FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Marion County, Florida

Central Fire Tower

1930 wooden CCC tower in the Ocala National Forest, replaced by a steel tower in the 1940s; fenced and deteriorating, with a roadside view on State Route 40.

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. Surrounded by a perimeter security fence. Sources describe only a roadside view from a State Route 40 pull-off.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Small pull-off on State Route 40 along the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor MC-100 steel tower with R-6 cab (NHLR); flyer describes an eighty-foot steel structureCab: R-6; tower: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1930
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
150 ft (46 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Marion County, Florida
Coordinates
29.17677, −81.76978
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-fl-central

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. 1930 BuiltOriginal wooden tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, per the flyer. The Eastern lookouts page also says the CCC erected it in the 1930s.Sources: floridablackbearscenicbyway.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1930 and 1946
  3. 1946 Replaced by a new structureFlyer says the wooden tower was replaced with a steel structure in 1946; the Eastern lookouts page gives 1949.Sources: floridablackbearscenicbyway.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1946 and 1969
  5. 1969 EventFlyer says the tower ceased operations in 1969.Source: floridablackbearscenicbyway.org
  6. No record between 1969 and 1985
  7. 1985 StaffedRestaffed during heavy smoke that limited air detection, per the flyer.Source: floridablackbearscenicbyway.org
  8. 1998 StaffedRestaffed again during very bad fire seasons on the Ocala, per the flyer.Source: floridablackbearscenicbyway.org
  9. No record between 1998 and 2016
  10. 2016 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 24, 2016 as US 1136, FL 19; nominated by Robert Spear.Source: nhlr.org
  11. 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 Central Fire Tower stands in the Ocala National Forest in Marion County, Florida.1 The forest is the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River, dating to 1908.2 A tourism flyer says the tower was built of wood in 1930 by the Civilian Conservation Corps.2 That wooden tower began to deteriorate and was replaced with a steel structure.2 The flyer dates the replacement to 1946, while another lookout site gives 1949 and cites no source for that date.2,3

The National Historic Lookout Register lists the current tower as an Aermotor MC-100 with an R-6 cab.1 The flyer describes an eighty-foot steel structure on the south side of State Route 40.2

When the tower was staffed, a lookout watched for smoke and took bearings with an alidade, a simple sighting device. Where two towers' bearings crossed, the lookout could pinpoint the fire.2

The flyer says the tower stopped operating as a lookout in 1969.2 It was staffed again in 1985 and 1998, when heavy smoke limited aerial detection on the Ocala.2 The flyer does not name a single fire from those years.2

Today the register notes that the tower is surrounded by a perimeter security fence.1 The flyer says it is still standing, calls it deteriorating, says no money is available to restore it, and warns it could be torn down.2 It also mentions light upkeep since the tower was retired.2

A small pull-off on State Route 40 lets travelers on the Byway see the tower from the road.2 With the tower fenced, the sources describe only a roadside view of it.1,2

  1. Central Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/fl/central-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Save the Historic Central Florida Fire Tower, Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway (West Volusia Tourism), https://floridablackbearscenicbyway.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Fire-Tower-Sept-wings-final_Nov-2021.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Central, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/central1.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Central Fire Tower
Photo: Ed Seifert, 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, ownership, 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, status, agency, access, visiting details, 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.