Starting on Monday, September 7, 2020 (Labor Day) Oregon experienced an historic wind event. Several previously-burning wildfires blew up and became enormous. Several new fires started. Millions of acres of forest burned, in addition to many homes and businesses. (Mark…
In June several people alerted me to the fact that the historic 1930s lookout on Olallie Mountain had burned down. I visited the spot in 2014, but haven’t made it back since. The lookout managed to survive a 2017 wildfire,…
Type: 14×14′ Cabin Status: No longer staffed Elevation: 5,149 Visited: July 5, 2020 The Little Grayback Lookout is east of Cave Junction and we decided to see if we could get there before heading home from our stay at Bolan…
Type: L-4 Ground Cabin Status: Rental Elevation: 6,269 Visited: July 1-5, 2020 September 15, 2020 UPDATE: Sadly, today the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest announced that the Bolan Mountain lookout burned in the Slater Fire. Here is the announcement on Facebook. …
Type: 41-foot-tall tower with 16′ octagonal cabin Status: Staffed Elevation: 5,462′ Visited: June 19, 2020 While camping in the area we drove up to the Spring Butte Lookout. The gate was open and we were able to drive all the…
Type: 86′ steel Aermotor tower Status: Abandoned Elevation: 5,546′ Visited: May 31, 2020 The road up to Trout Creek Butte is in good shape and passable by any vehicle. Much of the summit burned in the 2017 Milli Fire: However,…
Friday, September 13 – Sunday, September 15, 2019 Note: for tips on staying at Gold Butte see my 2016 post. Greg and I returned to the Gold Butte for the fourth time this fall. After a wet hike to Phantom…
Volunteers with Friends of the Metolius have been working with the Forest Service to restore the old 1923 D6 cupola on Black Butte in the Deschutes National Forest. When I hiked up there in 2016 it was looking a bit…
Type: 20′ R-6 tower Status: Rental Elevation: 5,405 feet Visited: August 31 – September 2,2016 After years of trying to reserve the Indian Ridge Lookout in the Willamette National Forest I finally managed to get a reservation, and for Labor Day…
Type: D-6 cupola cabin Status: Used in emergencies Elevation: 7,418′ Visited: July 5, 2019 While in the Siskiyou Crest area we headed to Dutchman Peak (often mistakenly referred to as Dutchman’s Peak). We were able to drive up Road 800…