Onion Mountain Lookout
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 12 mi
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
THIS FACILITY IS CLOSED TO RESERVATIONS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Onion Mountain lookout sits atop a 12-foot tower at an elevation of 4,438 feet, offering guests expansive mountain views in southwestern Oregon. The original Onion Mountain Lookout was a raised platform, built on top of a tower in 1916. In 1924, a second lookout without a tower was built on site. The current structure was placed on site in 1952 and served as a fire lookout and Aircraft Warning Service observation station. The lookout offers a unique lodging experience in the Rouge River-Siskiyou National Forest, but visitors are required to bring a few of their own supplies to enjoy a safe and comfortable stay. Keep reading
Recreation
Hiking, mountain biking, stargazing and wildlife viewing are popular among guests to this lookout. On trails throughout the area, hikers will enjoy mountain views, old-growth forest canopies and natural pools for swimming. The lookout is located near the Taylor Creek/Onion Way mountain loop, a trail popular among mountain biking enthusiasts. At night, the rustic cabin becomes an astronomer's heaven as the expansive night sky is littered with a dazzling display of stars and planets.
Facilities
The cabin offers a 14 x 14 foot room with large windows on all sides. It is designed for one or two people, and is furnished with a bed with a mattress, a table and chairs. Amenities include a propane cooking stove, refrigerator, and lanterns. There is no propane heater. There is also no water on site, so visitors must bring sufficient supplies for drinking, cooking and washing. Guests must also provide their own sleeping bags, sleeping pads, towels, dish soap, matches, cooking gear, toilet paper and garbage bags. A primitive vault toilet is located near the lookout as well as space for four or five tents.
Natural Features
On a clear day, Onion Mountain offers panoramic views of layered mountainous terrain and forest stretching out in all directions. Onion Mountain is named for the tiny wild onions that grow among the rocks at the summit. In early summer, the area is dotted with plumes of Bear Grass, bright yellow Snow Mountain Buckwheat and purple penstemon.
Nearby Attractions
Visit Crater Lake National Park and learn about its unique natural and cultural history. Reaching depths of 1,943 feet, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and one of the 10 deepest lakes in the world. Oregon Caves National Monument is within a hour's drive.
What the agency tells you
Entry to the lookout is by a key: please call the Wild Rivers Ranger District office at (541)471-6500, 4 days prior to your arrival to arrange pick up and drop off of the key
Please contact the Ranger District at (541)471-6500 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.
Because of the tower on the site, this rental is not recommended for families with toddlers or young children
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Pets are welcome at this facility
All garbage and food must be packed out
The lookout tower is a no-smoking facility
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.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…paper and garbage bags. A primitive vault toilet is located near the lookout as well as space for…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…is no propane heater. There is also no water on site, so visitors must bring sufficient supplies…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Biking
- Hiking
- Ranger programs
- Wildlife viewing
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 9
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 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Sam Brown CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 3.8 mi
Spalding Pond CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 8.6 mi
Sixmile CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 12 mi
River Bench CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 13 mi
Store Gulch CampgroundSiskiyou National Forest · 13 miEntry to the lookout is by a key. Please call the Wild Rivers Ranger District office at 541-471-6500, four days prior to arrival to arrange pick up and drop off of the key. The office is open Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and is closed on weekends and holidays. It is located at the Grants Pass Interagency Office, 2164 NE Spalding Avenue in Grants Pass, Oregon 97526.
From Grants Pass travel Highway 199 south to Riverbanks Road (milepost 7-just past the Applegate River) and turn right. Proceed on Riverbanks Road, 5.5 miles to Shan Creek Road and turn left. Travel 8 miles on this gravel road to Forest Service Road 2509 and turn right. Proceed 0.75 miles to the Onion Mountain gate.
Note: Onion Mountain Lookout is accessible by car, but the last 8.75 miles are on graveled Forest Service roads.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Merlin, 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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Onion Mountain 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 →