FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lincoln County, Tennessee

Kelso Lookout Tower

Aermotor LS-80 tower on Tennessee state forestry land in Lincoln County; register gives no build date; listed as extant in 2014; public access not documented.

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. On a state-owned site that holds forestry offices; the register does not describe public visiting

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower80 ft Aermotor LS-80 towerThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,043 ft (318 m)
Agency
Tennessee Division of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Lincoln County, Tennessee
Coordinates
35.11145, −86.43647
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-tn-kelso

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. 1976 EventCarried state forest tower number 5-13 on a 1976 list of towersSource: tnlandforms.us
  2. No record between 1976 and 2014
  3. 2014 EventListed among extant Tennessee Division of Forestry fire towers as of March 26, 2014Source: npgallery.nps.gov
  4. 2023 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 16, 2023 as US 1770, TN 72Source: nhlr.org
  5. 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 Kelso tower stands in Lincoln County, on land the state still holds.1 The National Historic Lookout Register describes an 80-foot Aermotor LS-80, and its 2023 visitor called the spot picturesque.1

The register gives no build date and lists it as unknown.1 The Tennessee Division of Forestry (TDF) is credited with constructing 208 fire lookout towers statewide between about 1930 and 1970, but none of the sources I read ties Kelso to a specific year or builder.2 Tennessee Landforms gives the tower's state forest number as 5-13, from a 1976 inventory.3 The register now names the TDF as the administering agency.1

I found no account of fires, lookout staff or moves at Kelso in the sources I read.

A Tennessee Historical Commission document prepared for the National Register lists Kelso among the fire towers still standing on March 26, 2014.2 The register records a site visit on November 24, 2023, and its registration on December 16, 2023.1

The old county forester's house now holds forestry offices, and the register notes that the state still owns the site.1 The register does not describe any public access, so treat the site as restricted. Please do not climb the tower.

  1. Kelso Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/kelso-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Tennessee Division of Forestry Fire Lookout Towers, 1933 to 1975, National Park Service NPGallery, https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/64501237.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Tennessee Lookout Towers, Tennessee Landforms, https://tnlandforms.us/towers/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Kelso Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kelso Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kelso Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kelso Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kelso Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kelso Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kelso Lookout Tower
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kelso Lookout Tower
Photo: 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, 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, 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, agency, access, 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.