Udell Lookout Tower, near Wellston in the Manistee section of the Huron-Manistee National Forests, preserves an earlier era of wildfire detection when observers watched for fires from elevated towers. Built in 1936 as part of a fire control plan developed after the Manistee National Forest was established in 1933, it is a 100-foot-tall prefabricated steel tower set on concrete pedestals with an enclosed cab offering wide forest views. It served as a primary fire lookout until the 1960s, when aerial observation reduced the need for such structures. As the last surviving example of its kind in these national forests, it remains an important part of the forest service landscape.