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Fire lookout · Bedford County, Virginia

Smith Mountain Fire Tower

Aermotor MC-39 fire tower in Bedford County, Virginia, with radio gear added; NHLR-registered 2026; listed as administered by Appalachian Power. Build date, staffing and access unknown.

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. No source read says whether the public may climb the tower; Appalachian Power is listed as administrator.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor MC-39 tower, 59 feet 4 inches from the ground to the floor of the cab; bottom two flights of stairs removed and radio equipment mounted, adding about 15 to 20 feetThe design: Aermotor MC-39
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,498 ft (457 m)
Agency
Appalachian Power
Land
Unknown
Location
Bedford County, Virginia
Coordinates
37.04918, −79.52653
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-va-smith-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.

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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. 2026 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 2, 2026 as US 1793, VA 48; nominated by Rocco GermaniSource: 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Smith Mountain Fire Tower is in Bedford County, Virginia.1 The National Historic Lookout Register describes it as an Aermotor MC-39 tower with its cab floor 59 feet and 4 inches up, and says its construction date is unknown.1

Its bottom two flights of stairs have been taken off, and radio equipment has been fitted to it, adding about 15 to 20 feet to its height.1 The Register lists the elevation as 1,498 feet, names Appalachian Power as the administrator, and lists the Smith Mountain Cooperative Wildlife Management Area as a cooperator.1

A Forest Lookouts page puts the Virginia Department of Forestry in its heading, which conflicts with the Register, and it gives no dates for either arrangement.2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Virginia list still shows the tower as standing.3 The Register accepted the tower on January 2, 2026, on a nomination by Rocco Germani, who also supplied a February 2024 photograph.1

The sources read do not say who staffed the tower, what fires it watched, or whether the public may climb it.1,2 Because Appalachian Power is listed as the administrator, anyone interested in the tower should ask the company before going.1

  1. Smith Mountain Fire Tower, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/va/smith-mountain-fire-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Smith Mountain, Forest Lookouts (easternuslookouts.weebly.com), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/smith-mountain1.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Virginia, Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/va/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

February 2024 photo
February 2024 photo (2024)Photo: Rocco Germani, via 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, what it is built of, 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: 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, access, 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.