Lookout Point

Overview

In the early 2000’s, climbing near Eugene was still limited, and the small contingent of local climbers settled for any available options. One such option was a short, chossy section of columnar basalt at the far east end of Lookout Point Reservoir. One day circa 2007, Forest Weaver was driving along West Boundary Road to get a session in at this basalt crag only to discover that a landslide had wiped out a section of the road, rendering it impassable. As fate would have it, the damaged section of road was just past the Signal Point Boat Ramp, and Forest noticed the sun illuminating a cliff band high on the hillside to his left. After bushwhacking uphill, he reached the sector now known as the Madrone Coves and immediately recognized the potential for climbing.

Forest returned to the cliff a month later and began working on an approach trail. Upon reaching the cliff once more, he was surprised to find a fixed line hanging down the Pet Cemetery Wall. It appeared as though the damage to West Boundary Road had led to two independent discoveries of the cliff, and development efforts began simultaneously. While Forest focused his effort on the Madrone Coves, the brothers Chris and Kimball Holloway began bolting the Pet Cemetery, naming routes after pets that passed away. Despite their mutual interest in the cliff, Forest and his partners barely interacted with the Holloway brothers. Given their independence, it’s hard to say exactly which route was the first to be bolted at Lookout Point. Forest first bolted Piranha Pockets and originally graded it 5.10c. He followed this up with several other routes, most notably the underappreciated classic Machu Picchu Arête, originally graded 5.11b/c. The Holloway brothers started with routes that included Mac and Owen, although which route they put in first has been lost to time. At Sky Burial, the Holloway’s put in Pac, an excellent and difficult classic.

Back then, the approach to Lookout Point was still entirely in a second-growth forest, with beautiful Douglas Firs, abundant mushrooms, and a natural beauty akin to that of Moolack. It took nearly a year of effort to establish a good approach trail through this classic Oregon paradise. Today, much has changed. The sweeping clear cuts have eliminated all of the trees besides those too close to the rock and contributed to an increase in poison oak and tick populations. Despite this damage to this once-beautiful forest, Lookout Point retained its panoramic views and enough trees close to the cliff to temporarily make one forget about the vast clear cuts.

While development at Lookout Point saw a decade-long hiatus, we are far from the end of the story. Boulderers took an interest in the massive boulders that now rested in the clear cut. Forest, along with Silas Thoms and others, developed most of the boulder problems circa 2020.

In 2019, JD Merritt took an interest in the steep, pocketed climbing. The style was reminiscent of Wild Iris in Wyoming, where he learned to climb 15 years ago. The steepest features at Lookout were mostly untouched, and he put up another 40 new routes in the span of a few seasons, while also rebolting another 15-20, often clinic style with a big crew who learned the tricks of placing glue-in bolts to last in soft, porous rock.

Named as a play on Pet Cemetary, the 30 degree panel that makes up the R.I.P. also looks like a breaking wave from the side. The wall had been entirely infested with poison oak, but Forest cleaned it off and placed a single directional bolt for TR, at the end of what is now Gilded Fear that Guides the Flow and Hit the Tree and that Would Blow. JD sought out a number of lines and linkups and placed glue-in bolts, working through all the lines on the wall in 2020 and 2021. It now holds some of the most unique and challenging miniature sport routes in the Willamette Valley. Right-rising linkups are possible, and begin to stack 40+ hard moves without rest. The hardest of these is Phil Morton’s FA Continuum, unrepeated and likely 5.14b.

Jeff Hess is a local teacher and track and cross-country coach. He climbed out most of the Valley’s 5.12s in his 60s. At Lookout, he found and bolted excellent routes to round out the Madrone Coves and Sky Burial. His Retirement Plan, 5.10a, is an all-time classic. The Barbershop boulder was first developed by Jeff and sports a 60 degree roof. The Oakpatch routes left of Sky Burial are an essential part of the local circuit now.

The Break/Zombie Wall has an even more wavelike structure with a 40 foot, 40 degree overhang in the clearcut with featured, cave-style climbing, and numerous projects still cleaning up. This is an excellent winter crag, which features rain shelter in the steeps and dries out quickly in the sun.

