Type: 26′ tower with 10×10′ cab
Status: Abandoned
Elevation: 5,020′
Visited: June 21, 2023
Red Hill seems to have been a point of interest for tourists at one time. There are plentiful signs along the road, including at the turn-off:
The area around the lookout has a wooden fence to keep out cows, and there’s even a toilet!
On Google Earth’s historical imagery you can see there used to be a couple picnic tables here:
However, the place seems to have been forgotten. There are two empty metal posts where the sign used to be:
This 2011 photo from a geocacher shows how it used to look:
The bottom stairs have been removed from the lookout to keep people from going up:
Fortunately there’s still a view from the ground:
Looks like they forgot to take the solar panel off the roof when they closed this place down:
I wandered along the fading overgrown path inside the fence. I lucked out with my timing and saw wildflowers blooming:
More information
Forest Lookouts
Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page
National Historic Lookout Register
Peakbagger
Panorama Photos
Geocache
Directions
From Enterprise drive north on Highway 3 for 14.7 miles. Turn right onto Road 46. Follow Road 46 for 23 miles, then turn onto Road 361 and follow it to the parking area at the base of the tower.
History
The first lookout on Red Hill was a tree lookout. “Seventeen steps have been spiked to a large W.Y.P. at the Red Hill Lookout station which is being used as a tower, by the aid of these steps and the few limbs which the tree affords the lookout climbs to a height of 115 feet to where the tree forks just a few feet from the top. Here the lookout sits and watches for fire.”
In 1947 a 40′ tower with an L-4 cab was built and is the tower that stands today.