Butler Peak Fire Lookout

This was a pretty cool trail. We were in the area exploring in our Jeep with a few friends and happened on a trail that lead us here. The views were pretty cool and it was fairly close to our cabin and easy to get to. There was enough room to picnic in the wooded area with some shade and an opportunity to view the local wildlife. We saw squirrels and rabbits and possibly a hawk. We ventured up to the lookout building and it was pretty neat. The guy up there shared some facts and history of the lookout.

One of a kind place to visit and ranger was supper friendly and will to share what he does as well as some history. A bit of the hike to get up to the tower but once you are up inside (yes they let you in to see all they do) it will be worth the hike. The road up is maintained in that it is graded once a season as far as I know, there are some rough spots that most stock cars and some stock trucks may not be able to cross.

Beautiful place! The drive up can get a little hairy in a few spots but if you can make it past them your are fine. Any stock 4x4 or high clearance 2x4 can make the drive. Just take some time a pick your drive lines and you won’t have an issue. We have a F250 4x4 and didn’t need the 4x4 part. If you don’t have much ground clearance you can always hike to the lookout. From the last well graded fire road it is about 2 miles to the lookout.

Once at the lookout parking lot there is a steep rocky trail that leads to the lookout. It’s an easy hike but with the elevation some people might need to take it slow.

The lookout itself is old and well used. You can tell it’s been around a long time. But the views are worth all the effort of getting here. From the lookout you have a 360 degree view of the San Bernardino Mountains and high desert. I would suggest going on a clear day but being in Southern California those are rare and usually in the winter after a good rain when the lookout is closed for the season. Another good time to go is on hot summer days. Because of the elevation the lookout is a good 10 degrees cooler then even Big Bear. So it’s a nice way too cool off on those hot Southern California summers.

All in all well worth the effort of getting here. If you don’t have an off road capable vehicle and you don’t want to hike in you can always rent a Jeep in Big Bear and drive that in!

I like to do this route in the winter when the air is cooler and the roads are closed to jeeps and other traffic. From Rim of the World parking it's about a 10-11 mile hike round trip, but all fire road, nothing technical.... just long. Bring lots of water and some snacks... the view is amazing, though a bit sketchy and exposed at the top. O try to get up here at least once a year.

This lookout gives you amazing views of Big Bear Lake and Arrowhead lake, and valleys in all directions. We did find it pretty difficult to get up to, and it would have been almost inaccessible in a car as we bottomed out twice in a Ford F-150. It is dirt roads all the way up and Google maps brought us to a dead end. Google maps showed 2N13, to 2N80, to Snow Slide Road, to 2N13B (Butler Peak Road). This brought us to a dead end at a camp site. You can follow 2N13 all the way to 2N13B and follow it all the way up. The views are worth it if you have the right vehicle, or if you hike the trail.