Fryingpan Mountain Lookout Tower — Attraction in Canton

What was supposed to be an easy 0.6 mile hike turned into around a 6 mile hike round-trip. There was a road closure so we had to park and walk to the tunnel which was 1.6 miles, then from the tunnel to the gravel road. By time I got to the gravel road I was questioning my life choices and decisions. The hike up the gravel road was STRAIGHT UP HILL, literally. Also because I thought it was a short hike I had no water, so I saw a questionable pipe with water coming from the mountain which I drank from. Probably the best water I've ever had in my LIFE! If I get some kind of intestinal parasite or I die I took a pic of the pipe to show the ER doctor just in case. Once to the top I literally felt like I conquered the world. I began my trek up the stairs and the wind was insane. I couldn't make it past the third plank because the wind seemed around 60mph and I felt my soul leave my body and I was shaking with fear. Overall great hike. Bring water. Also, why is that I had better cell service up there than in my living room. Ugh, weird stuff. Side note....my ears started ringing on the way up the gravel road probably due to the radiation levels from the tower....

So there is a specific reason I'm giving it a 4* and it doesn't have to do either the Tower or the view, both of those are great..but the people visiting it. We went yesterday 10/28/23 and o.m.g. the amount of people on it was INSANE. The was back up to go up and down. The entire time I am concerned about weight limits, this Tower was built in 1941 and decommissioned sometime in the 1990s...so it's not like it's over 80 years old, too. No one else really seemed that concerned, but I did hear a couple other people mention it as we were leaving, one group said there was far too many people for it to be safe and they were leaving. And when I say too many people, there were gatherings of people on every set of stairs, small landings and a ton up top where someone broke open the locked hatch and you can now slide through. While I'm all for enjoying the firetowers, we should be more conscious safety wise. Also the amount of litter and graffiti up there in and around the tower...I will never understand the need of humans to trash...

Mixed feelings about this place. The hike itself is easy — maybe too easy — basically a gravel road that goes straight up the mountain and back. Takes 1 hour tops. Not much variety in the landscape or scenery.

The tower itself is terrifying and unsafe. The metal stairs are rickety, the chainlink fence only goes up to your waist (don’t lean over too far or you’ll fall into the mountains) and the only way to access the tower platform is by squeezing through a narrow gap in the metal. The platform is covered in dirty liquor bottles and graffiti. The park service needs to badly update the tower!!

Absolutely NOT family friendly unless you want to share in the “fear factor.” The views are stunning but I’m sure there are other Blue Ridge hikes that...