Clear Lake Butte Lookout

Of the nine peaks in Oregon’s Cascade Range, Mount Hood stands the tallest at 11,239 feet, thickly forested and capped with glaciers and snow. Clear Lake Lookout, perched on the mountain’s side near the northwest corner of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs reservation, offers winter sports enthusiasts a tranquil, remote spot to spend the night amongst the tall timbers.

The cabin is atop a 40-foot tower and is surrounded by a wooden catwalk. The 14x14 foot room is furnished with a small, single bed, a wood stove for heating, and a table and chair, and is equipped with a propane cook stove and a solar lighting system. There is no water on site; visitors must bring plenty for drinking, cooking and washing. An outhouse is located near by, as well as a shed stocked with firewood.

History

The original lookout was built by the Forest Service in 1932, and was on a 100 foot tower. In 1962 it was replaced with the present lookout. The lookout is an "R-6 Flat Top" style cabin, a design introduced in 1953 as the last generation of fire lookouts in the region. The design, which includes a flat, tarred roof, originated in the Pacific Northwest and was designed to alleviate costs and hazards associated with re shingling the roofs typical of earlier style lookouts. Window shutters, a feature of earlier lookouts, were eliminated in this new design, and an extra foot of dimension added over previous lookouts (15x15 ft). These newer lookouts used plywood as a construction element, another new feature.