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Fire lookout · Campbell County, Tennessee

Cove Creek Tower

A standing 100-ft Aermotor lookout in Cove Creek WMA, Campbell County; its stairs are gone and no road reaches it, so it is not one to climb.

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. No stairs left and no road to the tower, per NHLR visit reports; the register does not say whether the land is public or private. The WMA itself is open year-round during daylight hours.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
No road currently goes to the tower; a former road runs right beside it
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower100-ft Aermotor tower with 7x7 ft cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
1,432 ft (437 m)
Agency
Unknown
Land
Unknown
Location
Campbell County, Tennessee
Coordinates
36.25970, −84.10110
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-tn-cove-creek

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. 2009 Condition assessmentNHLR visit by Michael Spanjer, November 23, 2009: stairs removed most of the way up; vines growing on the structureSource: nhlr.org
  2. 2015 Condition assessmentNHLR visit by Christopher Covert, October 5, 2015: no stairs left; cab looks good with a wooden floor, condition unknownSource: nhlr.org
  3. 2015 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 3, 2015; nominated by Michael SpanjerSource: nhlr.org
  4. 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.

Cove Creek Tower stands in the heart of the Cove Creek Wildlife Management Area in Campbell County, Tennessee, at about 1,432 feet above sea level.1 The National Historic Lookout Register describes it as a 100-foot Aermotor with a 7-by-7-foot cab.1 I could not find when it was built, who put it up, or why.

Its working life is poorly documented. Both of the register's visit reports, from 2009 and 2015, record the tower as not staffed.1 I found no record of notable fires tied to it.

An independent lookout site, TNLandForms.us, still shows it as standing.2 Between the two visits, the stairs disappeared entirely. In November 2009 they were gone most of the way up and vines were growing on the structure.1 By October 2015 no stairs remained at all. The cab looked good and had a wooden floor, though its condition was unknown.1 The register calls the tower in need of restoration, and notes remarkable views, including Norris Lake.1

No road now reaches the tower, though a former road runs right beside it.1 The register does not say whether the land is public or private.1 The wildlife area is open year-round during daylight hours, and hunting seasons affect access.3 With its stairs gone, the tower is not one to climb, so keep off it and enjoy the view from the ground.

  1. Cove Creek Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/cove-creek-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Tennessee Lookout Towers, TNLandForms.us, https://tnlandforms.us/towers/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Cove Creek WMA, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, https://tn.gov/twra/wildlife-management-areas/east-tennessee-r4/cove-creek-wma.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

TNLandForms.us photo
TNLandForms.us photoPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · 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, what it is built of, status, register numbers, 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. tnlandforms.us fire lookout towers (Tom Dunigan) -- GA, NC, TN Gave us: type, links tnlandforms.us (Tom Dunigan) · No licence stated; facts only (coordinates, county, elevation, NGS/GFC/BLL register cross-references, status where given). · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, access, 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.