Popular WA hiking trail and lookout closed until August for repairs
High Rock Lookout and surrounding areas have been closed for reconstruction and renovation work.
Starting this past Wednesday, a Forest Service approved closure of High Rock Lookout, High Rock Trail in its entirety, and any areas within 150 feet of the High Rock Lookout foundation and structure is in effect until August 23. Over the next six weeks, volunteers with the White Pass Country Historical Museum and the Sand Mountain Society will conduct renovation work on the lookout.
This summer’s efforts fit into a larger picture of restoration efforts at the lookout point over the past ten years. In 2015, Rick McClure, a board member of Sand Mountain Society, conducted a condition assessment of the lookout, revealing numerous maintenance issues, mainly from weather conditions and natural wear. Significant rot was discovered at the lookout in 2017, leading to a piece-by-piece removal process by helicopter in 2020. 2025 saw the lookout’s foundation replaced. Restoration progress seemed steady until June 9 when a vandalism incident occurred, The News Tribune reported.
According to a permit operating plan shared by McClure with The News Tribune on Thursday, the vandalism incident left 67 out of 180 panes of glass broken. All nine window lights were smashed. Materials stored in the lookout, which included “original tongue-and-groove beaded” board ceiling material were found at the base of the cliff, too damaged to be used in restoration. Siding, a cement mixer, sawhorses, and an extension ladder were all also thrown off the cliff.
Sara Osburn, a volunteer with the High Rock Lookout Restoration Project, was the first to see the destruction in June.
“That vandalism was really awful to see and witness the after-effects of. I don’t even know how to describe it other than the fact that it felt (like) more than vandalism,” Osburn told The News Tribune on Thursday. “It felt like somebody’s personal rage room. It was violent, very violent, to just look at. The amount of broken glass. The broken windows.”
Osburn shared that Wednesday was Helicopter Day. Volunteers hiked construction materials for both the new up to the construction site on the lookout itself. The rest of the materials were flown up by helicopter. These materials will be used for both vandalism repairs and the ongoing reconstruction efforts.
McClure stated over email on Thursday that in 2025, the expenditures were approximately $59,000, with funds coming entirely from grants and private donations, the largest donor was the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation. The helicopter services are among the larger expenses, costing approximately $1,800 an hour. The operations on Wednesday will cost $8,000-9,000 by McClure’s estimate, and the repair and restoration to June’s vandalism incident will cost “at least $9,300. (est), and possibly more.” Currently, Sand Mountain Society and White Pass Country Historical Society have a total of $51,000 for the project budget, with projected costs still being uncertain.
“I do not have an estimate of this year’s projected costs, in part, because of the uncertainty of how late into the fall we will be able to work at the site,” McClure wrote over email.
Over the next six weeks, McClure shared that interior and exterior restoration work will ensue. This includes vandalism repairs, interior wall and ceiling restoration, interior priming and painting, and sanding of the floor. For the lookout’s exterior, volunteers plan to reinstall the lookout door, remove roof jacks, install desk ledger boards, and reinstall catwalk decking and handrails, among many other smaller repairs.
