Arid Peak Lookout

Great hike to tower. Water is a challenge but all around a great trip.

Great hike to tower. Water is a challenge but all around a great trip.

Love this place.

Love this place.

This was one of the most romantic trips I've taken with my wife. We didn't mind getting a little sweaty hiking up the trail to the lookout. Especially looking on back the experience. Most of the elevation gain is in the first mile along a hillside of huckleberries. We did see 2 black bears, 1 along the trail and one who was checking us out at the lookout. The views were great. The best views were at night laying down, turning your head and seeing stars or lightning in all directions. The lookout was very clean and had all the basics. We loved experiencing a bit of western history. The solitude and peace really made it magical.
Thank you USFS and volunteers who keep this place up.

P.S. The spring water is very very cold and refreshing. Bring a water container and life straw for the way up

This was one of the most romantic trips I've taken with my wife. We didn't mind getting a little sweaty hiking up the trail to the lookout. Especially looking on back the experience. Most of the elevation gain is in the first mile along a hillside of huckleberries. We did see 2 black bears, 1 along the trail and one who was checking us out at the lookout. The views were great. The best views were at night laying down, turning your head and seeing stars or lightning in all directions. The lookout was very clean and had all the basics. We loved experiencing a bit of western history. The solitude and peace really made it magical.
Thank you USFS and volunteers who keep this place up.

P.S. The spring water is very very cold and refreshing. Bring a water container and life straw for the way up

This was a great first trip for myself and my son to a fire lookout! Hike in was great and per other trail users, is mostly uphill the first 1.5 miles. The beginning of the hike is through luscious huckleberry bushes so we made a lot of noise and didn't see any bears although I'm sure they're around the area. Bugs were at a minimum which was great. Air quality was great; no disturbances from forest fires. Temperature was very warm but cooled down nice at night. We saw a mom and her one young deer at dusk at the lookout. We heard them first, saw their eyes in our headlamp reflection, and watched them walk through camp. They didn't appear to be skittish. We also had a small bird of prey (kestrel maybe?) almost land next to us on the railing of the lookout in the morning. Had a small garter snake cross the trail in front of us, saw multiple little chipmunks and squirrels, and 1 beautiful little red bird I've not identified but it may be a crossbill. We attempted to hike to the water source/spring once we got to the lookout and unpacked. However we hiked about 0.54 miles (was supposed to be about 0.5 miles down) and the trail was growing less traversed/more wild and once we came to an old tree downed in the trail we decided to head back to the lookout since it was getting dark and we had only hiked down with the jugs and water purifier. Would like to know if the spring/water source is still there?!? Overall a great experience. Hike is not too strenuous and easily done at a slower pace for non-conditioned hikers (like me!). Would probably not take little kids to the lookout as it could be a safety hazard once up in the lookout; railings are good but it would make me nervous to have little kids around it.

This was a great first trip for myself and my son to a fire lookout! Hike in was great and per other trail users, is mostly uphill the first 1.5 miles. The beginning of the hike is through luscious huckleberry bushes so we made a lot of noise and didn't see any bears although I'm sure they're around the area. Bugs were at a minimum which was great. Air quality was great; no disturbances from forest fires. Temperature was very warm but cooled down nice at night. We saw a mom and her one young deer at dusk at the lookout. We heard them first, saw their eyes in our headlamp reflection, and watched them walk through camp. They didn't appear to be skittish. We also had a small bird of prey (kestrel maybe?) almost land next to us on the railing of the lookout in the morning. Had a small garter snake cross the trail in front of us, saw multiple little chipmunks and squirrels, and 1 beautiful little red bird I've not identified but it may be a crossbill. We attempted to hike to the water source/spring once we got to the lookout and unpacked. However we hiked about 0.54 miles (was supposed to be about 0.5 miles down) and the trail was growing less traversed/more wild and once we came to an old tree downed in the trail we decided to head back to the lookout since it was getting dark and we had only hiked down with the jugs and water purifier. Would like to know if the spring/water source is still there?!? Overall a great experience. Hike is not too strenuous and easily done at a slower pace for non-conditioned hikers (like me!). Would probably not take little kids to the lookout as it could be a safety hazard once up in the lookout; railings are good but it would make me nervous to have little kids around it.

Wonderful lookout & the hike in was beautiful! Lookout was clean & comfortable

Wonderful lookout & the hike in was beautiful! Lookout was clean & comfortable