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Fire lookout · Halifax County, Virginia

Alton Fire Tower

Also known as Alton (Cluster Springs)

Halifax County tower in the Cluster Springs quadrangle: an 80-foot Aermotor run by the Virginia Department of Forestry, on the Register since 2014; no build date 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 tower80-foot Aermotor towerThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
572 ft (174 m)
Agency
Virginia Department of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Halifax County, Virginia
Coordinates
36.60056, −78.98111
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-va-alton

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 2014 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 3, 2014 as US 1038, VA 18Source: 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 Alton Fire Tower stands in the Cluster Springs quadrangle of Halifax County, Virginia, and the Virginia Department of Forestry administers it.1 The National Historic Lookout Register describes it as an 80-foot Aermotor tower, and a Weebly lookout entry for Virginia gives the same height.1,2

The sources do not say when the tower was built, and none names the people who staffed it.1,2 The Register records that the tower was registered on September 3, 2014, as US 1038 and VA 18, and gives its elevation as 572 feet (174 m).1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Virginia list shows the tower as standing.3 These sources record no fire or other major event at the tower.1,2

None of these sources describes public access or rental use, so a visitor should ask the Virginia Department of Forestry before planning a trip.1,2,3

  1. Alton Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/va/alton-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Alton - Forest Lookouts, easternuslookouts.weebly.com, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/alton.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Virginia - Forest Fire Lookout Association, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/va/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Alton Fire Tower
Photo: Kristin Scholetzky, 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, 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. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) Gave us: what it is built of, design, 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
  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.