Spodue Mountain - Klamath County, OR
N 42° 35.583 W 121° 16.147
10T E 642011 N 4717077
Spodue Mountain is located within the Black Hills mountain range and part of the Fremont National Forest in Klamath County, OR.
Waymark Code: WMJ3CW
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 09/16/2013
Views: 5
Spodue Mountain is located in Klamath County within the Black Hills mountain range and part of the Fremont National Forest. At the summit of this mountain lies the
Spodue Mountain Lookout Tower which was erected in 1967. The tower is open to the public during the fire season (May through mid-October) and offers spectacular 360 degree panoramic views of other mountain ranges and nearby valleys below. The drive up to the tower is accessible with any two-wheel drive vehicle on a nice gravel road (NF-3461). There is a gate located a mile from the summit and is closed during the off-season.
The walk up to the tower is pretty easy and there is a walk-around deck at the top. We met the current watchman, Gene, who let us into the tower to show us a few pieces of equipment he uses in his lookout for fire detections. There are living quarters in the lookout which include a bed, small stove, oven range, sink and a few cabinets for storage. Water has to be brought up manually or via a basket that runs on a cable and hoisted up. There is a small refrigerator that is kept on a small deck below the tower. It's a pretty simple lifestyle Gene lives during the fire season.
The drive up to this lookout is worth it for the wonderful views you will enjoy at the summit. In addition to a nice geocache located here, there are also some benchmarks that can be logged on Geocaching.com (PID# NY0868). The lookout tower itself is a benchmark (PID# NY0867).