Lake of the Woods Lookout
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 25 mi
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 14 of the next 15 nights read 15:21 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Lake of the Woods Lookout is surrounded by mountainous terrain, forested hillsides and spectacular views within the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in southwestern Oregon. The flat-roofed cabin was originally a "ground house" located on Barklow Mountain in the Powers Ranger District. It was flown by helicopter to its present location and placed on a 12 ft. tower and catwalk in 1974. It was then staffed during fire seasons from 1974 to 1996. The lookout offers some amenities, but guests are asked to bring a few of their own supplies to ensure a safe and comfortable stay. Keep reading
Recreation
Hiking, mountain biking and stargazing are popular among guests at the lookout. Seasonal changes envelope the area as snowmelt gives rise to spring time flowers, and vivid autumn colors welcome a landscape blanketed with snow. Logging roads and trails extend from the area, providing guests with opportunities to explore the area's old-growth forests, rugged and steep river canyons and a variety of wildlife. Far away from city lights, the lookout provides a fantastic opportunity for stargazing. Guests to the lookout search for constellations, planets and are treated to an occasional meteor slashing the night sky.
Facilities
The lookout is a one-room cabin, able to accommodate up to four people. It is equipped with a double bed with a mattress, a table and two chairs, solar lights, cleaning supplies and a fire extinguisher. Shower stall is provided, however, guests must provide the water. On site, adjacent to the lookout, there is a picnic table and a campfire ring for outdoor dining. A pit toilet is also located outside the tower. There is sufficient room for one tent, but the ground is extremely rocky. Guests to this lookout should be prepared for a rustic camping experience, and will need to bring several of their own supplies. There is no water on site, so visitors must bring a sufficient amount for drinking, cooking and washing. Guests must also provide their own sleeping bags, sleeping pads, towels, dish soap, matches, cooking gear, first aid kit, toilet paper and garbage bags. Although lighting is provided, it is recommended guests bring an additional light source in case of emergency.
Natural Features
Lake of the Woods Lookout provides a panoramic view with vistas of the Pacific Ocean, the Kalmiopsis and Wild Rogue Wilderness areas, and the Wild and Scenic Illinois and Rogue River canyons. In the spring, the nearby Lake of the Woods, which is actually a fairly small shallow pond, is surrounded by wildflowers and welcomes the arrival of several species of birds and butterflies. As summer progresses, the lake fills in with tall reeds and grasses. Lightning storms are a part of the thrill of staying at a lookout, but they are also extremely dangerous. If a lightning storm should occur, guests are urged to follow these safety rules to minimize the danger: Stay indoors or completely inside your car If you are trapped outside during a lightning storm, move to lower ground and stay low to the ground. Do not stand under trees or other high objects. If you are in the lookout building, close the windows and doors. Lightning follows air currents: Do not touch anything metal. The Lookout has metal stairs and a metal walkway around the cabin; It is imperative guests do not stand at these locations during storms.
Nearby Attractions
Opportunities for swimming and fishing are within 10 miles of the lookout.
What the agency tells you
Water is not available at this facility.
Entry to the lookout will be by combination lock. Please call the Gold Beach Ranger District office at (541)247-3600 four days prior to your arrival to confirm your combination. The office is open Monday-Friday from 8:000 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed on weekends and holidays.
Please contact the Ranger District (541)247-3600 or (541)247-3638 prior to arriving at the cabin to check on any restrictions or conditions, such as fire or road closures, weather or storms that may affect the quality of your visit.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Pets are welcome at this facility
All garbage and food must be packed out
The lookout tower is a no-smoking facility
During periods of intense summer storms a Forest Service Fire Officer may need to use the lookout for short periods of time to spot fires; if you spot a fire while at the lookout, report it to the Forest Service immediately
Learn more about Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
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 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Pit Toilets
- PIT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…to bring several of their own supplies. There is no water on site, so visitors must bring a sufficient amount…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Coast
- Biking
- Hiking
- Mountain biking
- Stargazing
- Wildlife viewing
Full this Saturdayread 15:21 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBookedClosed
The one site on offer is taken this Saturday, and on three midweek nights after it as well. read 15:21 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:21 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| AREA LAKE OF THE WOODS LOOKOUT | C01 | cabin nonelectric | 1,500 ft | 172 ft | $65 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Foster Bar CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 4.6 miOak Flat CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 6.8 mi
Laird Lake CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 8.4 mi
Quosatana CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 8.5 mi
Bald Knob LookoutSiskiyou National Forest · 8.6 mi
Rock Creek CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 8.6 miFrom Portland take 1-5 S to OR 38W, Follow US 101 to Gold Beach. From Gold Beach, Oregon, on the north end of the town, turn east off of US Highway 101 onto County Road 595 (Jerry's Flat Road). Travel east on County Road 595 which becomes Forest Road 33. Turn left at 11.4 miles on to Forest Road 3310, cross bridge and go 13.7 miles. Stay to the right at the fork and turn on Forest Road 3340. Stay on this road for 5.1 miles. Turn left here onto Forest Road 141 - look for the gate in this 5-road junction. Lookout is 0.75-mile up Forest Road 141 spur. Caution! Road is rough. Travel time from Gold Beach is approximately 1.5 hours and 30.2 miles on narrow, paved and gravel roads. Forest Service roads are generally one lane gravel roads with pullouts. Many people use these roads, including logging trucks and recreational vehicles. Drive slowly, stay to the right at all times, and use pullouts.
From Powers, Oregon. At this moment, we don't recommend taking the Forest Service Road 3340. It is impassable. Instead, take the Forest Service Road 3336 to the Lookout.
You can also, follow the following links for directions:
Route 1: Jerrys Flat Rd, Lobster Creek Bridge, FR3310, FR3340, LOW.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Nesika Beach, OR
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 58°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 32°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
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
Lake of the Woods Lookout is in Oregon’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Val Hoyle (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyVal T. HoyleU.S. Representative · Oregon’s 4th 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
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Lake of the Woods Lookout, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon
Dear Val T. Hoyle, I’m a constituent in Oregon’s 4th district. I tried to camp at Lake of the Woods Lookout, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Lake of the Woods Lookout are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake of the Woods Lookout keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake of the Woods Lookout. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Lake of the Woods Lookout (Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Lake of the Woods Lookout, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon
Dear Jeff Merkley, I’m a constituent in Oregon. I tried to camp at Lake of the Woods Lookout, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Lake of the Woods Lookout are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake of the Woods Lookout keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake of the Woods Lookout. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Lake of the Woods Lookout (Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Lake of the Woods Lookout, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon
Dear Ron Wyden, I’m a constituent in Oregon. I tried to camp at Lake of the Woods Lookout, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, and couldn’t. All 1 sites at Lake of the Woods Lookout are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake of the Woods Lookout keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake of the Woods Lookout. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Lake of the Woods Lookout (Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon) via campanac.com