Type: 20′ tower
Status: Unstaffed
Elevation: 2,696 feet
Visited: June 28, 2015
Before heading home from our stay at Pickett Butte we visited Bland Mountain. It can be a bit tricky to figure out the correct route to get here. From Days Creek Road we drive 2.3 miles on BLM Road 7.0 up to the gated spur road that runs up to the lookout. Now it’s time to walk.
The lookout is not regularly staffed and the road doesn’t look like it sees much use.
It was a hot, humid day, so after half a mile of uphill hiking we were glad to arrive! Bland Mountain has been a lookout site since 1944. The current 20-foot-tall tower was erected in 1997 using the recycled water tower from the Canyonville State Forestry Office.
The lookout is all boarded up, but the hatch to the catwalk was not locked, so I went up for a view. Unfortunately the view is spoiled by a lot of hideous clearcuts.
The road continues south past the lookout, although it’s little more than a dirt track.
I don’t know if the Douglas FPA ever uses this lookout, but it appears to be essentially abandoned.