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Fire lookout · Windson County, Vermont

Gile Mountain

Also known as Norwich Firetower

Steel lookout built by the Plymouth CCC camp in 1940; discontinued by 1954, later kept inactive; new white oak stairs went in during 2025.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Open hiking trail in the Woody Adams Conservation Forest; the trailhead is a small lot on Turnpike Road.

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Gile Mountain Trail, a foot route with granite steps from the Turnpike Road lot to the tower.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerSteel lookout tower with a cab; a cabin and latrine were built on the mountain in 1940
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1940
Height
67 ft (20.4 m)
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Norwich Town Conservation Commission (maintains the tower)
Land
Unknown
Location
Windson County, Vermont
Coordinates
43.78903, −72.35153
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-vt-gile-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 3.4 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. 1940 BuiltPlymouth CCC camp built a steel lookout tower, cabin and latrine (state report, year ending June 30, 1940)Source: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1954 ClosedDiscontinued in the 1953-54 biennium; could be put back in service if neededSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1958 EventKept on an inactive basis in 1957-58, with plane patrols covering the area in hazardous weatherSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1958 and 2025
  5. 2025 RestoredNew white oak stairs and treads installed; volunteers, with a Norwich Women's Club grantSources: firelookout.org, norwichtrails.org
  6. 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.

Gile Mountain overlooks the 290-acre Woody Adams Conservation Forest in northwest Norwich, and its summit tower is about 70 feet tall, according to Norwich Trails.1

A state report for the year ending June 30, 1940 says the Plymouth Civilian Conservation Corps camp had built a steel lookout tower, a cabin and a latrine on the mountain.2 Norwich Trails, citing a Norwich Historical Society article, says the tower was used for fire spotting and, during World War II, for aerial defense observation.1

In the 1949-50 biennium five stair treads that hedgehogs had damaged were replaced, and in 1951-52 the stairs and cab were painted.2 The state reports first describe the tower as discontinued in the 1953 to 1954 biennium, though it could be put back in service if needed.2 The 1957-58 report says it was kept inactive, with patrol planes covering the area in bad weather.2

The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the tower as standing. Its key uses an asterisk for towers that have lost their cab, and Gile has none.3 The association's 2025 report says cab railings were installed inside the tower, and that new white oak stairs went in.4

Norwich Trails says the work was done by volunteers over several weeks, and a grant from the Norwich Women's Club paid for most of the material.5 The 2025 report says the Norwich Town Conservation Commission maintains the tower.4

Norwich Trails says the old treads had worn down after several decades of use by visitors who climbed up for the view.5 The trailhead is a small lot on Turnpike Road with room for five or six cars if parked with care, and granite steps cover much of the foot route up the mountain.1

  1. Gile Mountain Area, Norwich Trails, https://norwichtrails.org/trails-in-norwich/woody-adams-trails/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Gile Mountain, Eastern U.S. Lookouts (extracts from Vermont state reports), https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/gile-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Vermont fire lookouts list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/vt/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Vermont fire tower updates, 2025 chapter report, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/cr-vt-2025.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Gile Fire Tower Tread Replacement, Norwich Trails, https://norwichtrails.org/gile-fire-tower-tread-replacement/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: height, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, access, visiting details, 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.