Apple Pie Hill: the fire lookout above the Batona Trail

A lookout before the steel tower

New Jersey’s Forest Fire Service history records a cupola lookout on Apple Pie Hill around 1912. The present 60-foot Aermotor tower was first erected at Big Hill in 1938 and moved here in 1950. It is a working fire observation station, so the structure is part of the region’s fire-detection system, not simply a scenic platform.

The relocation also shows how the lookout network changed as managers sought useful lines of sight over a flat, fire-prone forest. The state’s history establishes the dates and move; it does not explain why this specific tower was selected for relocation, so the motive should not be guessed from the hilltop view alone.

Walk to the hill, then look outward

The Wharton State Forest September 2026 bulletin gives Apple Pie Hill’s location as 39.807222, -74.589444 and describes three approaches. The most straightforward mapped arrival here is Carranza Memorial, where the Batona Trail makes a roughly four-mile hike to the hill, eight miles out and back. The bulletin also lists a shorter roughly one-mile walk from the Batona Trail access on Burlington County Route 532 between mile markers 12 and 13. It mentions parking near the hill’s base, but sandy forest roads and the state’s designated-road rules make a paved-road walking approach easier to explain reliably to an unfamiliar visitor. Carry the current Wharton trail map and check conditions before setting out; there is no drinking water or restroom at the hill.

The tower is not an everyday attraction

Wharton State Forest advertised a supervised tower opening for September 19, 2026, with limited capacity and a possible wait, and said staff could cancel climbing for weather or safety. That event does not establish routine tower access. You can visit the hill by trail; plan to view the fire tower from the ground unless the forest announces a staffed opening. Keep out of fenced or closed portions. To understand why the lookout matters, the related 1963 Black Saturday account follows the statewide fires and their human toll.