Thorp Mountain Lookout via Thorp Creek — Saturday, Jul. 26, 2025

With clouds in the morning and sun in the forecast, we decided to try the Thorp Creek trail to the Thorp Mountain lookout.
The views from the top, at the lookout are fabulous.
There is plenty of room for people to spread out, enjoy the view and have their lunch.
There were a couple of cars near the trailhead when we arrived around 9:00 am, which left us plenty of places to park.
The trail itself is dry, with no real place to fill up your water bottle. So make sure you fill up your water before you go.
The trail is pretty much uphill after the first mile and a half, which means it's also pretty much downhill for about two and a half miles. We carried hiking poles which were very beneficial on the way back down.
There were two trees you needed to crawl under and a few the step over in the first two miles of the trail. They were more of a bother than an issue.
There were some bugs along the way, but our bug spray (Proven, a Picaridin based bug spray) did the job just fine and kept the bugs at bay.
Plenty of flowers in bloom, and we saw several butterflies, who didn't seem to mind the hikers on the trail.
The trail itself wasn't very crowded. We were by ourselves for most of the way. We encountered a few couples, along with two families with young kids, all who made it up to the lookout.
Be aware of the trail markers. There are a few trails that join into this trail to the Thorp Mountain lookout. Watch for the signs and when given a choice, always go up. We met a family who said they followed the trail and missed the lookout, which was sad, because the views from the top on such a sunny day are fabulous.
All in all, we enjoyed this hike and its wonderful views at the lookout.