Information
Names: Hickory Ridge
Location: Charles Deam Wilderness in Hoosier National Forest
County: Monroe (there are 3 tower sites in Monroe County: Hickory Ridge, Mason Ridge, and Dutch Ridge)
Topo quad: Elkinsville
Condition: Standing, and climbable up into cab. As of my last visit in 2025, there is no gate or fence, so it is accessible any time.
Subjective: Excellent tower with excellent view. Tower Ridge Road from 446 to the tower parking lot is a gravel road, well-maintained for a gravel road, but may be a bit rough at times. Arriving on paved road from the south may be easier on your car.
Trip report: October 2025: Brother and I visited and climbed Hickory Ridge. Great views in almost all directions. Sunny day. Lots of wasps flying outside the cab in the sun; didn’t really bother us too much but it wasn’t great. Tower Ridge Road was closed west of the Grubb Ridge trail head. Sunny nice weekend day in October: the parking lot was almost full.
Maps of Hickory Ridge tower
Above: Elkinsville topo quad, 1947
Above: IDNR map of Lake Monroe, showing Hickory Ridge Lookout at right
Links about Hickory Ridge
Forest Service page about history of Hickory Ridge
Forest Service page about Hickory Ridge
Structural Survey number 105-187-80027
Hiking Guide to Cultural Artifacts in the Charles Deam Wilderness – tower mentioned in section titled “HIKE NO. 3”.
Gorgeous pictures of Hickory Ridge tower at abandonedonline.net
Data
Latitude: 39.03461
Longitude: -86.321321
History of Hickory Ridge tower
Structural Survey page says: “The Hickory Ridge Lookout Tower was built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps and was in daily operation until the 1970s. In 1953, there were eight towers in the Hoosier National Forest, the Hickory Ridge Tower is the only which remains. When the tower was built, the site also contained a guard station, a latrine, and a garage.”
Photo above shows the lookout’s house, which no longer exists. An old guide to Deam Wilderness structural/historical sites (link above) mentions that the site had a house, probably a garage, and probably a cistern. That document says the tower keeper was Raymond Axsom.
Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area was created December 22, 1982, as a special area with Hoosier National Forest.
This is the only standing National Forest tower in Indiana.
Below is a two-page flyer about the tower.
Personal photos of Hickory Ridge
