What is a lookout?
One of the many amazing things about the PNW is our history. With that history comes forestry and fire lookout rentals. These are amazing structures that once served a purpose, to house someone in remote areas so they can spot fires or do some work, but are no longer needed. So officials turn these structures over to be rentals for the public to enjoy.
These rentals come in a few different forms. Most people are probably most familiar with fire lookouts, or free-standing lookouts. These are the lookouts that typically get featured in media. They're on stilts, usually. These lookouts are rad but are very difficult to reserve. There are also cabin rentals which are similar but they aren't elevated. These cabins can be fire lookouts, old structures for staff, or just something that was made one day and folks have decided to keep it going. The cabins on the ground are often called guard stations.
Many structures are "volunteer supported". What this means is that they are not managed by anyone. They're considered abandoned by forest service or land owners but are allowed to exist because volunteers do the maintenance. Examples would be Devil's Peak or Pechuck. If you stay at a volunteer structure please bring something or make an improvement. Devil's has many tools on-site, so if you have the skills to make repairs that can be very helpful.
One of the best things about these rentals is that they have years of journal entries waiting for you. The Whisky Camp Guard Station has a whole backstory involving a castle, monsters, etc. It's really awesome. These places have so much history.
Renting
Know before you go.
Renting these structures generally means going onto recreation.gov. Recreation.gov leaves a lot to be desired. There is a notification system, but it's somewhat lackluster. Paid services exist to notify you.
There is no penalty for booking a site and cancelling within a certain window. This encourages people to book every opening they can find, only to cancel them a few weeks later, if they cancel at all. This means one has to regularly check recreation.gov for cancellations. Since the recreation.gov system went online, many people have commented how campgrounds and rentals are often empty despite there being no availability on recreation.gov. This is because there is no penalty for not showing up. I've noticed this and have taken advantage of it. I've shown up to campgrounds with camp hosts who have given me free sites because nobody showed up.
One thing to remember is Recreation.gov holds sites while people navigate the site, usually for 15-20 minutes, so if everything is reserved at 7:01am maybe wait 15 minutes and try again. People will fail to check out which will free up their reservation.
For example, I tried for 4 months to rent Acker Lookout without success. The way recreation.gov works is a 6-month rolling window. So if you want August 6th the earliest you can reserve it would be February 6th. This means I would set an alarm at like 6am, wake up and immediately try to book the rental only to find out someone had already sniped that day before I could even see the availability. This is really common.
I don't necessarily disagree with using technology to snipe spots. I'll link to one of the websites that does it, https://campflare.com. This tool lets you select up to 14 check-in days that it will alert you for. It also allows you to select multiple sites within a national forest. The Campflare Map is really rad.
There are also github projects that will let you setup your own monitoring, lol. Here's one and another one.
Finding your lookout(s)
Where even are these structures? Luckily, there are many resources for this. If you enjoy a book, there is a great one called How to Rent a Fire Lookout in the Pacific Northwest by Tom Foley. It might be out of date. I also use Cheryl Hill's website occasionally. I've used some of her data as a starting point to update.
There is also https://www.firelookout.com/or/ which is a solid resource but not very user-friendly.
A quick search will also get you a ton of information. So many people have blogs about these things. Reddit has some decent information, too.
Here is my fire lookout spreadsheet. This spreadsheet includes a lil info at a glance along with useful links. It's somewhat redundant, though, as most of the information is available via the map.
Here is a nice map. Link to map(new window)
Getting To Your Lookout
This can get people in trouble. Most lookouts can be driven up to. Some cannot and require a 1.5 mile or longer hike. Sometimes the weather restricts travel. Sometimes your car can't make it up the road. It's important that you have offline maps. Be ready to audible.
Google is awful for getting to lookouts. Do not rely on Google while driving forest roads. This is a huge pain. Use an app like Backcountry Navigator, Gaia or Onx and know how to use them. Subscribe to Accuterra or one of the premium map packs. They're absolutely worth $15/yr.
Recreation.gov will have travel directions as part of their heads-up email. This will also include any gate codes you might need. Use their directions! Google is not smarter.
What To Do At Your Lookout
- Do a puzzle.
- Read the journals.
- Many lookouts have local recreation guides and visitor information.
- Make an improvement or do a deep clean.
- Board game. Most lookouts have a few.
- Create a piece of art inspired by the lookout or area.
- Walk around.
- Pickup outside. This sounds weird but there's always trash and glass to be picked up.
- Enjoy the solitude or quiet time with loved ones.
- ????
Leaving Your Lookout
Always leave your lookout cleaner than you found it. Pack it in, pack it out. Do something to improve the structure or experience. Checkout is generally 11am.
Other Resources
Oregon State Parks - Yurts and Cabins
USFS PNW Region - Pick your forest and go to it's main site. Under the "Visit" tab navigate to Recreation --> Camping & Cabins.
Recreation.gov Map - Browsable map displaying Yurts, Cabins, Lookouts. Really handy.