fire tower

About ten years ago, I came across A Field Guide to New Hampshire Firetowers, a labor-of-love booklet by Iris W. Baird and Chris Haartz. It’s a gem of local history, and I used to take it with me whenever I headed out for a tower hike. (I just learned that Baird passed away earlier this year; may she rest in peace.) They worked to collect information on every New Hampshire fire tower and former fire tower site – more than ninety locations!

A newer resource that I’ve discovered is a must for all tower hunters: the NH Fire Towers Facebook group.

IMG_20150912_105821 — View from the tower site on Mt. Kearsarge, Warner NH. Photos by Ellen Kolb.

6. Fire Tower — The Pitcher Mountain tower, Stoddard, NH, is a short and easy hike from the parking area on NH Route 123.

DSCF8392 — View from the decommissioned tower at Stratham Park, looking towards Portsmouth and the NH coast.

DSCF8284 — Loveliest fire tower to be found anywhere, in my opinion. Weeks State Park, Lancaster NH.

magalloway-tower — Northernmost active tower in New Hampshire, on Mt. Magalloway in Pittsburg, not far from the Canadian border. The view on a clear day extends beyond New Hampshire to Maine, Vermont, and Quebec.

The architecture of fire towers is pretty simple, stark and functional. With the exception of the glorious stone tower at Weeks State Park in Lancaster in New Hampshire’s north country, they all look pretty much the same, distinguished only by the number of antennae and dishes attached. But oh, the wonderful hikes I’ve had to each one of these towers … with more to come.