Fire lookout · Henderson County, Tennessee

Natchez Trace Fire Tower

Also known as Natchez Trace (Headquarters)

1937 fire tower in Natchez Trace State Park, Henderson County, Tennessee; NHLR-registered in 2023 and listed as standing; height conflicts and access is not confirmed.

Standing
Access unknown
Verified

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 towerInternational Derrick Model 1933 tower, 70 ft tall per NHLRThe design: IDECO
Built of: SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built: 1937
Height: 70 ft (21.3 m)
Elevation: 692 ft (211 m)
Agency: Natchez Trace State Park
Land: State land
Location: Henderson County, Tennessee
Coordinates: 35.76714, −88.27727
Registers: NHLR US 1716 · TN 49
NGS FE 2228
This entry: VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id: us-tn-natchez-trace

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 3.3 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

1937 BuiltRegister says the CCC constructed it in 1937; Tennessee Encyclopedia gives 1937, probably by the CCCSources: nhlr.org, tennesseeencyclopedia.net
No record between 1937 and 2023
2023 Condition assessmentRegister records a site visit dated January 28, 2023; the page gives no findingsSource: nhlr.org
2023 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 30, 2023 as US 1716, TN 49Source: nhlr.org
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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Natchez Trace Fire Tower stands in Natchez Trace State Park in Henderson County, Tennessee.¹ The National Historic Lookout Register describes it as an International Derrick Model 1933 tower that the Civilian Conservation Corps put up in 1937.¹ The Tennessee Encyclopedia gives the same year but is less certain about the builder, saying the CCC probably built it.²

The Register says the tower is 70 feet tall.¹ A 1936-37 forestry guide quoted on the Forest Lookouts site describes a 60-foot steel lookout tower, but it does not name this site, so it is unclear whether it describes this tower.³

The Encyclopedia says the CCC focused on reforestation and land stabilization in the park, and that few of the park's 1930s buildings and structures remain intact.² I found no source that names who staffed the tower or what fires it watched.

The Register records a site visit dated January 28, 2023, and lists the tower's registration as January 30, 2023, but the page gives no findings from that visit.¹ A statewide inventory lists a tower at this site as standing.⁴

The Division of Forestry says fire towers on state forests may be photographed but not climbed.⁵ The Natchez Trace tower sits in the state park, and the sources do not show whether that rule applies to it. The sources also do not say whether the public may visit it, so ask the park before going, and do not climb it.

Natchez Trace Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/tn/natchez-trace-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Natchez Trace State Park, Tennessee Encyclopedia, https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/natchez-trace-state-park/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Natchez Trace (Headquarters), Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/natchez-trace-headquarters.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Tennessee lookout towers, tnlandforms.us, https://tnlandforms.us/towers/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Natchez Trace State Forest, Tennessee Division of Forestry, https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/state-forests/natchez-trace.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Natchez Trace Fire Tower — Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, status, register numbers, agency, ownership, 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
tnlandforms.us fire lookout towers (Tom Dunigan) -- GA, NC, TN (opens another site) 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
FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site) Gave us: height, 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
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

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