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 Mountain. We had very little information about the state of the road or the lookout since I could find nothing recent online, and even the geocache up there hadn’t been logged in nine years.

We drove east of Cave Junction on Highway 46 for about ten miles, then turned onto Little Grayback Road, then turned onto gravel road BLM Road 39-7-24. It was 5.5 miles of rough road. It’s not the worst lookout road we’ve ever been, and it wasn’t even the kind of road that required high clearance, but it was pretty rocky and even in our Outback we had to take it slow.

The topo maps don’t show the last bit of road to the summit. After 5.5 miles we reached a gate that was partially open. We knew the last half-mile beyond this gate was really steep so we decided to park and walk the rest of the way.

The road to Little Grayback Lookout

Although it doesn’t look like it in this photo, it was indeed very steep:

The road to Little Grayback Lookout

The lookout is all boarded up and is clearly not in use anymore.

Little Grayback Lookout

Radio equipment

This lookout has been here since 1981, when the lookout on Waldo Hill was dismantled and the cabin from there was reconstructed here. Here is a 2007 photo:

A sign warns about the area being under surveillance and indeed we saw multiple cameras. It looks like this is one of those sites that is used for remote camera surveillance instead of being staffed.

Little Grayback Lookout

The actual summit of Little Grayback Peak (5,438′) is just east of here:

Little Grayback summit

The old outhouse:

Little Grayback Lookout toilet

Looking south:

View from Little Grayback Lookout

Looking southwest:

View from Little Grayback Lookout

Looking northwest:

View from Little Grayback Lookout

Looking north:

View from Little Grayback Lookout

Considering that the gate was open and considering that lookouts are prime targets for nefarious activities, I was surprised at the total lack of vandalism here. I guess the cameras keep the riffraff away.