Administrative agency:
Deschutes NF
Staffing status:
one of the lookouts in Oregon with a long history of staffing,
Round Mountain may have been staffed every year since it was
built, it continues to be staffed every year
Elevation:
5900ft
Structure:
1933 L-4 cab, somewhat recently modified with large single pane
windows and a larger catwalk, many items such as the original door
still remain
Access:
several good quality routes are available from Highway 97, coming
from La Pine may be the most direct, pavement is present a good
amount of the way, the roads are signed with road numbers in most
locations, the road switches to gravel around 10 miles from the
lookout, access becomes a little unclear in the area of the
turnoff to the lookout road, during my visit it was not signed
very well, watch for the old phone like hanging on the trees and
then take that road for a short distance to the lookout road which
is signed with the correct road number, a gate is present around 1
1/2 miles from the lookout, however it will likely be opened
during fire season, when you reach the lookout you will notice a
nice walkway to the lookout from the parking area
Road conditions:
the gravel road is in pretty good condition although some
wash-boarding is present, the road to the lookout is about two
miles in length and is mainly dirt with some natural rock, despite
this it should be usable by most vehicles
Interior: the interior contains a propane heater,
stove, refrigerator, and several propane lights, a bed, table,
shelves, and counter are also present, the windows have been
replaced with large single pane windows making for much better
viewing
Other structures on summit: a permanently mounted
propane tank, a water tank, a weather box, and a RAWS sit near the
tower,
click here to see the weather conditions on Round Mountain
(this links to a National Weather Service
page), a small building also sits under the catwalk
Electric power source: several smaller solar panels
are present for the lookout loads, the RAWS station also has at
least one solar panel mounted on it
Other: although hard to see in the photos below, Round
Mountain sits on a large rock about the size of the lookout, until
the early 1990s the single wire phone line was still connected and
used, this practice ended when some of the line was melted by a
lightening strike, as well as the phone company no longer wanting
to deal with the outdated system, still many pieces of the phone
line can be seen along the road, the lookout has a larger than
normal catwalk as well as some nice steps from the tower to the
parking area, the traditional shutter supports have been replaced
with rather non-historic pieces of pipe although this does create
less blind spots when using the fire finder, views of the
surrounding forest and mountains are nice, even some buildings in
town are visible |
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Roger the lookout may very
well be the most experienced lookout in Oregon with well over 30
years atop Round Mountain, most of them consecutive, in addition
to that he also has some firefighting experience, he is a friendly
guy making for a great visit to this lookout |
| Visited: Dominic Luebbers August 2002 |
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