I never made it to the lookout. Google maps took me on the back road to the lookout (Gould Creek Road) and the road was so steep and overgrown that it scratched up my husband's new truck and I had to turn around. Don't take Gould Creek Road! Later on, I found out there was a preferred route - Stemple Pass Trailhead. I called the Ranger station beforehand and asked if there was any insights or suggestions, and they didn't say a preferred or alternative route, so I assumed that Google maps was accurate. The confirmation email stated that it was steep which is why I brought my husband's truck instead of my sedan. I'm an untested rough road driver, between my lack of experience and the awful road, I ended up in a repair shop instead of the Granite Peak Lookout.

I never made it to the lookout. Google maps took me on the back road to the lookout (Gould Creek Road) and the road was so steep and overgrown that it scratched up my husband's new truck and I had to turn around. Don't take Gould Creek Road! Later on, I found out there was a preferred route - Stemple Pass Trailhead. I called the Ranger station beforehand and asked if there was any insights or suggestions, and they didn't say a preferred or alternative route, so I assumed that Google maps was accurate. The confirmation email stated that it was steep which is why I brought my husband's truck instead of my sedan. I'm an untested rough road driver, between my lack of experience and the awful road, I ended up in a repair shop instead of the Granite Peak Lookout.

No complaints about the facility and the provided outhouse. Everything was clean and the amenities are pretty accurate according to the listing and recent reviews. However, if you would like to rent out a fish bowl and have everyone looking in the windows at you, then this is the place for you. We tried everyday to keep people off the top deck and hikers still came up unannounced and without permission. We even had some ATVers that decided to have a picnic right below the tower and some teenagers that came up one evening on their four wheelers to smoke weed. There is zero privacy during daylight hours. Probably the two WEEKDAYS we were there we saw at least 30 people up there between the hikers and the lookie loos. We tried putting the grate to the top deck down to keep people out and they still barged on up upon seeing our truck down below. Maybe we should have put our cooler on it in hindsight. I get that the tower is amazing as well as the views and people want to see it, but for someone who has had a reservation for 6 months, and booked over several weekdays to avoid crowds, the overall experience was quite disappointing. The forest service really needs to put up a sign at the base of the tower to be courteous of the occupants’ privacy. It’s one thing to have hikers pass by on the CDT, it’s a whole other thing to have them up in your space at any given moment. Also a side note, it was extremely windy the whole time, but honestly, that was far less disappointing than the revolving door of visitors.

No complaints about the facility and the provided outhouse. Everything was clean and the amenities are pretty accurate according to the listing and recent reviews. However, if you would like to rent out a fish bowl and have everyone looking in the windows at you, then this is the place for you. We tried everyday to keep people off the top deck and hikers still came up unannounced and without permission. We even had some ATVers that decided to have a picnic right below the tower and some teenagers that came up one evening on their four wheelers to smoke weed. There is zero privacy during daylight hours. Probably the two WEEKDAYS we were there we saw at least 30 people up there between the hikers and the lookie loos. We tried putting the grate to the top deck down to keep people out and they still barged on up upon seeing our truck down below. Maybe we should have put our cooler on it in hindsight. I get that the tower is amazing as well as the views and people want to see it, but for someone who has had a reservation for 6 months, and booked over several weekdays to avoid crowds, the overall experience was quite disappointing. The forest service really needs to put up a sign at the base of the tower to be courteous of the occupants’ privacy. It’s one thing to have hikers pass by on the CDT, it’s a whole other thing to have them up in your space at any given moment. Also a side note, it was extremely windy the whole time, but honestly, that was far less disappointing than the revolving door of visitors.

You're paying to be the tower host. You have zero privacy. You will be greeting people, and your belongings and space will be their space. People start rolling in as early as 7 am and don't let up until 9 pm, from surly locals, ossified retirees, CDT hikers, and everyone in between. No need for an alarm clock, if the footsteps of plucky hikers upon the planks don't wake you up, the sound of straight-piped UVTs driving up in droves will. It is a gorgeous area to explore, the tower has breathtaking views. But to rent this with the impression that you are in a cabin atop a tower is just not accurate.

You're paying to be the tower host. You have zero privacy. You will be greeting people, and your belongings and space will be their space. People start rolling in as early as 7 am and don't let up until 9 pm, from surly locals, ossified retirees, CDT hikers, and everyone in between. No need for an alarm clock, if the footsteps of plucky hikers upon the planks don't wake you up, the sound of straight-piped UVTs driving up in droves will. It is a gorgeous area to explore, the tower has breathtaking views. But to rent this with the impression that you are in a cabin atop a tower is just not accurate.