{"id":1686,"date":"2024-07-20T13:18:03","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T20:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/?p=1686"},"modified":"2025-06-22T07:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T14:44:08","slug":"the-watchman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/2024\/07\/20\/the-watchman\/","title":{"rendered":"The Watchman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Type: Two story stone and timber lookout
\nStatus: Not staffed
\nElevation: 8,056 feet
\nVisited: July 20 and September 28, 2024<\/p>\n

I visited The Watchman twice this summer, under very different sets of conditions!<\/p>\n

You can read about my hike in July here<\/a>. Here are photos from that day, when it was super smoky. (Scroll down for nicer photos from my September visit)<\/p>\n

First view of the lookout at the end of the trail:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Visitors are not allowed up the stairs onto the catwalk, but there is a nice viewing area in front of the lookout:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The lower level used to contain a little museum back in the day, but it’s all boarded up now, along with the lookout:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking northeast at Llao Rock and Mt. Scott:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking east across the lake at Mt. Scott:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking southeast at Mt. Scott and Garfield Peak:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking south at Mt. McLoughlin and Union Peak:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking west:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking northwest at Bohemia Mountain, Fairview Peak, Garwood Butte, and Mt. Bailey:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

Looking northeast at Llao Rock and Mt. Scott:<\/p>\n

\"Watchman<\/p>\n

Looking east across the lake at Mt. Scott (which I visited earlier today):<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

\"Watchman<\/p>\n

Looking southeast at Mt. Scott and Garfield Peak, with Wizard Island in the foreground:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking south at Mt. McLoughlin and Union Peak:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking west:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Looking northwest at Bohemia Mountain, Fairview Peak, Garwood Butte, and Mt. Bailey:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Close-up of Garwood Butte (I hiked<\/a> to the lookout there in 2023):<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

Close-up of Mt. Bailey (a former lookout site that I have not been to):<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

More information<\/strong>
\nForest Lookouts<\/a>
\nRex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page<\/a>
\nNational Historic Lookout Register<\/a>
\nPeakbagger<\/a>
\nPanorama Photos<\/a><\/p>\n

History<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Watchman_c1984\"
\nc1984<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Type: Two story stone and timber lookout Status: Not staffed Elevation: 8,056 feet Visited: July 20 and September 28, 2024<\/p>\n

Continue readingThe Watchman<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crater-lake-national-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1686"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1896,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1686\/revisions\/1896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylhill.net\/firelookouts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}