Mount Tremper Fire Tower was built in 1917 on the summit of Mount Tremper, where for many decades fire tower observers watched for forest fires from the steel cab at the top. The 47-foot tower has a 360° view of the tallest mountains in the Catskills, the Hudson Valley, and beyond, including the Burroughs Range; West Kill, Hunter, and Plateau; Twin and Indian Head; the distant Blackhead Range; Overlook; and, to the south, the Ashokan Reservoir, the Shawangunks, and the Hudson Highlands. In 1975 the tower was decommissioned and remained unused and in disrepair until the late 1990's, when restoration began. Through the work of grassroots volunteers of the Catskill Fire Tower Project, the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, it reopened in 2001. At 2740 feet, Mount Tremper rises above the hamlet of Phoenicia, and hikers reach the tower by a three-mile trail with a 2,000-foot elevation gain or by other trails from Notch Inn Road, a section of the Long Path accessed south of Devils Tombstone, and Willow. Each year hundreds of hikers visit, and volunteer interpreters open the cab on weekends from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. The Catskill Fire Tower Project was founded to preserve the culture and history of the Catskill Mountains while promoting hiking, and its volunteers and partners restored the five fire towers within Catskill Park and opened them to the public.