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Fire lookout · Vinton County, Ohio

Atkinson Ridge Fire Tower

Also known as Atkinson (Zaleski)

1929 Aermotor fire tower in Zaleski State Forest, Vinton County, Ohio; restored; park text says stairs may be climbed at own risk, but a 2020 radio log says the bottom steps were removed; cab locked at a 2019 visit.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Park text, quoted in a 2020 radio log, says visitors may climb the stairs when weather allows, at their own risk. The same log says the tower was closed to climbing during COVID-19 and the bottom flight of steps had been removed. The cab was locked at a May 2019 visit. Current access is unconfirmed.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Easy to find, with parking, picnic tables and campfire spots around the tower (2019 visit report).
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2019)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower60-foot Aermotor tower with 7 by 7 foot metal cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1929
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
1,046 ft (319 m)
Agency
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Land
Unknown
Location
Vinton County, Ohio
Coordinates
39.28990, −82.37022
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-oh-atkinson-ridge

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 3.2 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 BuiltBuilt 1929 per the register and park text. A March 1930 item calls the new towers ready for operation and gives 65 feet.Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com, wd8rif.com
  2. 1934 StaffedAn October 1934 Chillicothe Gazette item says O.E. Atkinson of Zaleski was occupying the towerSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1934 and 1952
  4. 1952 FireForest and brush fires in Vinton County were brought under control on Sunday and Monday, and a Hocking County honor camp helped with brush fires reported at the Atkinson Ridge tower, per a Portsmouth Times itemSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1952 and 2007
  6. 2007 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 20, 2007 as US 701, OH 6Source: nhlr.org
  7. 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 Atkinson Ridge Fire Tower stands in Zaleski State Forest in Vinton County, Ohio. The register gives the state's Department of Natural Resources as administrator and lists the Division of Forestry as a cooperator.1 The park's own text, as quoted on an amateur radio log, says the land was donated to the state by Homer Atkinson of McArthur and that the tower was built in 1929.2 The register gives the same year.1

The park text describes a 60-foot Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot metal cab.2 Not every source agrees on height. A March 1930 item quoted from Forest Worker called three new 65-foot steel fire towers ready for operation, one of them on Atkinson Ridge.3 The 60-foot figure appears in both the register and the park text, so this story uses it, but the older number is worth knowing.1,2

Newspaper items from the 1930s and 1950s show the tower in use. An October 1934 Chillicothe Gazette item said O.E. Atkinson of Zaleski was occupying the tower.3 A November 1952 Portsmouth Times item reported that McArthur volunteer firemen helped forest rangers bring several forest and brush fires in Vinton County under control on Sunday and Monday, and that a Hocking County honor camp helped with brush fires reported at the Atkinson Ridge tower.3

The register says the Division of Forestry's restoration project recently restored the tower, but gives no date for the work. It was registered on July 20, 2007.1

A park text, quoted in a 2020 radio log, says visitors may climb the stairs when the weather allows, at their own risk. The same log says the tower was not open for climbing that year because of COVID-19, and that the bottom flight of steps had been removed.2 A May 2019 visit report filed with the register called the tower in excellent condition, though its cab was locked that day. It said the site has parking, picnic tables and campfire spots, and that the tower was definitely not staffed for a fire lookout. The same report called one stair step sketchy.1

  1. Atkinson Ridge Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/oh/atkinson-ridge-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF, POTA activation log at Zaleski State Forest, quoting the Ohio park website, https://wd8rif.com/pota_activation_k-5455_20201024.htm (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Atkinson Ridge, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/atkinson-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Atkinson Ridge Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Atkinson Ridge Fire Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Atkinson Ridge Fire 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, 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. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: 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
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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.