After the construction of the wind farm up in Millsfield/Phillips Brook area, I finally decided to visit the "abandoned" fire tower on Signal Mtn. I looked it up on Google Earth and my maptech program and decided that either a southerly approach or a northerly approach would work. I havent been in Millsfield area for many years and was impressed with the road signs and ATV signage. I expect I could have turned off RT 16 and went north via the "superhighway" built for the windfarm but decided to go in via Seven Islands to get a better view of the Signal Mtn. I got going late and it was quite hot out when I drove by the potential south approach so I decided to head up the Northside and look for the old trail head. My USGS quad showed a couple of old roads heading in the right directon so by turning off the Signal Mtn Road onto a side road that ran East West to the north of the summit, I did a bit of looking and saw a fairly large logging road heading in the right direction. I followed the well built road for awhile before it started slabbing a bit towards the east side of the mountain, so at a large logging clearing I got a good view of the high point and took a compass bearing. This side of the summit was logged extensively several years ago and the trade off is good sight lines up slope but plenty of young raspberries plants. I had shorts on so my legs got a fair share of scratches despite trying to parallel the cuts. The whole area must have been in timber management for many years as there was an extensive network of drainage swales almost all the way to the top of the merchantable timber.
Eventually I got to some open softwoods near the summit cone and within a couple of minutes I picked up a well worn ATV/tractor road. I hopped on it and within a few minutes, I was at the tower site. I had heard that the tower was quite beat up and couldnt be climbed and was quite surprised that the the tower is in remarkably good shape, there are some missing wooden treads and some who look marginal but with some care I climbed to the top of the tower into the unlocked cab. The other big surprise is the amount of new hardware on the tower. There are several solar arrays, one windmill and a brand new equipment building that obviously was dropped in via helicopter as it was too big for the roads going up. It appears that there is at least one antenna, a microwave or similiar receiver and a couple of tranmitters. By the looks of the place, there was one temporary system that has been superceeded by a more robust one. While looking for recent info on the mountain on the web I saw a 2011 application for a radio antenna so I expect this site will be more active than previously.
The views were unfortunately a bit hazy but they are quite extensive. The mountains sits away from populated areas and is screened from others by mountains, so in general the views are mostly of remote north country. The cab's windows are mostly boarded up but there is an open section on three sides. Alternatively the view just underneath the cab is 360 with the exception of some solar panels and the wind turbine in the foreground. Many of the wind mills are visible but they are a few miles away. I didnt mind them but everyone has their opinions.
The area of the summit does have a lot of older remnants of long term fire tower use. There is a ATV trail that heads south from the summit, that appears to be newer and has more actvity on it so I expect someone coming from the south may encounter the trail.
After roaming around I headed down via the former ATV route back to my truck but soon it veered east so I headed down through the hardwoods. That worked until I came out in the cut area but luckilly I missed most of it, Once i hit the landing for the cut I cut over and picked up the same ATV path and came out right at the truck. I was solo so didnt do much exploring but I expect if I followed the fire road/ATV path that slabs the east side it eventually will cut west and to the top. See post update
The total hike was only about 3 hours with 20 minutes spent at the tower. Driving up from Berlin was close to an hour so its definitely not an all day hike. It definitely has view of the north country unlike anywhere else and I expect on a clear day, the views into Maine and Canada will go on for quite a distance. I didnt see any water sources but I expect the cab would be a fun place to camp out in.
Eventually I got to some open softwoods near the summit cone and within a couple of minutes I picked up a well worn ATV/tractor road. I hopped on it and within a few minutes, I was at the tower site. I had heard that the tower was quite beat up and couldnt be climbed and was quite surprised that the the tower is in remarkably good shape, there are some missing wooden treads and some who look marginal but with some care I climbed to the top of the tower into the unlocked cab. The other big surprise is the amount of new hardware on the tower. There are several solar arrays, one windmill and a brand new equipment building that obviously was dropped in via helicopter as it was too big for the roads going up. It appears that there is at least one antenna, a microwave or similiar receiver and a couple of tranmitters. By the looks of the place, there was one temporary system that has been superceeded by a more robust one. While looking for recent info on the mountain on the web I saw a 2011 application for a radio antenna so I expect this site will be more active than previously.
The views were unfortunately a bit hazy but they are quite extensive. The mountains sits away from populated areas and is screened from others by mountains, so in general the views are mostly of remote north country. The cab's windows are mostly boarded up but there is an open section on three sides. Alternatively the view just underneath the cab is 360 with the exception of some solar panels and the wind turbine in the foreground. Many of the wind mills are visible but they are a few miles away. I didnt mind them but everyone has their opinions.
The area of the summit does have a lot of older remnants of long term fire tower use. There is a ATV trail that heads south from the summit, that appears to be newer and has more actvity on it so I expect someone coming from the south may encounter the trail.
After roaming around I headed down via the former ATV route back to my truck but soon it veered east so I headed down through the hardwoods. That worked until I came out in the cut area but luckilly I missed most of it, Once i hit the landing for the cut I cut over and picked up the same ATV path and came out right at the truck. I was solo so didnt do much exploring but I expect if I followed the fire road/ATV path that slabs the east side it eventually will cut west and to the top. See post update
The total hike was only about 3 hours with 20 minutes spent at the tower. Driving up from Berlin was close to an hour so its definitely not an all day hike. It definitely has view of the north country unlike anywhere else and I expect on a clear day, the views into Maine and Canada will go on for quite a distance. I didnt see any water sources but I expect the cab would be a fun place to camp out in.
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