Cispus Lookout has been on my ‘to-do’ list for several years. Rubberleg’s 7/9/05 report on Cispus jogged my memory; so I finally did the long drive for a short hike. It was well worth the trip. So here is a little more information on Cispus Butte Lookout.
Getting there; from just a little SW of Packwood, take FS-20, about 12.4 miles, to Jackpot Lake. This road is in good condition, except for a couple of partial washouts. A high clearance vehicle is recommended.
This hike is on Green Trails Maps, Packwood -#302, and Blue Lake-#334. The 2004 Packwood map has an error; it’s missing about one mile of FS-20 from the South Point TH to the junction of FS-20 and FS2020. Trust me, it is there. My Blue Lake map is dated 1998, so the errors on this map may have been fixed, if there is a later map out. The 1998 map shows two dog legs trails, one east and one west of Jackpot Lake, connecting to the Klickitat trail, #7. Forget both of them, The east trail is there, but hard to locate, and the west trail has been abandoned and is overgrown. A large parking area and new connecting trail has been constructed directly north of Jackpot Lake. Follow this trail clockwise around the lake, meeting with trail #7 at the SE end of the lake. A quarter mile west of the lake there are two trail #7 signs. Turn LEFT at the first sign on to a short section of abandoned logging road. The remaining trails and intersections are straight forward.
The views from the top of Cispus are outstanding. They include views of Mt. Rainier, the Goat Rocks, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens. Two other local points of interest, about a mile west of Cispus, are Castle Butte and Twin Sisters. I have seen write-ups on both of these and was contemplating climbing the south Twin Sisters, which is the highest point in this area. However, the summit formation is covered with trees, thus limiting views; cancel that plan. Castle Butte is more of a scramble and looks quite interesting; I will save it for another day.
The flowers are passed prime, but sill pretty good. The bugs are very bad, especially at the lake.
Picture #1 is Cispus Butte, looking up from the meadow below. Picture #2 is of Castle Butte in the foreground, and Rainier in the background.
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