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Fire lookout · Bullitt County, Kentucky

Bernheim Lookout

48-foot Aermotor lookout on Bernheim Forest, built 1929 and staffed until 1980; open to visitors on set days. Register and arboretum differ on the builder.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Open on set days: usually summer weekends when weather permits, spring and fall school breaks, and extra fall days; call ahead for schedule changes

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Visitors can go up to the top; the arboretum asks people to call ahead for last-minute schedule changes
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 1980)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower48-foot Aermotor tower with a 7 by 7 foot metal cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1929
Height
48 ft (14.6 m)
Elevation
887 ft (270 m)
Agency
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest
Land
Unknown
Location
Bullitt County, Kentucky
Coordinates
37.90221, −85.62721
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ky-bernheim

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 3.3 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. 1929 BuiltConstructed 1929; arboretum says Mr. Bernheim directed the build; register credits the Kentucky Division of ForestrySources: nhlr.org, bernheim.org, bernheim.org
  2. No record between 1929 and 1980
  3. 1980 Last staffedRegularly staffed until 1980; trained observers in small planes took overSources: nhlr.org, bernheim.org
  4. 1986 FireUsed to monitor a wildfire in 1986Source: nhlr.org
  5. 1998 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 22, 1998 as US 262 / KY 3Source: nhlr.org
  6. 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.

Isaac W. Bernheim ordered a fire lookout tower the year after he bought the land that became Bernheim Forest.1 The arboretum's history dates the purchase to 1928, although another of its pages gives 1929.2,1 At the time the land was worn-out farmland with weeds, brush and few mature trees.3 Parts for the tower were shipped by rail from the Aermotor Windmill Company, then hauled up Ledgerock Knob and assembled there.3,1 Construction finished on July 13, 1929. The tower was the first thing built on the property.3

The register and the arboretum credit different parties with the tower, though both date it to 1929.4,3 The register says the tower was constructed that year by the Kentucky Division of Forestry.4 The arboretum says Mr. Bernheim directed that it be built, and that the state's help began in the mid-1950s, when a radio was installed in the tower.1,3

The tower is 48 feet tall.3 A phone in the tower was linked to the headquarters building, and one of the employees stood watch in the tower whenever fire danger ran high.3 For many years, Bernheim's own workers staffed the tower.3 The arboretum says many fires began on neighboring land when farmers burned trash and brush, others came from hot cinders thrown by coal-fired trains on the northern border, and some came from lightning. No complete list of the fires survives.3

The register says the tower was regularly staffed until 1980 and was used to monitor a wildfire in 1986.4 After 1980, aerial observers took over its job.3 The arboretum describes the tower as one link in a Kentucky system of 165 lookouts, and says a couple dozen of the state's towers survive. Bernheim's is one of two open to visitors, the other being at Cumberland Falls.3

Today the Bernheim Foundation looks after the tower, with help from local volunteers.4 Visitors are typically admitted on summer weekends when the weather allows, during spring and fall school breaks, and on extra fall days for the foliage.3 The arboretum asks visitors to phone ahead, since schedules can change on short notice.3

  1. Nature's Notebook: A View from the Firetower, Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, https://bernheim.org/natures-notebook-a-view-from-the-firetower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. History, Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, https://bernheim.org/visit/about-bernheim/history/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Bernheim at 90: Happy Birthday to our historic fire tower, Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, https://bernheim.org/news/bernheim-at-90-happy-birthday-to-our-historic-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Bernheim Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ky/bernheim-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Bernheim Lookout
Photo: 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, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, staffing, 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

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