FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Shenandoah County, Virginia

Deer Head Lookout

Also known as Deerhead Mountain

Register visit report from May 2022 found the tower standing but damaged; a lookout index lists it as gone. No later report 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 sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerInternational Derrick, 1930 model, between 40 and 60 feet tallThe design: IDECO
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1930
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,727 ft (526 m)
Agency
Virginia Department of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Shenandoah County, Virginia
Coordinates
38.80976, −78.71699
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-va-deer-head

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 3.5 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. 1930 BuiltRegister gives 1930 as the build yearSource: nhlr.org
  2. No record between 1930 and 2022
  3. 2022 Condition assessmentVisit report of May 23, 2022 by Rocco Germani: cab ceiling collapsed, roof parts missing, what appears to be an antenna mounted on a corner of the cabSource: nhlr.org
  4. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered February 27, 2022Source: nhlr.org
  5. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Deer Head Lookout sits on a hill outside Conicville, in Shenandoah County, Virginia.1 The National Historic Lookout Register dates the tower to 1930 and calls it an International Derrick, 40 to 60 feet tall.1 The register's location line names the Virginia Department of Forestry.1

The register added the tower on February 27, 2022.1 A lookout index from the Forest Fire Lookout Association marks it as gone, which conflicts with the 2022 visit report described below.1,2

A visit report dated May 23, 2022, by Rocco Germani describes a damaged tower that was still in place when the writer visited.1 The writer found the cab's ceiling collapsed, some roof sections missing, and only part of the glass left.1 The report also mentions what looks like a large antenna fixed to one corner of the cab.1

Today the sources offer no later picture. The 2022 report says the base sits inside a barbed wire fence.1 No source we read says whether the public may visit the site, and none describes the tower after 2022, so its current condition is unknown.

  1. Deer Head Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/va/deer-head-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Virginia, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/va/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

May 2022 photo
May 2022 photo (2022)Photo: Rocco Germani, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • Firefinder research: Standing
    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing

    Research (2026-10-10) gives standing where the source records give gone. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, 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: 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, 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.