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Fire lookout · Highlands County, Florida

Archbold (Red Hill) Fire Tower

Highlands County tower on Wales Ridge beside Archbold Biological Station; a 100 ft Aermotor LS-40 registered in 2016, last regularly staffed in 1999. Build date not found.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Enclosed by a security fence; the register describes no public access or climbing rules.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor LS-40, 100 ft, 15 landingsThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
214 ft (65 m)
Agency
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
Land
Unknown
Location
Highlands County, Florida
Coordinates
27.18565, −81.33850
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-fl-archbold-red-hill

View from the cab

What you see from the cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

Downloads about 2.7 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1999 Last staffedLast regularly staffed in 1999, according to the register entrySource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1999 and 2016
  3. 2016 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 24, 2016 as US 1081, FL 15; nominated by Robert SpearSource: nhlr.org
  4. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Archbold Fire Tower, also called the Red Hill tower, stands on Wales Ridge in Highlands County, Florida, close to the Archbold Biological Station.1 The station's Red Hill land was bought by John A. Roebling II and Margaret Shippen Roebling in 1929, and it was given to Richard Archbold in 1941, the year he founded the station.2 The register entry gives no build date, designer or cost for the tower, and the station's own history does not mention a tower at all.1,2

The register describes a 100-foot Aermotor LS-40 with fifteen landings.1 The last year of regular staffing on record is 1999.1 The register does not record any particular fire or call from its years in service, so the sources reviewed here cannot tell a story about specific blazes.1

The National Historic Lookout Register listed the tower on July 24, 2016, as US 1081, FL 15, with Robert Spear as nominator.1 The entry describes the tower as being in good shape and says it has air conditioning for users' comfort.1 A security fence surrounds the tower. The register also lists a large generator for emergencies at its foot, along with numerous radio antennas on the structure.1 Those details suggest the tower still carries radio equipment, though the register does not say whether it is still used.1

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services administers the tower, according to the register.1 The register does not describe public access or climbing rules. Because a security fence surrounds the tower, it should not be treated as open to visitors. Anyone who wants to see it should check with the station and the state agency first, and should not climb it without that permission.1

  1. Archbold (Red Hill) Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/fl/archbold-red-hill-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Our History, Archbold Biological Station, https://www.archbold-station.org/history/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Archbold (Red Hill) Fire Tower
Photo: Bob Spear, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, status, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: type, links easternuslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, access, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.