We arrived on Tuesday afternoon, having stayed in Soap lake and checked out Grand Coulee and Dry Falls. Driving up through Mount Spokane park is easy, paved almost the entire way. The parking lot at the Selkirk Lodge is huge, and only had a couple of cars in it. We loaded up our packs, checked out the large map, and headed up the road to the fire lookout.
There are many paths that one can take up to the lookout, all of which become ski trails in the winter. We opted to stay on the road, which was wide and easy, with a fairly smooth grade for most of the way. We reached the lookout and found it to be well-maintained and in excellent condition. Along with the propane tank for the cooktop, there was water available for washing and drinking! This helped tremendously with the hike, since we did not have to bring our own water, and we would be staying two nights. The furniture is in good condition, and there was some cooking gear as well as a few books, puzzles, and games.
Like most Washington lookouts, the views are spectacular - perhaps that should go without saying, since the entire purpose of the structure is to have great views. This lookout was moved from the nearby Mount Spokane, which is higher in elevation, and has the interesting stone Vista House along with some comm towers. It's a pretty easy drive up there to check that out.
Mostly we hung out in the lookout, or went out to the view point, but we also tried a smaller path through the woods that turned out to have some steep stretches and a bit of mud. On the map, that trail looked like a shortcut to the lookout, but I would stick to the road when wearing a pack. We had some visitors Tuesday afternoon and several groups on Wednesday, including some horses.
There is also a picnic table and a firepit in an area down below the vault toilet, but there were a ton of bees down there and a burn ban, so we didn't spend a lot of time there.
The hike back was of course even easier than the hike up. The car was fine, so we loaded up and headed off to Moses Lake. I would very much recommend a stay in the lookout if you get the chance.
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