Flag Point Lookout
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 5 mi
Reservable everywhere but bookable nowhere.Ask the agency →
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1None on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Flag Point Lookout is situated on the eastern side of Mt. Hood and is surrounded by the Badger Creek Wilderness, the lookout boasts a spectacular panorama view of snow-covered treetops and rugged Cascade peaks. It provides access to a variety of recreational opportunities, including fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing, as well as winter sports. During summer driving conditions the lookout can be accessed by driving, 4WD or AWD is highly recommended. Keep reading
During winter driving conditions, the lookout can only be accessed by skiing, snowmobiling or snowshoeing either 10 or 17 miles from a parking area at Billybob Sno-park or Little John Sno-park. Winter driving conditions can occur in early fall and persist late into the spring. A Northwest Forest Pass is required for the parking area at Billy Bob Sno-park, annual or day passes can be purchased in person at the Hood River Ranger Station or online at https://www.discovernw.org/annual-northwest-forest-pass. An ODOT Sno-park pass is required for parking at Little John Sno-park and can be purchased at local vendors or online at https://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/pages/vehicle/sno_park_permits.aspx. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Basic overnight amenities such as a wood heating stove, gas cook stove, full size bed, cooking utensils, firewood, and a pit toilet are provided.
Recreation
In the summer months, visitors enjoy hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking in the area, as well as the gorgeous views from the lookout. The lookout is near Fifteenmile Campground, and an established network of trails within the Badger Creek wilderness. The area is popular among winter sports enthusiasts as well, as the location provides access to numerous cross country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling trails. It is a shared winter recreation area and lookout guests should expect other winter sports enthusiasts in the area.
Facilities
The cabin is atop a 40-foot tower and is surrounded by a wooden catwalk. The 14-by-14 room is furnished with a small bed, a wood stove for heating and a table and chairs. It has a propane cook stove and solar-powered lights. There is no water on-site. An outhouse with a vault toilet is located on the ground, as well as a shed stocked with firewood. A rope and pulley system is available to transport gear, as well as firewood, up and down the tower with ease. Guests will need to bring their own water for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes, as well as their own sleeping bags/bedding, a flashlight or lantern for emergencies, first aid kit, washcloths and towels, dish soap and garbage bags. This is a "Pack it in, Pack it out" facility; guests will need to carry out all trash and clean the facility prior to leaving.
Natural Features
The tower sits in the center of the Badger Creek Wilderness, at 5,500ft of elevation, on the south east side of Mt. Hood. Of the nine peaks in Oregon's Cascade Mountain Range, Mt. Hood stands the tallest, at 11,239 feet. It is thickly forested and capped with glaciers and snow. The lookout tower is one of three Forest Service watchtowers on Mt. Hood and it is still used to spot fires during summertime each year. A variety of wildlife make its home in the area. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (541) 352-6002.
What the agency tells you
During winter driving conditions, the lookout can only be accessed by skiing, snowmobiling or snowshoeing either 10 miles from Billy Bob Snow Park or 17 miles from Little John Sno Park. Winter driving conditions can occur in early fall and persist late into the spring.
For current conditions, please call Barlow Ranger District office at 541-467-2291 or the Hood River Ranger District office at 541-352-6002. The office is staffed Monday thru Friday 8am-4:30pm.
The combination to the tower, woodshed, and gate (if locked) are all the same and are included in your confirmation email.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Check out is 11am, check in is 3pm. There is no trash removal service, please pack out all trash.
Drinking water is not available at the tower, firewood is provided for indoor use only. Be prepared for extreme winter weather conditions; guests should be experienced in back country travel and survival skills. Please contact the Barlow Ranger District prior to departing for the lookout, to check on any restrictions or conditions, such as fire or road closures, weather or storms that may affect the quality of your visit. The height of the cabin and the open catwalk pose serious risks for children and pets; the steps and catwalk can become quite slippery and the tower may sway in strong winds. Don't Move Firewood: Please protect Pacific Northwest forests by preventing the spread of invasive species. Firewood can carry insects and diseases that can threaten the health of our western forests. You can make a difference by obtaining and burning your firewood near your camping destination. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets · Pit Toilets
- “…bed, cooking utensils, firewood, and a pit toilet are provided. Recreation In the summer months,… / …is no water on-site. An outhouse with a vault toilet is located on the ground, as well as a shed stocked…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…cook stove and solar-powered lights. There is no water on-site. An outhouse with a vault toilet is located…”
- Firewood
- Sold here
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Backpacking
- Birding
- Cross Country Skiing
- Fire Lookouts/Cabins Overnight
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
Nothing on the booking system
recreation.gov lists none of the 1 campsites the agency files here. Whatever these sites are, a reservation isn’t how you get one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 4
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites
All 1 sites
| 1 | Flag Point Lookout Tower | type not stated |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Nottingham CampgroundMt. Hood National Forest · 6.0 miLate Spring/Early Fall Access:
Prior to snowfall in the early fall, and following snowmelt in the late spring, the lookout can be accessed by passenger vehicle. AWD or 4WD is recommended. There is a gate about .2 miles before the lookout which may be locked when you arrive. The combination to the gate is the same combination provided to access the lookout tower. Please leave the gate in which you found it upon arrival.
Driving from Hood River/Portland/Sandy – take highway 35 to FS road 44 (Dufur Valley Road), turn northeast onto FS road 44 and continue approximately 10 miles to the junction with FS road 2730. Turn right onto FS road 2730 and continue approximately 5 miles to the junction with FS road 2730-200, turn right onto 2730-200 and continue approximately 3.5 miles to Flag Point lookout tower.
Driving from Dufur/The Dalles – take Highway 197 to FS Road 44 (Dufur Valley Road). Follow FS Road 44 west approximately 12 miles to the junction with FS road 2730. Turn left onto FS road 2730 and continue approximately 5 miles to the junction with FS road 2730-200, turn right onto 2730-200 and continue approximately 3.5 miles to Flag Point lookout tower.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sportsmans Park, OR
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Flag Point Lookout is in Oregon’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Cliff Bentz (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
The agency’s own record marks Flag Point Lookout reservable, and recreation.gov lists none of its campsites. The draft asks why, and what it would take to fix it.
- The member who votes the moneyCliff BentzU.S. Representative · Oregon’s 2nd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJeff MerkleyU.S. Senator · Oregon
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRon WydenU.S. Senator · Oregon
Read the draft, or change the wording
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Flag Point Lookout is reservable and not bookable
Dear Cliff Bentz, I’m a constituent in Oregon’s 2nd district. Flag Point Lookout, Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon is a federal campground the U.S. Forest Service records as reservable, and recreation.gov lists none of its 1 campsites, in any month asked. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why isn’t Flag Point Lookout on the booking system, and what would it take to put it there? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Flag Point Lookout (Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Flag Point Lookout is reservable and not bookable
Dear Jeff Merkley, I’m a constituent in Oregon. Flag Point Lookout, Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon is a federal campground the U.S. Forest Service records as reservable, and recreation.gov lists none of its 1 campsites, in any month asked. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why isn’t Flag Point Lookout on the booking system, and what would it take to put it there? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Flag Point Lookout (Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Flag Point Lookout is reservable and not bookable
Dear Ron Wyden, I’m a constituent in Oregon. Flag Point Lookout, Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon is a federal campground the U.S. Forest Service records as reservable, and recreation.gov lists none of its 1 campsites, in any month asked. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why isn’t Flag Point Lookout on the booking system, and what would it take to put it there? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Flag Point Lookout (Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com