Type: 50′ tower
Status: Abandoned
Elevation: 1,750′ feet
Visited: June 16, 2024
While I was in the area this weekend I drove up to the Loon Lake area to check out Cougar Pass Lookout.
I got this nice view on the drive up:
I parked at the bottom of the access road which had neither a berm nor a gate:
There’s a view of the lookout from the main road there:
The road was overgrown in spots:
But appeared to have been cleared and graded in other places:
I reached a junction where the grassy track continued straight:
I turned left to head up to the lookout:
I reached the base of the tower:
It was hard to see much from the ground so I flew the drone to get a few photos:
The remains of an old shed:
The base of the tower was once wrapped in chicken wire to keep people out, but it’s been mostly torn down:
One could technically climb the stairs all the way to the top but I wasn’t going to do that. I only went up one flight to get a view looking east into the rising sun:
It’s clear that people come up here to party. There was a whole bunch of trash, and this is only part of what I saw:
Back at the car I found several ticks crawling on my pants that I picked up from walking in the tall grass.
More information
Forest Lookouts
Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page
National Historic Lookout Register
Peakbagger
Geocache
History
A 40′ wooden tower was built on this high point along Umpcoos Ridge in the Coast Range above Loon Lake in 1935.
A 50′ tower with a 14×14′ cabin replaced it in 1966, pictured here in 1984:
La Vaughn Kemnow
The lookout hasn’t been staffed in decades.