People looking for a panoramic view of the changing fall leaves will have a special opportunity at a site that is typically not open to the public. .
The Panther Top Tower outside of Murphy in Cherokee County will be open to the public on October 28-29, 2023, and November 4-5, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
“Panther Top Tower is a very significant historical structure and is my favorite place on the Tusquitee Ranger District,” District Fire Management Officer Chad Cook said in a press release. “We recently completed renovations—painting and installing new windows and flooring—on Panther Top Tower a few months ago.”
Panter Top is the westernmost tower in North Carolina near Murphy and Hiwassee Lake.
The 30-foot tower, which sits in the Tusquitee Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest, was built in 1940 as a lookout point for the North Carolina Forest Service to watch for fires. It was operational until a blizzard in 1993 destroyed the tower’s phone and power lines.
The utility companies refused to replace them, according to the Forest Service, so the tower was no longer operated on a regular basis. At that time, the county’s 911 system was started so that folks could call for help during a fire instead of relying on the fire tower. Establishing the 911 system required updating the official names for roads and addresses across the region.
From the tower’s platform, leaf peepers will have views that span the Unicoi, Snowbird, Valley River, Tusquitee and Georgia Blue Ridge Mountain ranges.
To get to the fire tower, drive through the gate at the junction of Forest Roads 85 and 85A. There is a parking lot at the tower, and U.S. Forest Service volunteers will be onsite to answer questions.
