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Fire lookout · Sevier County, Tennessee

Green Top Fire Lookout

Also known as Bluff Mountain

2026 NHLR-registered Aermotor LS-40 tower in Sevier County, Tennessee, administered by the TN Division of Forestry and also listed as Bluff Mountain. No build or staffing history found.

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, 47 ft tallThe design: Aermotor LS-40
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
47 ft (14.3 m)
Elevation
2,981 ft (909 m)
Agency
TN Department of Agriculture - Division of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Sevier County, Tennessee
Coordinates
35.81202, −83.66703
Registers
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-tn-green-top

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 3.1 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. 2026 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 28, 2026 as US 1831, TN 75; nominated by Jason JohnsSource: 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Green Top Fire Lookout is in Sevier County, Tennessee, and the National Historic Lookout Register lists the Tennessee Department of Agriculture's Division of Forestry as its administrator.1 Jason Johns nominated the tower, and the Register shows a registration date of June 28, 2026, under the numbers US 1831 and TN 75.1

The Register describes a 47-foot Aermotor, model LS-40, at about 2,981 feet of elevation.1 Volunteer map data gives the site the name Bluff Mountain Fire Tower and tags it as an observation tower with lattice construction.2 A Tennessee lookout list also calls it Bluff Mountain, gives its elevation as 3,069 feet, and lists its status as standing.3 That list's elevation is higher than the Register's, and the sources do not explain the gap, so the Register's figure is the one used here.

None of the sources read says when the tower was built, who staffed it, which fires it watched, or whether it has been moved, rebuilt or restored. The Register entry holds no history, and the other two records are brief, so the tower's past is largely unrecorded in these sources. They also do not say whether the public may visit or climb it. Anyone planning a trip should check with the Division of Forestry first.

  1. Green Top Fire Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/green-top-fire-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Bluff Mountain Fire Tower, OpenStreetMap, https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1254486624 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Tennessee Lookout Towers, tnlandforms.us, https://tnlandforms.us/towers/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Green Top Fire Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Green Top Fire Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Green Top Fire Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Green Top Fire Lookout1
Green Top Fire Lookout1Photo: 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. tnlandforms.us fire lookout towers (Tom Dunigan) -- GA, NC, TN Gave us: type, register numbers, 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. 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, 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.