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Garwood Butte, OR | July 2021

K7ATN's picture
Summit: 
W7O/CS-036
Voice Cellular Coverage: 
Decent, workable
Data Cellular Coverage: 
Decent, workable
Cellular Provider: 
Verizon
APRS Coverage: 
Some stations received, but no digi echos

If you are touring anywhere near Crater Lake National Park, Garwood Butte is a quiet destination for an activation. The forest road is fairly Priusable and the hike is reasonably short, even if a bit steep in places. As for a number of other summits, one reward for making it to the top is a historic fire lookout. The "upper" trailhead is about 1 mile and 600 feet of gain - from Forest Road 3703 (Three Lakes Rd) it's about 2.3 miles and 1000 feet. 

From Roseburg, Oregon turn on OR-138 East / Northeast Diamond Lake Boulevard. Continue on Highway 138 to milepost 83 to turn right (west) on Highway 230. Traveling 3 miles on Highway 230, turn north onto Road 3703, the Three Lakes Road, about 2 miles west of Diamond Lake. Go about 6 miles to Forest Service Road #3703-370 (This is not Dog Prairie Rd.). This is the place to park the Prius (43.1318, -122.2764) or continue in a high clearance vehicle about 1.3 miles to the trailhead. There's no place to park at this upper trailhead and the trail is not signed or particularly visible - there are half a dozen large trees across the trail in the first hundred meters or so. 

If you start from the Prius spot you may see a bit of the trail where it crosses Road 370 - it will eventually cross the road again at the upper TH - but you'll have a better idea of where to look if you go that way. In one of the photos below Darryl-WW7D is marking where the lower TH crossed the road. We didn't see any sign of the trail where it meets 3703 as shown in the map below. The lookout is in poor condition and is perched on a bit of rock - I deemed it not a safe place to operate - we found spots down a ways from the lookout where there are lots of trees and some bits of shade. We were lucky to work a couple on 2m fm and were glad to have APRS for spotting or Verizon coverage for the same.  https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/umpqua/recarea/?recid=63496 https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/garwood-butte.html  

Pictures: 
Garwood Butte Map
Prius Parking
Trail Crossing the Road
Upper TH
Garwood Butte Lookout