Lookout Point is located on the western edge of the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit (BRWMU) and is restricted to the general public. Locked gates are at all road entry locations. Authorized access is required to enter any road access location.
The four routes to Lookout Point are a combination of either crossing private individual, timber company, City of Portland, BLM or USFS properties. The two timber companies are Frank Timber Resources, Inc. and Weyerhaeuser. The main access route is via a Weyerhaeuser locked gate with a no trespassing sign. I’ve noticed cellular and SD Card only trail cams owned by Weyerhaeuser and the lease holds on the access road.
Prior to Longview Fibre Company’s sale to Weyerhaeuser in 2013 you could hike, ride horses and hunt behind the locked gates. In the old days there wasn’t any gates. After the gates were installed due to meth lab and stolen car dumping, the City of Portland and timber companies got tired of dealing with the mess and installed gates. Occasionally the gates were left wide open during hunting season for all to enjoy. Those days are now long gone. Today, you can only access Weyerhaeuser’s land near Lookout Point with a written lease agreement (https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com). Typically, clubs (probably hunting) or private individuals secure these limited leases to gain exclusive access to Weyerhaeuser’s timberland. Maybe finding out who holds a Weyerhaeuser lease could gain you access? I’m not the guy to ask, sorry.
The Portland Water Bureau security personnel patrol portions of the private timberland roads on their way to the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit (BRWMU). The timberland owners have their own patrols on and off during the year. The ones that do a stellar job of watching the roads are the leaseholders. They protect the property like it’s theirs, will stop you and call the Sheriff.
Approved access to Lookout Point is typically via the main access gate at the end of SE Warriner Road in Clackamas County near Camp Howard. It’s approximately 6.5 miles beyond the locked gate by following the well-traveled gravel road to the powerlines, then turn right and stay on the road until you reach the top.
I maintain some radio equipment on Lookout Point. This allows approved access to the summit and why it was convenient to activate W7O/WV-079 during the October 30, 2021 SOTA S2S party organized by KJ7EHA. I really enjoyed this event and now I’m hooked with SOTA activations (Thanks Greg!).
Looking forward to activating some more collocated SOTA / radio sites during my mountaintop travels around the PNW. The photos below are from the activation.
