Disclosure: We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own..
The Jed Johnson Tower Trail in the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge is a short out and back trail that’s an easy 1 mile hike and about 75 feet rise in elevation. According to Alltrails.com the trail is called Jed Johnson Tower Trail to Central Peak. its 1.9 miles long and 95 feet rise in elevation. We didn’t realize the trail actually took us to the peak. So we only walked the 1 mile trail.
Hiking Jed Johnson Tower Trail
After finishing up at Mount Scott Nature Trail there wasn’t much time left for one of our longer planned hikes. So we decided to hike Jed Johnson Tower Trail. It’s a short dirt track that easy enough for children. You can even take your dogs along for this trail. There are several places the trail splits off in different directions, but they lead you to the tower. One track is easier than the other. Most of the trail is soft dirt with area close to the tower that is rocky.
It’s about half a mile to the tower and less than quarter of mile is steep enough to wind someone not use to hiking up hill.
Once at the tower we looked around and found several side trails that lead towards Lake Jed Johnson and another that led further into the back country. I believe that trail leads to the central peak where AllTrails says the trail ends.
Since the trail was so short and the weather was cool enough we left our hiking gear in the car and just enjoyed the walk. During our next visit, I plan to explore some the other trails go, down to the lake and take a closer look at the tower.
Jed Johnson Tower
The Jed Johnson Tower is a former 60 foot tall fire watch station that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1941 before the US joined World War II. It now sits abandoned. The lower windows are walled off and a steel door was welded shut. It is believed the tower was closed to the public because it is considered structurally unsound. When I peeked through the cracks, its full of rocks, trash, and it’s been vandalized a few times.
It would be nice to see this old fire tower restored. The top of the tower would give visitors a great 360 view of the surrounding area.
About the Images
The images were shot late afternoon. It was cloudy with the sun falling below the mountains. I had some issues getting some of the images to stay in focus. I was able to fix some of the issues in post. I used my Sony a6000 using my Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS. I then edited the images with Adobe Lightroom CC and Topaz Labs Denoise AI and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI and DXO NIK Collection.
About James
Thats neat thanks