Lookout Mountain - The county highpoint for
Crook County, Lookout Mountain is also the second highest point in the Ochoco
Mountains of central Oregon. From the summit on a clear day you can see most of
the Oregon Cascades in the West to the Strawberry Mountains in the east and
nearly all of the Ochocos. Lookout Mountain lies within a protected wilderness
area and has not been subject to logging or other industrial use other than
pioneer mining. The Independent Mine site near the trailhead features a caved in
mine shaft with a stream running from it down an old mining cart
railway.
The Lookout Mountain summit is the location of an old lookout,
at one time fenced in with a rock wall which still stands today. This summit
lies in the middle of a long sagebrush meadow that runs the length of Lookout
Mountain near a winter sports shelter with fireplace for cross country skiers.
With nice even grade trails, Lookout Mountain is a popular destination for
mountain bike enthusiasts and horseback riders. Be prepared to find horse scat
on the trails, and to potentially see cattle on the mountain. In winter months,
Lookout Mountain is an ideal cross-country skiing and snowshoe
destination.
Lookout Mountain is #40 on the list of
Oregon peaks with 2000 feet or more of prominence.
Travel roughly 16 miles east of Prineville on US highway 26 to Forest Service
Road 23 (aka Ochoco Creek RD) on the south side of the highway. Follow FS road 23 for eight miles and take a right on Canyon Creek Road (FS road
42) which you will follow 6.5 miles to the saddle between Lookout Mountain and
Round Mountain (all roads are paved to this point). Take a right and follow the
rough dirt road to trailhead parking lot. Here pick up one of the three
trails to the summit. Lookout Mtn trail 804 runs just over 4 miles one way.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/centraloregon/
http://www.summitpost.org/lookout-mountain-ochocos/209781
Lookout Mountain Ochoco Independent Mine
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