SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST

Activity: Day Hike, Peak Bagging

5.3 miles, 4640′ elevation, 1,351 elevation gain, 3 hour duration, rated Moderate

Date: 6-16-23

This hike in the San Bernardino National Forest isn’t my favorite type of hike as it is on a service road/fire road leading up to the Fire Lookout. It does afford however, incredible views all along and especially from the top which obviously is the reason that it is a fire lookout.

The fire tower perched high atop Morton Ridge on a peak in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains has excellent views of the surrounding mountains and canyons all around. Next to Hwy 38 the Fire Lookout overviews the town of Mentone, Redlands, and Yucaipa areas.

After making the trek to the top I was met by a couple of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet, Fire Watcher Volunteers Mike and Ben. Mike invited me up to the tower for a tour. He informed me that this Lookout was built in the 1930’s and then later refurbished during the 1960’s. This was my second Fire Lookout tour as I climbed up to Los Pinos Lookout in the Cleveland National Forest a couple years ago. If you love fire lookout towers like I do you will want to checkout that post as well.

I know that we all appreciate what those folks do for our precious natural resources as our forest and mountains are such a treasure. Fire Watcher Mike explained that their job is to look for smoke, to catch it while it is small before they turn into raging large forest fires. That certainly is key as my Off-Road friends and I were 4 Wheeling these mountains and witnessed first hand this summer how quickly smoke turns into a blazing wildfire. We called in a fire we spotted on a nearby mountain and emergency crews took to the air immediately with specially equipped helicopters and fire fighting planes to douse the wildfire before it got out of control.

While the fire lookout is staffed they open up the road so that I could have driven up to the tower in my 4Runner TRD Pro. The road up is a rough steep road, but nothing that a capable rig with high clearance would have any issue with. That of course always depends on any recent weather. I was here to Peak Bag so I hiked up. There is limited parking at the trailhead and an Adventure Parking Pass or other suitable National Forest Pass is needed.

Thanks for joining me ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’ in the San Bernardino National Forest and my journey up to the Morton Peak Fire Lookout for a special tour. Please stay with me by completing the following: COMMENT, LIKE, FOLLOW and SHARE.  The above menu will provide other fabulous areas in the West that will give you plenty of ideas and inspiration for your next adventure.  Each location is actually a separate website and thus needs to be FOLLOWED independently. Outfit yourself with a awesome shirt and hat for your trek. I invite you to checkout my line of Adventure Wear at SHOP APPAREL.  

Happy Trails-

Roger Jenkins

Pursing Balance Through Adventure