Round Top Lookout is owned by the Oregon Department of Forestry. Originally established in 1934 it was a 100' observation tower, followed by a 20' wooden L-4 tower built in 1950. The current tower was built in 1973. This 20' treated timber tower, with ODF cab, is still staffed every summer.
The lookout is no.loger manned. The lookout is at 4649' elevation and not accessable in the winter.
The view from the observation deck is magnificent! You are looking down on Table Rock, and in the distance you can see Mt McLoughin, Crater Rim and even Mt. Thielsen!! The cache is located about 100’ from the lookout.
The Cache contains some trade items and has room for more. There is plenty of parking and a good turn around too.
Getting to this lookout was no easy task! There are several options, and we discovered the best route on the way out. We placed four breadcrumb caches along the way so you would be able to take the correct roads. To get here, take paved Road 33-2-33 (Evans Creek) for about 4.3 miles to Road 33-2-17, a graveled road going down to the creek. We could not find a sign at this intersection, but it is pretty obvious. Pick up the Round Top Breadcrumb #1 cache and then continue on to Round Top Breadcrumb #2. Continue on for another 1.6 miles to a dirt road going to the left and straight up the mountain! No road number here at all. Most of the maps we looked at do not have the road to the lookout in the correct location so please don’t follow a map too closely! Round Top Breadcrumb #3 is about 500’ up this road. Continue on to Round Top Breadcrumb #4. From here continue on up the road. At the next intersection go UP the hill to the left and at the next intersection stay to the right. It’s pretty obvious which road is traveled the most. The graveled road up to where you turn left on the dirt road is passable in any vehicle, but the dirt road to Round Top Lookout is rough. We highly recommend a high clearance vehicle and 4X4 is helpful too (because of the steepness and water bars).