FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Johnson County, Tennessee

Kettlefoot Lookout Tower

CCC-built 60-foot steel fire tower on Doe Mountain in Cherokee National Forest, restored in 2019 and reached by trail; the register's 1948 build date conflicts with 1936.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Reached on foot or by ATV on Doe Mountain Recreation Area trails. Clio says Multi-Use Trail 25 is the only way to visit the site.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
A 2021 visit report describes a 4.5-mile hike up from the North Entrance of the park.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower60-foot galvanized steel tower, Aermotor MC-39 standard planThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1936
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
3,885 ft (1,184 m)
Agency
Tennessee Division of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Johnson County, Tennessee
Coordinates
36.42681, −81.86666
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-tn-kettlefoot

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. 1933 EventThe Kingsport Times reported in August 1933 that a Kettle Foot fire tower would soon be built in the Holston and Iron Mountain sectionSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1936 BuiltBuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The register gives 1948.Sources: npgallery.nps.gov, theclio.com
  3. 1948 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. No record between 1948 and 1975
  5. 1975 ClosedTennessee Division of Forestry stopped using it for fire lookout work in the mid-1970s, per ClioSource: theclio.com
  6. No record between 1975 and 2014
  7. 2014 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 2, 2014 as NHLR US 1001Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2015 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesOn the National Register of Historic Places; the NPS record is dated 11/20/2015Sources: npgallery.nps.gov, theclio.com
  9. 2019 RestoredRecently restored, according to a 2021 visit reportSource: nhlr.org
  10. 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 Kettlefoot tower stands on Doe Mountain, inside the Cherokee National Forest near Mountain City, in Johnson County, Tennessee.1,2 The steel tower stands 60 feet, with a square cab on top, and the site sits at an elevation of 3,889 feet.2

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the tower in 1936, according to the National Register nomination and the Clio summary.2,3 The National Historic Lookouts Register gives 1948 instead, a date the sources I read do not support.1 In August 1933, the Kingsport Times reported that a Kettle Foot fire tower would soon go up in the Holston and Iron Mountain area, and a compilation of Eastern lookouts quotes that report.4 The nomination describes the tower as an Aermotor MC-39 standard plan, and says the steel carries Carnegie Steel Company markings.2

The register attributes the name to a bear that got a foot stuck in a kettle.1 I could not confirm that story from another source.

Clio says the Tennessee Department of Forestry used the tower until the mid-1970s, by which point aerial spotting and 911 calls had made it obsolete.3 The nomination says very little history survives and that the Tennessee Division of Forestry holds no tower records.2 The National Park Service lists the tower on the National Register of Historic Places, and its NPS record shows a publication date of November 20, 2015.5,3 The register had added it to its own list on September 2, 2014.1

The register's 2021 visit report says the tower was restored in 2019, though the windows are missing.1 The state intends to fold the tower into a multiple-use recreation area it is developing.1 Clio says trail and tower repairs are still being planned.3 Clio also says that Doe Mountain Recreation Area Multi-Use Trail 25 is the sole route to the site.3 One 2021 visitor hiked 4.5 miles from the park's North Entrance because the ATVs and motorbikes were all rented out.1

Check trail conditions with the Doe Mountain Recreation Area before you go. The sources do not say whether the cab is open to visitors, so do not climb it without permission.

  1. Kettlefoot Lookout Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/kettlefoot-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Kettlefoot Fire Lookout Tower, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, National Park Service, https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/3d528301-33d8-4328-9437-bdec3ad3c154 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Kettlefoot Fire Lookout Tower at Doe Mountain, Clio, https://www.theclio.com/entry/96121 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Kettle Foot, Eastern US Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/kettle-foot.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Kettlefoot Fire Lookout Tower, National Park Service NPGallery asset page, https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/15000833 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Kettlefoot Lookout Tower
Photo: Mike Farmer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
April 2021 photo
April 2021 photo (2021)Photo: Rocco Germani, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kettlefoot Lookout Tower
Photo: Tate Davis, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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. 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. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: register numbers, photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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.