FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Trigg County, Kentucky

Bald Knob Tower

1937 CCC Wildland #2 Tower, moved about 1964 to the Bald Knob site in Land Between the Lakes; USFS-owned, NHLR-registered 2009. Public access not stated.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot Aermotor tower with 7 by 7 foot metal cab (LS-40 model per FFLOS)The design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1937
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
633 ft (193 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Trigg County, Kentucky
Coordinates
36.78000, −88.05833
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ky-bald-knob

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 3.0 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. 1937 BuiltBuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corps as the Wildland #2 Tower for the Kentucky Division of Forestry, at its original site.Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org
  2. No record between 1937 and 1964
  3. 1964 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. 1964 MovedMoved from the original site to the current site along US 68/KY 80. The NHLR 'Built' field also reads 1964.Sources: easternuslookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org
  5. No record between 1964 and 2009
  6. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered November 3, 2009 as US 831, KY 7; nominated by Trenton C. Girard.Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterOriginal site registered on Former Fire Lookout Sites as Wildland #2 Tower Site, US 1744, KY 5.Source: firetower.org
  8. 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 Bald Knob Tower began in 1937 as the Wildland #2 Tower.1 The Civilian Conservation Corps erected an 80-foot Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab on what was then the Kentucky Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge.2,3

The Register's detail page lists 1964 in its "Built" field, although its own description gives 1937.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites record uses 1964 for the year the tower left its original site.3

Difficulties with road access and staffing at that original site led to a move. The tower was relocated along US 68 and KY 80 around 1964, and a Division of Forestry staff member, Clarence Gray, helped move it to the new site.3

The sources I read name no lookouts who worked the tower and do not say what fires it watched.

The tower remains at its new location, where it is called the Bald Knob Tower.3 The Register registered it on November 3, 2009, with Trenton C. Girard as nominator.1 The U.S. Forest Service is the current owner, within Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites record for the original site was registered on March 15, 2019.3

The sources I read do not say whether the public can climb the tower today. Check with Land Between the Lakes before any trip, and do not climb it unless the agency says it is open.

  1. Bald Knob Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ky/bald-knob-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Bald Knob, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/bald-knob.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Wildland #2 Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://www.firetower.org/lookouts/us/ky/wildland-2-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Bald Knob Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Original location of tower
Original location of towerPhoto: 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, type, 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: what it is built of, design, height, 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, 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.