Last Update: 9-6-2004

On Monday, September 6, 2004, Walt Reil made a morning trip to Hi Mountain Lookout, located east of San Luis Obispo.  At elevation 3,198 feet, it has an unbelievable commanding view of the entire Central Coast, from Big Sur to Ventura.  Once a fire lookout tower, it was retired a number of years ago, was vandalized and fell into disrepair.  Then the Morro Coast Audubon Society joined with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Cal Poly to establish a very unique California Condor observation station.

They have done a great job restoring the facility, which has solar power, propane gas for a stove and refrigerator, and an enclosed outhouse facility to one side of the lookout tower.  There is a 400-gallon water tank used for washing, with the water being trucked up occasionally.  Drinking and cooking water is brought up separately.  Showers are taken on a wooden deck with water coming from a hanging portable black plastic bag that heats up the water in the daytime sunlight for evening use.  The bottom room has been turned into a small visitor's center having numerous displays of wildlife and Condor observation work.  Communications are via cell phone.  Laptop computer communications are via cell phone.  Staff sleep in sleeping bags on cots, either inside the lookout room or outside on the catwalk surrounding the lookout.

The trip takes a little over one hour from the community of Santa Margarita.  Driving south from Santa Margarita, you follow Hwy 58 for a couple miles then bear right (straight) onto Pozo Road.  You pass the entrance to Santa Margarita Lake and continue to Pozo.  About a couple hundred feet before reaching the Pozo Saloon, just as you cross a small bridge, you make a right turn onto Hi Mountain Road.  It is a very slow, six-mile drive from here to the mountain top.  The road becomes a level wash-board gravel road for a little over one mile.  Then you reach a stream crossing.  During summer months, the water is still and shallow, maybe 6" to 10" deep.  At this point, the road becomes much rougher as it climbs the mountains.  Speed typically is 2 mph to 10 mph from here on, driving very carefully not to hit the ruts and rocky bumps too hard.   The road is very bumpy and is not good for low-clearance vehicles.  The road is narrow, so you always need to watch for occasional vehicles coming the other direction.  This is NOT a road to take during wet winter months, becoming a muddy four-wheel drive road (if you can get across the deeper stream crossing).  But, during Walt's trip this day, the road was dry and dusty, just fine for his front-wheel drive Toyota pickup.

Beware during the winter months the road can be closed.  Also, if you wish to visit the Hi Mountain Lookout facility, you need to call a number of days in advance to make arrangements to get past the lookout's locked gate.  During the summer it is not too bad since the facility is manned.  You won't have much luck during the winter months.  During this trip, Steve Schubert was extremely helpful in arranging to have the staff open the gate.

During Walt's trip, he visited with four Cal Poly students who were living and working at the lookout that week.  The one guy and three gals were very interesting to talk to.  They live up there on shifts, staying four days and then another team comes to live and work for four days.  The facility is primarily manned during the summer months and is pretty much closed up during the winter.

This is a possible remote area for stargazing.  But you might have to deal with light from Arroyo Grande and Santa Maria, as well as light from the North County area.  But, there are a couple limited areas where you could be blocked from much of that light, making it a somewhat decent place to pitch a tent and watch the stars.  A very unique place to do some stargazing.  Two miles back down the road is a tree-covered campground having picnic tables and a pit toilet.  Cooking is done on propane camp stove.  No open fires.

Click on each thumbnail image to open the photo to its full size.
To return to this page, use the BACK button on your web browser.