Shadow Mountain Fire Lookout

Shadow Mountain Fire Lookout is a three-story tower on a rocky summit at 9,923 feet, the last surviving fire lookout in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a hiking destination, not a roadside stop: the East Shore route is about 4.8 miles each way with roughly 1,530 feet of climbing. Allow at least four to five hours, and expect a demanding day.

From the East Shore Trailhead, the path follows Shadow Mountain Lake on fairly level ground before the lookout branch turns uphill. It leaves the East Shore Trail after about 1.5 miles and climbs through lodgepole-pine switchbacks. The route begins outside the park and enters it farther along; trailhead parking is in the Arapaho National Recreation Area. Bring the food and water you need for a long hike; there are no services at the lookout.

The high viewpoint looks over Shadow Mountain Lake, Grand Lake and Lake Granby, with the Never Summer Mountains and the Continental Divide beyond. The view is the reward for the climb. If summit access is permitted, look for an angle that puts the tower's stone base against the water and distant ridges.

The tower dates to the 1930s, when fire lookouts helped carry out a policy of suppressing wildfires. Rangers watched for smoke and sent reports; after World War II, married couples served as seasonal keepers. It remained in service until the late 1960s, as land managers moved toward prescribed burning.

The lower two floors are built of local stone, with a timber-framed upper level beneath a pyramidal roof. The lookout was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Public access to the tower has been closed since 2015 because it needs structural repairs; do not plan to climb or enter it, and check current access restrictions before making the hike.