FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Hamilton County, Tennessee

Montlake Mountain Lookout

Also known as Montlake

Hamilton County, Tennessee lookout run by the Division of Forestry; staffed into 2014 and described as safe to climb in 2019.

Permission required

You need permission from the tribe or landowner before visiting. Beside the Division of Forestry office. The 2019 Register entry says guests may climb, but confirm with the office before going up.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Permission required. See the warning at the top of this page.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerTraditional Aermotor-style tower, 80 feet tall, with a 7 by 7 foot cab and wooden stepsThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,854 ft (565 m)
Agency
Tennessee Division of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Hamilton County, Tennessee
Coordinates
35.25060, −85.21940
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-tn-montlake-mountain

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 3.0 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. 2014 Last staffedFrank Westwood staffed the tower into 2014; the Register does not say when staffing endedSource: nhlr.org
  2. 2019 Condition assessment2019 Register entry: good condition and safe to climbSource: nhlr.org
  3. 2019 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered February 19, 2019 as US 1292, TN 33; nominated by Victoria OliverSource: 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Montlake Mountain Lookout is a tower in Hamilton County, Tennessee, administered by the Tennessee Division of Forestry.1 The register describes an 80-foot Aermotor-style tower with a seven-foot-square cab and wooden steps, and dates its build only to the 1950s.1 At one time, Montlake was one of 28 fire towers in the Chattanooga District, and the register notes that they could all see one another and together kept watch over thousands of acres.1

The register names two people who staffed the tower.1 Forestry technician Jim Brown staffed it for 17 years, and Frank Westwood did so into 2014.1

The tower was registered on February 19, 2019 as US 1292, TN 33, with Victoria Oliver as nominator.1 The 2019 entry describes the lookout as in good condition and safe to climb. It also says the tower stands beside the forestry office, and that guests may climb it.1 The register gives its elevation as 1,854 feet, and the tnlandforms list marks the tower as standing.1,2

We found no source dated after 2019, so its condition now is unconfirmed. Because it sits beside the state forestry office, ask there before any visit.1

  1. Montlake Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/montlake-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Tennessee Lookout Towers, tnlandforms.us (Tom Dunigan), https://tnlandforms.us/towers/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Montlake Mountain Lookout
Photo: Victoria Oliver, via 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. 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, 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.