If you're heading to the Allegheny National Forest to take in the fall colors, consider making a stop at the Sherman Family Memorial Lighthouse in Tionesta.

On Saturday, special tours will be offered of the 50-foot-tall lighthouse from 1 to 5 p.m., where visitors can get a panoramic view of the fall foliage from the tower's top lantern room.

Designed and built by Jack Sherman of Hawthorn, Clarion County, as a tribute to his family, the lighthouse sits on a 22.5-acre island in the middle of the Allegheny River in Forest County, about 54 miles southeast of Erie.

Tours have been offered just a few times a year since it was completed in 2006.

While most lighthouses are of masonry and concrete construction, the octagon-shaped Sherman tower is made of timber.

Donations of $5 for adults and $2 for children will be collected for the tour, and proceeds will benefit the Tionesta Lions' community projects.

An exhibit of 280 miniature lighthouses collected by Mr. Sherman and the art of local residents will be displayed throughout the six floors of the lighthouse (accessed by spiral stairs with 76 steps).

The lighthouse is roughly 110 miles from Pittsburgh. For directions, call Joan Whitson Wallace at 1-814-755-5886 or e-mail her at fannyfarmer@ verizon.net.