Lunch Peak Lookout

The views are outstanding. Road is in good shape and easily assessible. The only lookout without mattresses. A popular location for hikers.

Very fun. Amazing views. Hiking trails nearby. Huckleberries in August. Also smoke... but can't help that.
We hiked to Peak Pend Oreille, Trestle Ridge, and started along Beetop-Roundtop trail until we felt like turning around.
Make sure to call the ranger station ahead of time to get the door code.

We did a roadtrip visiting and stay in 7 different fire lookouts 7 days in a row, bringing our cat along with us. If you want more information about that, find me on YouTube @JoelKalich.

Location and Access:
This lookout isn't where you should go if you want utmost privacy, we had at least 10 visitors in the single Saturday night we stayed. The road to the lookout claimed to be closed as you left pavement, but when we drove past the closed sign, it wasn't actually closed. I would've appreciated a heads-up about this. The 15 mi off pavement was no problem for my lifted Volvo XC70, and would be no problem for a stock Subaru, or even a sedan if you're careful.

The lookout:
We had no issues getting into the lookout, the code worked well. It was clean and ready to use. The main table for cards and whatnot is a picnic table which isn't the most comfortable, but it was sturdy and did the trick. The toilet was downhill a ways, an easy walk, but a fairly lengthy one. The toilet itself was clean and well stocked with TP for us. Views were, of course, spectacular, though slightly dampened by smoke unfortunately.

Warmest lookout we’ve stayed in yet. The double pane windows and solid door made for a cozy night. Got pretty windy and had a little bit of rain during the night but didn’t damper the experience. Brought our two dogs so we decided to bunker down with mats and sleeping bags on the floor with them and used the platform as a storage setup. This is an easy to access lookout. Road was packed dirt with some switchbacks. That being said visitors did show up throughout the day until around 7-8pm. We actually arrived with about 5 cars at the parking area near the bathroom and a big group at the top. They left shortly after pictures and once we fixed the sign visitors didn’t walk up pass the gate.

Warmest lookout we’ve stayed in yet. The double pane windows and solid door made for a cozy night. Got pretty windy and had a little bit of rain during the night but didn’t damper the experience. Brought our two dogs so we decided to bunker down with mats and sleeping bags on the floor with them and used the platform as a storage setup. This is an easy to access lookout. Road was packed dirt with some switchbacks. That being said visitors did show up throughout the day until around 7-8pm. We actually arrived with about 5 cars at the parking area near the bathroom and a big group at the top. They left shortly after pictures and once we fixed the sign visitors didn’t walk up pass the gate.

Warmest lookout we’ve stayed in yet. The double pane windows and solid door made for a cozy night. Got pretty windy and had a little bit of rain during the night but didn’t damper the experience. Brought our two dogs so we decided to bunker down with mats and sleeping bags on the floor with them and used the platform as a storage setup. This is an easy to access lookout. Road was packed dirt with some switchbacks. That being said visitors did show up throughout the day until around 7-8pm. We actually arrived with about 5 cars at the parking area near the bathroom and a big group at the top. They left shortly after pictures and once we fixed the sign visitors didn’t walk up pass the gate.

I was never given a door code so could not access the lookout. Very disappointing. We tried to get in contact with recreation.gov for hours. I have yet to receive even a refund for my stay... Do not book this place, it is a scam.

I was never given a door code so could not access the lookout. Very disappointing. We tried to get in contact with recreation.gov for hours. I have yet to receive even a refund for my stay... Do not book this place, it is a scam.

I was never given a door code so could not access the lookout. Very disappointing. We tried to get in contact with recreation.gov for hours. I have yet to receive even a refund for my stay... Do not book this place, it is a scam.

We have been to this lookout before and we always enjoy it. However, we were not informed the gate would be locked this time. It would be useful to have a gate key or combo lock to all ease of carrying equipment. Otherwise, we would have planned to just bring backpacking gear.