FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Savoy Fire Tower

Also known as Walker Lookout Tower

1932 68-foot steel lookout on Borden Mountain in Savoy Mountain State Forest; earlier stations on Tower Mountain; a 2024 hiking write-up calls it fenced off.

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. A 2024 hiking write-up describes the tower as fenced off; no official access statement was found

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
A 2024 hiking write-up says the easiest access is via a paved road; the tower itself is fenced off
Staffing
Unknown (as of undated)

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower68-foot steel tower with 10 by 10 foot wooden cab
Built of
Steel sources disagree
Built
1913
Height
68 ft (20.7 m)
Elevation
2,508 ft (764 m)
Agency
Mass. Bureau of Forest Fire Control
Land
Unknown
Location
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Coordinates
42.60083, −73.02806
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ma-savoy

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 3.5 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. 1913 BuiltTree-top station, built to supplement Mount Greylock per NHLR; FFLOS places a 1913 platform in a tree on Tower MountainSources: nhlr.org, firetower.org
  2. 1914 Built35-foot wooden tower on Tower Mountain used through 1915 (FFLOS)Source: firetower.org
  3. 1915 MovedTower Mountain site abandoned at end of 1915 season; primary Savoy site switched to Borden MountainSource: firetower.org
  4. No record between 1915 and 1932
  5. 1932 BuiltPresent 68-foot steel tower with 10 by 10 foot wooden cab went into serviceSources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1932 and 1949
  7. 1949 StaffedObserver Ernest Peabody, on duty daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (North Adams Transcript, quoted by Forest Lookouts)Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1954 EventLightning damaged the tower and telephone and power lines; observer Theodore S. Brown was on forced leaveSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1955 StaffedOrdered reopened April 11, 1955 as fire danger rose, by State District Fire Warden Francis MahoneySource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1955 and 2004
  11. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 15, 2004 as US 624, MA 35; nominated by Henry IsenbergSource: nhlr.org
  12. 2008 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterFFLOS US 52, MA 52 covers the former Tower Mountain site, not the standing towerSource: firetower.org
  13. 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Savoy fire tower stands on Borden Mountain, inside the Savoy Mountain State Forest in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.1,2 The Register lists the Mass. Bureau of Forest Fire Control as its administrator.1 The present tower is a 68-foot steel tower with a 10-by-10-foot wooden cab, and it went into service in 1932.1,2 The sources I read do not say why the tower was built when it was.

The site had lookouts before that. The Register says a tree-top station went up there in 1913 to supplement Mount Greylock.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register places that 1913 platform on Tower Mountain, where a wooden tower followed in 1914. It says that site was abandoned at the end of the 1915 season, when the main Savoy post moved to Borden Mountain.3 The two registers disagree about the tower in between. The National Historic Lookout Register describes a 45-foot steel tower with an 8-by-8-foot cab and gives no date for it.1 The other register gives the 1914 wooden tower.3

Observers staffed the tower. A 1949 newspaper item, quoted by the Forest Lookouts history, names Ernest Peabody as the observer, on duty from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.2 In May 1954 lightning damaged the tower, the telephone line and the power line, and the observer, Theodore S. Brown, was on forced leave because of it.2 In April 1955 the state district fire warden ordered the tower reopened as fire danger rose.2 None of the sources I read names a specific fire the tower spotted.

The sources do not describe the tower being taken down or moved. A Wikipedia article on Borden Mountain describes a fire lookout tower at the summit.4 A 2024 hiking write-up calls it a fenced-off fire tower.5

Today the mountain sits in a state forest run by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.6 The same hiking write-up says the simplest approach is by paved road.5 No source I read confirms whether the public may enter the tower or climb it, so check with the state forest before going near it, and do not climb a fenced tower.

  1. Savoy Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ma/savoy-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Borden Mountain, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/borden-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Savoy Tower Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ma/savoy-tower-site/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Borden Mountain, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borden_Mountain (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Borden Mountain, Hiking Massachusetts Peaks, https://hikingmasspeaks.com/2024/11/10/borden-mountain/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Savoy Mountain State Forest, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Mountain_State_Forest (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Savoy Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.

  • Sources disagree on what it is built of.

    • NHLR: Steel
    • FFLOS: Wood

    Sources name different materials. Often one describes an earlier structure.

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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, dates, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. 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

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