FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Simpson County, Mississippi

Simpson Lookout Tower

Aermotor LS-40, 100 ft tower in Simpson County, administered by Mississippi Forestry Commission; NHLR-registered May 2026. Build date and condition not in sources read.

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 towerAermotor LS-40, 100 ftThe 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
530 ft (162 m)
Agency
Mississippi Forestry Commission
Land
Unknown
Location
Simpson County, Mississippi
Coordinates
31.90380, −89.78109
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ms-simpson

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.

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

History

Then and now

  1. 2026 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register May 19, 2026Source: nhlr.org
  2. 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 Simpson Lookout Tower is a 100-foot Aermotor LS-40 tower in Simpson County, and the Mississippi Forestry Commission administers it.1 The National Historic Lookout Register entry gives no construction date, so the sources available for this entry do not record the tower's early years.1,2

The register lists its elevation as 530 feet (162 metres).1 OpenStreetMap, which maps the structure as an observation tower, gives a slightly lower figure of 157 metres.2 This record uses the register's figure and notes the gap.

The register added the tower on May 19, 2026.1 Nothing I could read reports its condition since that listing, so its present state is not confirmed.1,2

Today the register gives no hours, climbing policy or visitor contact.1 Anyone interested in the site should ask the Mississippi Forestry Commission first, and should not climb the tower without permission.

  1. Simpson Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/ms/simpson-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Simpson Lookout Tower, OpenStreetMap, https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/357997251 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Simpson Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Simpson Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Simpson Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Simpson Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Simpson Lookout Tower
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, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: type, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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

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