Flag Point

Type: 41′ tower with R-6 cabin
Status: Staffed in summer, rental in winter
Elevation: 5,651 feet
Visited: September 23, 2012

After visiting Joe’s Point and Fivemile Butte, our last lookout visit of the day was Flag Point. Road 200 out to the lookout is a miserable and rough road. Definitely not suitable for low clearance cars. It was a relief to arrive at the lookout.

Flag Point fire lookout

Tom, the nice guy who was staffing the lookout, came out on the catwalk to greet us and invite us up. The views, of course, were pretty great, although this late in the afternoon Mt. Hood was totally backlit by the sun.

Mt. Hood

The view to the east was pretty hazy and smokey from wildfire smoke. Although we could see the moon!

Flag Point view

Tom was very friendly and said this was his second summer staffing Flag Point. He confirmed that the Forest Service doesn’t maintain the access road except to plow it in June so he can drive in.
He also showed us pictures on his camera of some of the great sunsets and sunrises he has seen up there. Wow! He had photos of an old rusty car that is out in the woods somewhere near the tower. We didn’t have time to go looking for it, but we’ll be back!

Update: We visited Flag Point again in October 2013 and had MUCH better views!