Amber Tower Airport

NoneCA 🇨🇦 Closed Airport

ICAO

CA-0021

IATA

-

Elevation

- ft

Region

CA-AB

Local Time

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Airport Information

GPS Code: Not available

Local Code: Not available

Location: 59.17971° N, -119.468594° E

Continent: NA

Type: Closed Airport

Terminal Information Not Available
Terminal arrivals and departures are only available for airports with scheduled commercial service and IATA codes.

External Links

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Airport Information

Airport Closure Information

Last updated: Jul 24, 2025
Closure Date

The exact date is unknown, but it was likely decommissioned in the late 1990s or early 2000s. The closure coincided with the abandonment of the fire lookout tower it served.

Reason for Closure

The airport's closure was a direct result of the decommissioning of the Amber Mountain Fire Lookout tower. The airstrip's sole purpose was to provide access and supplies for the tower's personnel. Advances in wildfire detection, such as satellite imagery and routine aerial patrols, rendered the network of manned lookout towers, and thus their dedicated airstrips, obsolete. This was an operational and technological change, not an economic or accident-related closure.

Current Status

The site is abandoned and unmaintained. Satellite imagery shows a clearly defined but overgrown gravel/dirt runway that is returning to a natural state. The airstrip is completely unusable for aviation purposes. The associated Amber Mountain Fire Lookout tower structure is also abandoned and likely in a state of disrepair. The area is extremely remote and accessible only by a rough ground trail or by helicopter.

Historical Significance

Amber Tower Airport was not a public or commercial airport. It was a private aerodrome operated by the Alberta Forest Service (now Alberta Wildfire) as a critical part of the province's wildfire surveillance network. Its significance was purely operational. The airstrip handled light, Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) capable bush planes, such as the de Havilland Beaver or Cessna 185. These aircraft were used to transport fire lookout personnel for crew changes, deliver food, water, and equipment for their multi-week shifts, and potentially serve as a forward base for aerial reconnaissance or initial attack operations during a wildfire.

Reopening Prospects

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Amber Tower Airport. The original purpose for its existence is gone, and there is no other economic or logistical demand for an airstrip in this remote location. The cost of restoring the runway and maintaining it would be substantial and without any practical justification. Its ICAO identifier has been officially noted as 'closed' in aviation databases, and for all practical purposes, the site is permanently defunct.

Nearby Airports

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~11 km away
Zama Lake Airport
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Mobil Bistcho Airport
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Zama Airport
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Devon Camp Airport
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Crater Airport
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~70 km away
Distances are approximate and calculated as straight-line distances.

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