Sky burial surely has the best rock, where water-work yields a thick patina, with solid small pockets and steep, 3-D climbing through ribs and aretes. These routes are mostly 60-70 feet long and are likely the best at Lookout, but feature a short season. JD continued in the tradition of the Holloways by naming more FAs after beloved and departed pets, with Gus, a new classic, and Ueli (named for his cat, who in turn was named for Ueli Steck, R.I.P.) a 5.13+ line up the striking black arete at the center of the wall.

Access to Lookout is currently closed due to its position on private land and a recent change in policy. Please do what you can to help us bring back access to this beloved local crag. We estimate that there could be another 50+ good routes at Lookout given the labyrinthine walls hidden in the forest. If we secure access, Lookout could be a key resource for climbers at every level for generations to come.

Location and Access

GPS: 43.89292, -122.67887
Elevation: 1,934 ft
Drive time from Eugene: ~35 minutes
Drive time from Corvallis: ~1 hour, 15 minutes
Drive time from Salem: ~1 hour, 40 minutes
Approach: ~30 minutes (~1 mile, 939ft elevation gain)
Land manager: Campbell Global
Access concerns: access prohibited (under a private lease)
Closures: closed due to lease
Amenities: none
Established campsites: none
Dispersed camping: some opportunities for dispersed camping

Weather and Season

Weather forecast
Season: year round
- Best time of year is the fall
- The Madrone Coves and the R.I.P. tend to stay fairly dry year round
- The Pet Cemetery and Sky Burial take much longer to dry
- Ticks are worst during the spring and early summer

Warnings and Notes

Access is currently prohibited! The WACC is actively working on a solution to this with the help of the Access Fund.
Beware of poison oak and poison ivy! Both are prevalent, especially near the higher walls like Pet Cemetery, although they can be avoided. Learn to recognize them, and wearing pants is recommended.
Beware of ticks, especially during late spring and early summer. Again, pants are recommended, as is a tick check after your session.

Hardware and Rock Type

Rock type: rhyolitic tuff
Rock quality:
- Rock quality varies greatly at Lookout
- Water-worked walls like the Pet Cemetery and Sky Burial have excellent rock
- Some of the early routes established on the Madrone Coves also follow excellent rock
- Many of the newer routes contend with some choss
Hardware: The hardware is a mixture of old and new, with most of the old bolts being sleeve bolts (5-piece Rawls), while most of the new bolts are stainless glue-ins. Many of the steepest routes are at least partially equipped with permadraws.
Bolting ethic: Similarly, the bolting style is a mix of old and new. Many of the older routes feature slightly spaced bolting, while most of the new routes feature closer bolt spacing.
Anchors: There are several styles of anchors to be encountered at Lookout, from loweroffs to rap rings to just bolts on some older routes.
Fixed lines: There may be fixed lines present on developing sections.

Climbing Styles

Type of routes:
- Mostly single pitch sport climbs
- Several boulder problems
- While technically no multi-pitch routes, Overbite serves as a second pitch to Punch You in the Eye
Number of routes: 72 routes, 15 boulders
Style:
- Sport: 71
- Top rope: 1
- Boulder: 15
Pitch count:
- 1 pitch: 72

Climbing Difficulty

Range of route difficulty: 5.7 – 5.14
Route difficulty spread:
- < 5.10: 7
- 5.10: 15
- 5.11: 22
- 5.12: 18
- 5.13: 9
- 5.14: 1
Range of boulder difficulty: V0 – V8
Boulder difficulty spread:
- V0: 1
- V1: 2
- V2: 5
- V3: 1
- V4: 2
- V5: 2
- V6: 0
- V7: 1
- V8: 1

Classic Routes

Sky Bison - 5.10a
Fondue or Fondon’t - 5.10b
Piranha Pockets - 5.11a
Owen - 5.11b
Machu Picchu Arête - 5.11d
Airbender - 5.12a
Mac - 5.12a
Gus - 5.12c/d
The Gilded Fear that Guides the Flow - 5.12d
Axe to Fall - 5.13