Seth Bullock Lookout Tower
Seth Bullock Lookout Tower is located off Edelweiss Mountain Road just southwest of Pactola Lake. The fire tower there now was rebuilt after the original 2 towers built in both the 1930’s and 1950’s were destroyed. There are still some remains of the original towers just east of the fire tower now, but you have to scramble or find an old trail to get to it. The views from the eastern side of the towers are much better. The lookout was named after Seth Bullock, who was a famous western sheriff, and friend of Teddy Roosevelt. The tower is at 5,922 feet in altitude, and you have to walk 1.8 miles up one way to get to it. Once there, you have no access to the tower, and it is not really people friendly. There is barely a trail around the tower and you don’t have any great views of the lake unless you scramble over to the eastern part of the hill. It definitely is not an easy trail or one of my favorites due to the altitude, lack of tree coverage, and somewhat of a disappointed ending. Also the views of the lake were not as good as I thought they would be. You pretty much only see the dam. My views of the lake were much better at Pactola Lake Campground.
Looking up to the fire tower from the main road - Edelweiss Mountain Road.
Gate is locked, so now we walk 1.8 miles to the top one way.
Pretty wide open with little shade. Can make for a very hot walk.
Gorgeous flowers everywhere.
First time you can see the tower on the walk.
Getting close.
Almost there. Not much of a view from the tower itself.
Hiking/climbing rocks to get to the older fire tower remains.
What a view.
Looking east.
Looking northeast.
Old fire towers ruins.
Pactola Lake.
Coming down the old trail verses scrambling rocks.
Old trail goes to the right.
When you can see the fire tower - just before last turn, there is an old hidden trail that will take you to the older fire ruins. It is covered with branches, but it is there. Much easier than scrambling the rocks like we did to get to it.
Hiking back down - a lot easier than up.
The fire tower from Highway 385 - just a small dot on top of the hill.
Seen from Pactola Visitor’s Center.