Located on Holston High Knob at 4,136′ this 100′ steel lookout tower offers beautiful views of extreme Northeast Tennessee. The tower was originally located in Mississippi. It was moved to Holston Mountain in Carter County, Tennessee in 1943, replacing a 60′ wooden tower (built in 1934) that was accidentally burned. Now it is only used on an emergency basis the lookout was staffed until 1991.
The tower is not open to the public.
Drone aerial photography and video by AboveGround.Media
Nearby Geocaches
We sell prints of many of our photos. If you are interested you can view our gallery of photos available for purchase.
View Gallery
Get Directions
Take Highway 91 east out of Elizabethton, TN toward Stoney Creek for about 10 miles. Turn left onto Panhandle Rd (watch for a “Blue Hole” National Forest Service sign). Follow this road for approx. 4.5mi to the mountain ridge where the road will split. The road will turn to gravel, have very steep sections and sharp curves during the 4.5mi assent (It is possible to make it to the ridge in a 2 wheel drive vehicle in good weather). At the split go left and there will be a National Forest Service gate. You will have to park at the gate and hike the rest of the way. The hike is approx. 1mi and not very demanding.
This map will show the route from the base of Panhandle Rd to the location of the tower. Point A is the base of Panhandle Rd, point B is where the Forest Service gate is (where you will have to park), and point C is the location of the tower.
We sell Northeast Tennessee area photo books and calendars.
Visit Store
We sell Northeast Tennessee area clothing and apparel.
Visit Apparel Store