Photos of Mount Sterling
About Mount Sterling
A steel fire tower rises out of the forest on the summit of Mount Sterling tucked away in the northeastern corner of the Smokies. The fire tower was originally built it in the 1930s, and for decades lookouts sat in the small hut and scanned this side of the park for smoke. It no longer serves for fire spotting, now it's part of park emergency radio system. Plus as a bonus, hikers can still climb the stairs to the hut and looking out over the endless valley. Trees cover in the summit so the best views comes from up in the fire tower. You will have a photogenic view in whatever direction you point your camera. You can slowly experiment with capturing a full circle over Cataloochee Valley, the main Smokies crest and, on clear days the Black Mountains to the east appear. Weathered steel stairs climbing into fog are worth pausing to experiment with before you climb up to the top of the tower. If you are able to get there very early, morning haze sits in the valleys and turns the far ridges into layers of blue. Campsite 38 sits at the base of the tower, so with a backcountry permit you are able to capture sunrise, sunset and even some astrophotography all at this one location. The shortest route is roughly a 4km hike along Mount Sterling Trail from Mount Sterling Gap. Since Mt Sterling sits within the National Park you will need to pay for park access and parking anywhere in the park requires a paid tag. (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, United States)
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