Type: Two story stone and timber lookout
Status: Not staffed
Elevation: 8,056 feet
Visited: July 20 and September 28, 2024
I visited The Watchman twice this summer, under very different sets of conditions!
You can read about my hike in July here. Here are photos from that day, when it was super smoky. (Scroll down for nicer photos from my September visit)
First view of the lookout at the end of the trail:
Visitors are not allowed up the stairs onto the catwalk, but there is a nice viewing area in front of the lookout:
The lower level used to contain a little museum back in the day, but it’s all boarded up now, along with the lookout:
The views were limited due to the wildfire smoke. This is looking north at distant Diamond Peak, with Hillman Peak and Llao Rock in the foreground above the lake:
Looking northeast at Llao Rock and Mt. Scott:
Looking east across the lake at Mt. Scott:
Looking southeast at Mt. Scott and Garfield Peak:
Looking south at Mt. McLoughlin and Union Peak:
Looking west:
Looking northwest at Bohemia Mountain, Fairview Peak, Garwood Butte, and Mt. Bailey:
Conditions were much better when I visited again in September. It was a gorgeous fall day with no smoke. This is looking north at Hillman Peak and Llao Rock, with Mt. Thielsen in the distance:
Looking northeast at Llao Rock and Mt. Scott:
Looking east across the lake at Mt. Scott (which I visited earlier today):
Looking southeast at Mt. Scott and Garfield Peak, with Wizard Island in the foreground:
Looking south at Mt. McLoughlin and Union Peak:
Looking west:
Looking northwest at Bohemia Mountain, Fairview Peak, Garwood Butte, and Mt. Bailey:
Close-up of Garwood Butte (I hiked to the lookout there in 2023):
Close-up of Mt. Bailey (a former lookout site that I have not been to):
More information
Forest Lookouts
Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page
National Historic Lookout Register
Peakbagger
Panorama Photos
History
The Watchman lookout was built on a high point on the west shore of Crater Lake in 1932. The name originates from an 1886 survey when the USGS set up a watch point here while surveyors paddled around the lake in a boat to sound the depth with piano wire. (They were remarkably accurate, measuring a maximum depth of 1996 feet, not far off the current depth of 1943 feet as measured by sonar.)
The two-story lookout has a lower level that was designed as museum/observatory for the public, but it is now closed. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It underwent a $430,000 rehabilitation in 1999 and 2000. Work included restoring the catwalk, stairs, and the museum roof, as well as the interior. The lookout is no longer staffed.
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