North Cornwall Fire Lookout Route

Total Kilometers
30.8

Technical Rating

Moderate

Best Time

Summer, Fall

Trail Type

High-Clearance 4x4 Trail

Accessible By

Trail Overview

This is the north route to Cornwall Fire Lookout. This trail takes you from desert-like terrain to remnants of a forest fire from years past, to high alpine forest with great views. The trail is mostly gravel with a couple of washouts to cross, with one crossing needing high clearance 4x4. The trail gets tight towards the top with many downed trees, so a chainsaw is highly recommended. At the top is a 360-degree view of the coastal mountains in the distance, at 6,677 feet of elevation.

Photos of North Cornwall Fire Lookout Route

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Difficulty

High clearance is a must due to one large washout.

Technical Rating

Status Reports

Trail was open all the way to the fire lookout. The first washout on the way up has a very sharp angle in and out, watch you bumpers as two of us dragged going in and out. The second washout has an off camber spot, but the other option is another sharp angle of entry and exit.

Mostly clear except for a couple washout spots that you have to traverse, but they aren't to bad of you take them slow and pick a good line

The first 16 miles or so aren’t much more than a dirt road. There is a little mud. Then there are 3 washouts in a row that are pretty significant, the first one is probably not passable in a stock Jeep. After that, there’s a muddy and steep switchback up, and finally on the north facing slopes about a foot of soft slushy snow, with hard packed ice underneath.