Canyon Creek Lookout Site - Huelsdonk Lookout

I believe there was a Canyon Creek Lookout site. While researching into the Aircraft Warning Stations, I came across numerous references to there being a fire lookout at this location. The lookout was included with other fire lookouts and the exact 10 acre location and elevation 1900 feet was given. The structure was a ground house. During its use as an AWS site, a phone line was established from the lookout site to Forks. I have not found any maps showing this lookout. The trees were logged in the late 1980s and a logging landing likely utilized the viewpoint.

In the Spring/Fish lookout book, there is an unknown location called Huelsdonk. The location they guessed was at the Huelsdonk Ranch on the valley bottom. The Canyon Creek location is directly above Huelsdonk Ranch.

Drive the popular Olympic Hoh Rainforest Road to the Park Boundary. Now backtrack to the first major dirt road on the right. This will be a DNR road with a gate. A sign may require a Discover Pass.

Don’t go here but if you do, walk up the road going straight at a 4way. Walk uphill to soon reaching a large bench. On the backside of the bench, the main road veers right but the old overgrowing road starts up the hillside. Brush will vary but in 2019 wasn’t too bad in Winter. Elk use the road so a faint brushy trail still exists. Continue up using the map.

I ventured to the end of the road, to the point roughly at 1900 feet. I then climbed up to point 2184. Neither location proved any finds to confirm the site but logging had changed the sites considerably. I would suspect the ground house lookout was moved away, not burned.

Only the 1943 USGS map (the oldest USGS I can find) shows Canyon Creek one draw to the east compared with all maps after show it to the west, the creek near Spruce Creek. Also note the trail over to Peak 6 from the Snider Jackson Trail. I would normally see this as a big clue if we didn’t know the location.