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Fire lookout · Centre County, Pennsylvania

Rattlesnake Fire Tower

Also known as Rattlesnake Pike

The original 80-ft tower on Rattlesnake Pike in Moshannon State Forest dates to 1933 and was later replaced by a new 80-ft steel structure.

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-ft steel tower with 7 x 7 ft metal cab (original, 1933); replacement is an 80-ft steel structureThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1928
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
2,432 ft (741 m)
Agency
Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
Land
State land
Location
Centre County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
40.91479, −78.01002
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-pa-rattlesnake

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 3.6 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. 1928 BuiltSource: Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky)
  2. 1933 BuiltOriginal 80-ft steel tower built on a rocky ridge in Moshannon State Forest; the state ordered three new 80-ft towers in July 1933Sources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1933 and 1995
  4. 1995 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register as US 155, PA 6Source: nhlr.org
  5. No record between 1995 and 2017
  6. 2017 StaffedFebruary 2017 visit report: tower still staffed, at least at timesSource: nhlr.org
  7. 2018 RemovedOriginal tower removed; its stone observer's cabin remains on site. Year is inferred with the replacement; the register gives none.Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2018 Replaced by a new structureNew 80-ft steel structure replaces the original under the late-2010s upgrades. The register gives no exact year; 2018 is inferred from the WHYY report (article dated May 2019 in page metadata) that 16 towers were built statewide the year before its spring fire season. The report does not name this site. Not confirmed for this site.Sources: nhlr.org, whyy.org
  9. 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 register dates the original Rattlesnake Fire Tower to 1933. It stood on a rocky ridge in Moshannon State Forest, Centre County.1 In July 1933 the state ordered three new 80-foot observation towers, one of them near McCord, and an August 1933 paper described an 80-foot steel tower newly built on the Rattlesnake Pike.2

The register describes that tower as 80 feet tall, with a metal cab measuring 7 by 7 feet, and says it remained in active service.1 A February 2017 visit report says the tower was still staffed, at least at times.1

Under the state's late-2010s fire tower upgrades, the original was swapped for an 80-foot steel structure of the same height. The original was taken down, and its stone observer's cabin is still standing on site.1 The register gives no exact year for the replacement. A May 2019 WHYY report says 16 new towers were built in Pennsylvania the year before, and most of the new lookouts replaced older ones at the same location.3 The report does not name the Rattlesnake tower.3

The National Historic Lookout Register listed the tower as US 155, PA 6, on December 15, 1995.1

The register names the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry as the administrator, so check with the bureau before visiting. Do not climb a tower that is closed or fenced.1

  1. Rattlesnake Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/pa/rattlesnake-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Rattlesnake Pike, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/rattlesnake-pike.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. With New Lookout Towers, Pennsylvania Goes Old-School to Detect Wildfires, WHYY, https://whyy.org/articles/with-new-lookout-towers-pennsylvania-goes-old-school-to-detect-wildfires/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

February 2017 photo
February 2017 photo (2017)Photo: Jack Kelley, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Rattlesnake Fire Tower
Photo: Jack Kelley, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Rattlesnake Tower
Rattlesnake TowerPhoto: Shawn Lesitsky -- PA Fire Towers StoryMap (Esri ArcGIS StoryMaps) · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

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. Fire Towers of Pennsylvania (ArcGIS StoryMap, Shawn Lesitsky) Gave us: design, height, ownership, dates, photos, links Pennsylvania fire towers StoryMap (ArcGIS) · No licence stated; facts only (county, agency, built year, height, builder). · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. 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

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