fire tower

About ten years ago while poking through the Toadstool Bookshop in Milford, I came across A Field Guide to New Hampshire Firetowers, a labor-of-love booklet by Iris W. Baird and Chris Haartz. It was 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 (RIP). A fire tower aficionado has used her work as a resource for a web page dedicated to people who have reached every New Hampshire fire tower and former fire tower site – more than ninety locations!

I’m not in that league.I was pleased just to get the Tower Quest patch from the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands a few years ago for visiting only five towers. I think I’m due for more hikes.

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

The view from Pack Monadnock’s tower (Miller State Park) in the fall.

View from the tower site on Mt. Kearsarge, Warner NH.

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

From the decommissioned tower at Stratham Park, looking towards Portsmouth and the NH coast.

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

An auto road reaches the tower site at Miller State Park (Pack Monadnock).

This tower at Pawtuckaway State Park is being re-built in 2016.

Northernmost active tower in New Hampshire, on Mt. Magalloway. The view on a clear day extends to Maine, Vermont, and Quebec as well as New Hampshire.

The architecture of fire towers is pretty simple, stark and functional. With the exception of the glorious stone tower at Weeks State Park, 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.