration of forest fire lookout stations. The organization provides volunteer led fire detection service at selected sites. It is one of the admin ...

, and the

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protecti ...

began efforts to restore the fire tower and establish access through a network of hiking trails. Along the main trail near the fire tower, a

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing structures open on one or more sides (colloquially referred to as lean-tos in spite of being unattac ...

shelter is available for public use.

References

External links

* Trail guide and photographs. New York (state) state forests Protected areas of Columbia County, New York {{ColumbiaCountyNY-geo-stub