FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Patrick County, Virginia

Bull Mountain Lookout

Patrick County, Virginia: a wooden lookout built 1943, replaced by a 60-foot Aermotor in 1949; NHLR-registered 1994. Staffing and access not 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 tower60-foot Aermotor tower with 7 by 7 foot metal cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1943
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
3,193 ft (973 m)
Agency
Virginia Department of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Patrick County, Virginia
Coordinates
36.69285, −80.22473
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-va-bull-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 3.3 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

  1. 1943 BuiltWooden structure built for the Virginia Forest Service (VDF)Sources: nhlr.org, patrickchamber.com
  2. 1949 Replaced by a new structureCurrent 60-foot Aermotor tower with 7 by 7 foot metal cab replaced the wooden structureSources: nhlr.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com, patrickchamber.com
  3. 1950 AlteredOne-room ground residence cabin addedSource: nhlr.org
  4. No record between 1950 and 1989
  5. 1989 EventSite dedicated to Governor Gerald L. Baliles; register describes it as an emergency lookout by thenSources: nhlr.org, patrickchamber.com
  6. 1994 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 30, 1994 as US 100, VA 4Source: nhlr.org
  7. 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 register puts the Bull Mountain site at 3,193 feet (973 meters) in Patrick County, Virginia.1 The site's first tower, made of wood, went up in 1943 for the Virginia Forest Service.1,2

A 60-foot Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot metal cab took its place in 1949.1,3 The site also gained a one-room residence cabin at ground level in 1950.1

In 1989, when it was an emergency lookout, the site was dedicated to Governor Gerald L. Baliles. He grew up nearby and visited the tower often as a boy.1,2

The sources I read say nothing about who staffed the tower or which fires it watched.

The tower still stands, and the Forest Fire Lookout Association lists it as standing.4 The register names the Virginia Department of Forestry as its administrator.1,3

Public access is the open question. The register says nothing about visiting, and I found no current guidance on whether people can reach or enter the tower. A 1964 survey note describes going up to the top through a pipe gate on the fire road, but it does not say whether that gate is open today.3 Ask the Virginia Department of Forestry before you go, and do not climb the tower without permission.

  1. Bull Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/va/bull-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Bull Mt. Fire Tower, Patrick County Chamber of Commerce, https://www.patrickchamber.com/profile.cfm?ID=649 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Bull Mountain, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/bull-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Virginia - Forest Fire Lookout Association, Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/va/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Bull Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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, 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.