NF 4235 - Starvation Mountain

Trail Overview

Turning North off of Forest Road 42, this trail weaves and winds its way upward into the Okanogan National Forest. The trail begins as a nice wide road but the higher up the mountainside, the more narrow it becomes. Water erosion and runoff were noted on the trail during rainy/wet conditions. Aside from that, nothing of difficulty to note; it is the typical rocky, bumpy-going mountain trail. 2WD vehicles shouldn't have any trouble reaching the summit. At the top, there are remnants of what some believe to be an old fire lookout tower. There are dozens of offshoot trails (both hiking and 4x4) and a handful of primitive campgrounds along the way. Unfortunately, the Tripod Fire in 2006 burned out a large portion of the area. Unmaintained (closed) in the winter and early spring months.

Photos of NF 4235 - Starvation Mountain

Want to see more?

Login

Difficulty

Water erosion and runoff were noted on the trail during rainy/wet conditions. Aside from that, nothing of difficulty to note; it is the typical rocky, bumpy-going mountain trail. 2WD vehicles shouldn't have any trouble reaching the summit.

History

When trying to research if a fire tower once existed atop Starvation Mountain, according to one website: "Was Starvation a former lookout site? Some people in the lookout community think so. Me? I'm not so convinced. There are indeed footings, eye bolts, and guy wires on the summit as well as a large concrete slab foundation. There aren't, however, any Osborne panoramic photos from the site and Ray Kresek's inventory doesn't mention it. Starvation is surrounded by several more prominent former lookout sites (Granite, Old Baldy, Pearrygin, and Tiffany) so it's hard to believe it was used as anything other than a patrol point or communications site."

Technical Rating