Pine Mountain Lookout

I would suggest bringing an air mattress. The cots aren’t what I’d imagined. The surrounding area is beautiful. The lookout is like camping with a roof. Very peaceful.

Do not follow Apple Maps directions. It takes you to a locked pg&e gate. Google maps took us right to the cabin. Beautiful views, the cots to sleep on were nice. For being out in the middle of no where there were a lot of trucks on the road. It was hunting season. We would stay here again. Oh, the bats that come out at dusk are wild, so many flying around. Made me not wanna be outside.

PGE has put a gate that needs a key. Can’t even get to the lookout. Don’t waste your money.

Great view and sunsets. We did not sleep in the cabin, but had a great time looking around the historic site. It was awesome having the top of Pine Mt. to ourselves. The pit toilet was spotless.

It was kind of a rough experience- the surrounding forest is quite burnt out with very little shade. It was 97 degrees when I arrived at 6PM and for forecasted to be hotter the next few days of my reservation. There was also a large group of men camped within a quarter mile of the lookout which made this single, female camper very uncomfortable, especially after they drove by the lookout slowly checking it out a couple times after I first arrived. I decided the heat, lack of shade and neighbors made the stay not worth it and left after about an hour. If I were with a group, and it was cooler I think it would have been a great experience.
WARNING! Don't use the driving directions sent to you in the email! Those directions took me almost 2 hours on a narrow, unmaintained, extremely, rough road that went waaay out of the way to approach the lookout. When I left I decided to take the way google suggested which was a lovely 30 min drive on a wide, well-maintained road.

Location is excellent. Feels secluded but accessible. We saw no rattlesnakes. Trip to the Eel river was good relief from the heat. Bathroom was very clean.

Unable to reach pine lookout. Downed trees had block both forest roads entrances about 1 mi north from the lookout. We tried to move a few but reached a point where they were too big. This is coming through Potter Valley and Eel Rd (North to South). I'm sure it would have been great, would check road conditions for others looking to camp here in the future.

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Great look out. Beautiful sunset. The outhouse hadn't been cleaned in a looooong time. (But nice that it even has an outhouse) So i cleaned it for the next group. C'mon people, clean up after yourselves. The road up is a bit rough, 4 wheel-drive is ideal. We went for a swim at the bottom of the hill in the Eel River, under the bridge. Really nice. Would definitely stay here again.

We visited Pine Mtn right before the 2018 fire went through. We were amazed and so grateful that the lookout was saved so that such a treasure could be enjoyed by more people. The 180 degree view to the west is made for sunsets while the trails to and all around the place make exploring a really great treat.