Type: 70′ steel tower
Status: Used for emergencies
Elevation: 6,281′
Visited: May 29, 2018
At the start of our long Memorial Day Weekend Greg and I visited several lookouts. The first one was Dry Mountain. We took Highway 20 towards Burns, then turned north into the forest at the little “town” of Riley. Then we drove 30 miles up to Dry Mountain.
The tower is 70′ feet tall. Both it and the ground cabin were built in 1932. It’s located in a section of the Ochoco National Forest that is actually detached from the rest of the ONF. Because it’s closer to the Malheur National Forest, it falls under that forest’s administration. Here is what the site looked like back in the day:
There were wildflowers blooming up there, which was great:
We saw this strange circle of white rocks. Maybe this was a rudimentary helipad at one point? Right now there are some trees pretty close to the circle so I’m not sure a helicopter could safely land:
I climbed up a pile of big boulders to get some views. Looking south:
Southwest:
East:
Looking west back towards the lookout:
I could hear bald eagles and then I saw them. I bet they have a nest somewhere up here:
Greg was totally absorbed in the wildflowers:
I was surprised to find the outhouse still intact:
The stairs were not blocked off so I went up a few flights:
Looking west:
Looking north:
Looking east to Bald Butte, our next destination:
I only went about halfway up, not sure how stable the stairs were:
The back window of the cabin was broken and I could see inside. The place was in pretty bad shape:
Cool spot up here! I was pleasantly surprised to not find rampant vandalism and trash here.