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,…
Little Grayback
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…
Bolan Mountain
Type: L-4 Ground Cabin Status: Rental Elevation: 6,269 Visited: July 1-5, 2020 We rented the Bolan Mountain Lookout for four nights. Due to the pandemic I heard about a lot of people whose lookout reservations around the Pacific Northwest were…
Spring Butte
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…
Trout Creek Butte
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,…
Fall at Gold Butte
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…
Black Butte Cupola Being Restored
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…
Return to Indian Ridge
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…
Dutchman Peak
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…
Squaw Peak
Type: L-4 ground cabin Status: Rental Elevation: 4,984′ Visited: July 3-7, 2019 Back when I was researching my book in 2015 I discovered that the lookout on Squaw Peak in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest had been added to Recreation.gov,…