Little Cowhorn Mountain is a summit north of Oakridge, OR that has an inactive lookout cabin perched on rock columns. This 4236’, two point summit offers great views of the Sisters and other Cascade mountains. It is an easy hike of a mile or so with about 850’ of elevation rise.
To get to the trailhead, go to Lowell, OR (either on the Jasper-Lowell Rd from Springfield, or across Dexter Lake from OR Hwy 58). Crossing the bridge over Dexter Lake becomes Pioneer. Turn left as soon as you cross the lake onto Jasper-Lowell Rd. In a block or two, turn right onto Moss. Follow Moss for about 2 miles until coming to the Unity Bridge. Don’t cross the bridge; turn right and follow that road until turning left at the Winberry Creek Road junction. Proceed on Big Fall Creek Road (NF-18) to Road 1817. Take a slight left onto NF-1817 and go about 4.8 miles until the road junctions into NF-1818. Veer left onto 1818 for about 1.5 miles until reaching NF-424. Follow 424 about 2.5 miles until it continues onto NF-1817. Take 1817 about 2.0 miles until reaching a clearing. The roads were reasonably good. This clearing is the trail head. A dirt road labelled NF-388 takes off up the hill. A trail leads away from this junction to the right. A sign says that motorized vehicles are not allowed on the trails. I don’t know if that applies to NF-388 too.
We walked up the switch backing trail to the top. NF-388 ends in a clearing about 0.4 miles up from the junction with NF-1817. The trail passes though that clearing on its way up. We took the interesting trail up all the way to the top, but we took NF-388 from the clearing in the woods down to the trailhead. The road was fairly straight down and a decent dirt road. It probably is muddy in the rainy season.
The upper parts of the trail have interesting rock columns, and the lookout is anchored to these formations. The trail around the lookout is narrow with steep sides, but a wire cable hand fence offers insurance against a dangerous fall. The views from the lookout are wonderful. The lookout cabin is available for camping on a first-come-first-served basis.
Some trees around the shoulders of the summit could be used for antennas, but I attached a 27’ push up mast to the lookout railing and hung a 33’ wire from that (EFHW on 20m). Radio reception was great. I worked about 4 dozen stations including a half dozen or so S2S contacts. Oregon to Oregon S2S contacts were strong, including 2m FM and 20m SSB/CW. ZL1BYZ was 449. It was a great day in the mountains!