Green Mountain Fire Lookout

Summary of Route

Type: Out and back; interesting terrain and alpine views

Rating: 5/5

Season: Late Summer

Length: 8.4km one way from Hurley River FSR

Vehicle suitability: Modified 4x4

The Route

The Green Mountain Fire Lookout route is a challenging overland route that presents the opportunity to drive tremendous terrain and gain alpine views. This route should only be attempted by 4x4 vehicles and will be highly challenging for stock vehicles.

The Green Mountain Fire Lookout route begins just south of Gold Bridge, at the northerly end of the Hurley River FSR at GPS coordinates 50.80286, -122.87081, just north of Gwyneth Lake Provincial Park. There are no road signs so follow the below image.

The first 3.5 km’s are easy going, with the exception of occasional waterbars. Longer wheelbase vehicles may need to take greater care; however, if you or your vehicle are struggling on these, then this route will certainly become a hike. For the first two intersections you encounter, bear left on the route traversing Green Mountain. Both intersections are shown below. Following the second intersection, this route begins to becomes overgrown and pinstriping will occur. Nonetheless, conditions remain excellent.

After an additional 1.5 km’s of travel, the Green Mountain Fire Lookout route begins to climb in elevation. If you’re uninterested in driving the difficult portion of this route, we recommend finding a spot to park in this section. There are several excellent pullouts where the alders do not encroach on the road significantly. To continue on this route, stay on the obvious path until GPS marker 50.79036, -122.90437. At this point, the Green Mountain Fire Lookout route takes a right turn and immediately becomes more difficult. While we were able to complete the initial obstacle in our 4th gen-Tacoma, we ultimately hiked the remainder of this route. There are no spur roads once you enter this section, simply follow the road and, assuming you can manage the terrain, you will reach Green Mountain Fire Lookout.

Following the initial challenging obstacle, road conditions improve for a period of time despite the presence of small boulders. After approximately 300 meters of travel you will encounter a split in the road, bear right for the easier route.

An additional 1.2 km’s of travel will bring you to what appears to be the crux of this route, along with some of the most interesting driving as you climb a sandy section leading into a well packed scree traverse.

Once complete, road conditions improve somewhat and views begin to open up. Before long you will reach Green Mountain Fire Lookout. While a road appears to go past the fire lookout, it quickly disappears and turns into a hiking trail. Greater views can be had by a short hike from here to the summit of Green Mountain.

If you're looking for similarly challenging routes, consider our Silver Peak and Mara Mountain routes!