High Knob Fire Tower Lookout — Local services in Franklin

Hiked on Dec 26. About 45 mins one way for us. Loved the views, and especially liked that this is a historic stone-and-wood structure and not one of the concrete-and-metal towers. Some things to note: -The room inside the tower is CLOSED due to vandalism at some point. You can walk around the balcony but not go in. -The wood steps and railing are old and in need of some weatherproofing or replacing. Given that this is a National historic structure, there’s probably a mess of federal red tape slowing any repairs, so play nice and be careful. -It should be obvious, but it’s cold and windy at the top during winter. I don’t care if you’re wearing a T-shirt down in the valley - bring a jacket and thank me later. And you’ll still want a water bottle. -For sunset hikes, bring a headlamp and the 10 essentials. You’ll be hiking on the western side of the ridge, so you’ll have a tad more light, but it will still be pitch black for the last half mile or so. -Pay attention on the fire road so you don’t miss the turn off -I have bad knees. Hiking poles going down definitely helped ease the impact. I wouldn’t call this a hard trail, but it covers some elevation. -for the truly adventurous, you can hike down to the lake from here. There’s a trail split around 3/4 mile with well-placed signage. -the woolly adelgid is showing activity on some hemlocks early on the trail, but you can still see healthy, young trees further up. This is refreshing and unfortunately rare where I’m from. I’m hopeful someone is treating them regularly so we can continue to enjoy these graceful trees for...

Very fun trail up to this beautiful fire tower. No issue with parking at the entry lot. Roads to get to the entry lot are winding, but not outside of what you'd expect for the mountains. The first part of the trail is narrow but fairly easy to walk on without much level change. There are a few breaks along the way to peak out of the trees and see the beautiful landscape, or to simply take a rest. The second portion is very different, involving a lot of steep walking between the trails and the old fire roads. The paths on the fire roads are nice and wide, though. The fire tower is easy to access and explore once you get to the top. The views are great despite having gone on a cloudy day. My dog did not have any trouble with the trail or the tower, so would...

High Knob is an excellent, albeit difficult hike. The first leg is easy, slightly muddy, but not steep and not incredibly rocky. The second leg is the opposite, it's incredibly steep and very rocky, we found ourselves stopping pretty frequently to catch our breaths. The tower itself is in excellent condition and offered a beautiful view of the sunset. Though, be prepared for a lot of wind. The temperature is also a lot lower up there, so be prepared for that. We went up in soccer pants, leggings, and rain jackets, and needless to say, we were freezing within minutes of reaching the peak. Overall, it's an amazing experience, and, given my weird affinity for fire towers, it's definitely worth the difficulty...