Lookout Mountain Lookout - Methow — Friday, Aug. 23, 2019

I have a lot to say about this hike.

First of all, my friend and I had planned to hike Park Butte today, but the weather was not favorable for that. So we decided to take a road trip east on 20 and stop in Twisp to do this short hike.

Overall I recommend it. But knowing what to expect will definitely help. Getting to the trailhead in my 2wd Hyundai Elantra hatchback was a little bit stressful. The “good dirt road” described here was fine ... but when they said “rough road” after that they were not joking. Also when the “good dirt road” ends so does the GPS navigation as well; we kept on driving gingerly until we reached the trailhead area. The road was very narrow at parts, only wide enough for a single vehicle with a sheer cliff on one side so I gave thanks to Valhalla that we did not encounter another vehicle coming the down the road in the opposite direction. It took about 30 minutes each way to traverse those 6 miles.

My friend and I were the only people on the mountain that whole time. When we reached the trailhead there was no sign so it wasn’t super obvious that we were at the right place. There is a grassy turnout and also a tiny “no dirt bikes” sign which tipped us off regarding the trailhead. I used my Gaia GPS to help show us the way and indeed we were able to hike to the lookout. The beginning part is steep enough to break a sweat.

The clouds were definitely present in our “panoramic views,” but we had some nice mountain views in one direction so we were content. There were also cool mossed over trees along the way. It took us 2 hours round trip, including some multiple breaks along the way up as we adjusted to the altitude.