Derek and I have had this ride on our radar for a few months now and it was worth it! Hershberger Mountain Lookout is a gorgeous ride and we had a great time. We took the most direct way we could see on a map and rode this as an out and back of 21 miles with 3,072′ of climbing up to the highpoint of 6,172′.
This ride starts just off Diamond Lake Highway 230 where it intersects with Highway 62. The ride is all gravel or dirt with zero pavement and oh, the views! The wildflowers were starting to pop when we rode it and there are trees for shade in a lot of places but it still gets hot out here.
The climbing is pretty gentle all the way past Rabbit Ears. These two huge volcanic outcrops look like rabbit ears when viewed from the highway but we saw them from the other side. Rising over 5,800 feet from the valley floor, the two behemoth crags jutting from the earth at a slight angle to each other give the outcrop its apt name. There is a short downhill here before the right turn where it gets steep. The road deteriorates greatly but we rode mountain bikes so it was no problem.
Just a short distance up this dirt road we got our first glimpse of the lookout way up on the cliff. I will say, it was a bit disheartening to see how far we still had to climb up. This last section is pretty steep in sections and it was a grind to reach the tippy top. SO WORTH IT.
The Hershberger Mountain fire lookout is a cupola-type structure that was built in 1925, served as an aircraft warning station during WW2, and was refurbished in the 1980s and 2012. It was empty when we opened the door and peeked inside. After admiring the horizon and the expansive views of the Upper Rogue River, Crater Lake rim, Mount Thielsen, Mount Bailey, Mount McLoughlin, and, off in the distance Mount Shasta, we began the descent.
What an amazing and quiet ride. We didn’t see anyone else but maybe on the weekend it gets some OHV traffic.
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