Heybrook Lookout

A wonderful site and the lookout cabin was very well appointed.

The weather was perfect. Enjoyed the hike and was pleasantly surprised of the accommodations. The view from the lookout is breathtaking. I hope to get a reservation next year.

Amazing experience! The hike up was pretty exhausting being out of shape and having loaded backpacks but 100% worth it. There were more amenities up in the tower than we realized which was great (solar powered lights for nighttime, bed with room for two people, utensils that we didn’t use but good to know, extra garbage bags etc). 10/10 recommend doing this at least once in your life.

Truly incredible experience. The panoramic views and the sunset were unreal. The watchtower had everything you could need and more - we were shocked by how perfectly stocked it was. We will come back as soon as we can get another resy.

I don’t think we have ever had such a wonderful camping experience as we did in the Heybrook lookout.
Shout out to the Skykomish Rangers and all that they do!! They put up with a lot of crap from the public and work very hard to provide and maintain clean accessible land for us to enjoy!
I’ve been visiting Heybrook as a day hike for years, it is one of my favorite trails and getting to stay in the lookout was a bucket list check off for me!
It was clean, well kept, and surprisingly quiet. We did get a few noisy people at sunset, and a couple at sunrise, but it is to be expected- you are not renting out the entire lookout, keep in mind that others deserve to partake in the areas as well.
Look into backcountry permits if you would like a truly private experience.
There were signs leading up to the lookout saying “occupied, please be respectful” and I feel like that helped - this is the first year I’ve seen the signs.
The bathroom situation is something to talk about. We are all adults, if you go potty in the woods and leave toilet paper on the ground… shame on you. If you’re going to not use the provided receptacle at least use a reusable kula cloth and/or pack out your garbage.
If you can score the competitive reservation, do it! It was so worth it!

This was a great Lookout. Wish we had done more stairs to prepare for the 8 flights up to the top, but we survived. The lookout itself is well stocked with cleaning supplies, reading materials, some puzzles and some games. There is one full size mattress on the bed frame, and two twin mattresses stored under the bed. Most of the furniture is bolted into the walls / floor - we noticed a number of ants under one bookcase, but were unable to move it to clean under it / behind it.
As gets mentioned frequently - this is a popular day hike destination, and you should expect visitors to the observation platform below both late at night and early in the morning (we stayed on a Monday night which I thought would be less crowded, but we had a group of 8 at 10 PM, and then around 20 by 5:30 AM). Luckily for us, our visitors were very quiet / respectful - we could definitely hear that they were there, but I wouldn't have considered them any worse than a crowded campground this time of year. The trapdoor has a large bolt from above, and the actual door locks - so I never felt the visitor situation was unsafe.
We were fascinated by the log entries from the Bolt Creek firefighters last fall - most simply wrote names / companies, but there were some real entries and it was fascinating to see all the places that sent responders to help with the fire. So cool! Though the lookout needs a new / bigger log.
As someone else mentioned - there is a bizarre amount of toilet paper leading to the pit toilet - not sure what's the story there. We enjoyed exploring the forest service road up top.

We had a very pleasant stay at the glass house in the clouds. The weather didn't exactly cooperate. But even with the clouds and the rain, we still had beautiful view of the nearby mountains.

Wonderful hike with my son. We were beat by the time we made the ridgetop but well worth it. The lookout cools down quickly once you open the windows, and the view was unbelievable.

This location serves as the ultimate vantage point, offering breathtaking views. However, it is crucial to be aware that it has become incredibly popular among day hikers. They flock to the viewing platform at all hours, sometimes leaving behind graffiti. Witnessing people neglecting the care of this lookout saddened us. It is essential to remember the principle of "Leave No Trace" and preserve these special places.

Our day hike to Bridal Veil Falls and Serene Lake was truly rewarding. Although one downside was the realization that we had to hike back up to the lookout afterwards, making it a double workout! On the bright side, make sure to visit Zeke's Drive In for some post-hike refueling. Their french dip burger and shakes are undeniably amazing.

We had this reservation for Memorial Day weekend Saturday. It was busy when we got there, but we didn’t have as many visitors as I thought we would, but that’s due to not having any views after 5pm the first night until the rest of our stay. Unfortunately we got fogged in. However, before the fog hit, we had the most incredible views which made this lookout one of our favorites. We still had several groups climbing the tower very aggressively which feels very unsteady when you’re sitting in the top. I wish we were able to take the road up to the tower in our vehicle if we have a stay. I felt very uncomfortable parking ours on the highway parking lot. I’ve heard of break ins so I was praying we wouldn’t have any problems during our stay. We made a do not disturb sign, but it looks like others beat us to it, so we were able to hang the sign up for our stay. There are report of people aggressively trying to get into the lookout around 6am so I really didn’t want to be scared awake. I really would like to get another reservation for this lookout, hopefully when there’s 0 fog, but I don’t think I’ll like the crowds that come with it. It’s definitely a give and take situation with this lookout. Yes, the views are incredible, but wow the constant flow of people is very hard to deal with.