Warbird Information Exchange

Five of us ventured up to "Diamond Rock" fire lookout this afternoon. It was a 45 minute drive in a one-ton 4x4 crew cab on unimproved forest service roads from Shady Cove.

The distance from the forest service road to the base of the Diamond Rock pinnacles, is a short, but unbelievably steep, rugged (30-45 degrees) .25 mile, westerly hike, up decomposed granite. The former USFS Diamond Rock lookout is located on one of two vertical pinnacles a couple of hundred feet vertically, straight up (about 75-80 degrees). The ladders and stairs were removed when the tower was decommissioned and torn down. So, you rock climb to the top. Once at the top of the lookout, you are rewarded with an spectacular 360 degree view in all directions. I marveled at the concrete pillars of the former tower and wondered how in the world they (CYA?) hauled the cement and water up there to mix and pour the footings (they must have been REAL animals!).

From the top of the lookout, we could not recognize any change in foliage that would give clues to the location of a plane crash. We made our way back down to the road and proceeded to work our way, cross country, down the 30 degree slope, spaced about 50 feet apart side to side. I expected open understory beneath the conifers, but the undergrowth was fairly thick (I have the scratches to prove it). Wreckage could have been 20 feet away from you and you could have walked right passed it. We dropped onto FS 3102-340 (which was not on the map) and hiked back up to the main (if you could call it that) road.

It all, we were gone about 5 hours and did not see diddly squat (unless you include a couple million conifers, a couple of deer, and a grouse or two). I intend to revisit the area and try again. We only covered about a quarter of the area that I wanted to explore. There is still more area to explore. Next time, I will wear a heavy canvas long sleeve shirt.


This picture is very misleading. This pinnacle is about 25 feet wide and goes vertically straight down a couple hundred feet on the east side and about 500 feet on the west side.


West side of "Diamond Rock" pinnacles, as seen from the approximate location of the PBY crash


Circa 1941, looking west


Circa 1941

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To all who posted, Thank you.

I actually drove from Indiana to Oregon and back in one week. Got real close to site but did not make it all the way there. A friend came down from Washington and we both decided we were not prepared to get into the country side. Should be going back next summer with a extra driver and my friend coming down from Washington again. Will be better prepared and have enough time as well. The Google maps really helped but all cam into play at the time. I believe it was #330 spur off the Black Rock rd. that we stopped at. Have no idea just how close we were but will do again next year. Will post next year before leave here so anyone local that may want to show up can.

I suspect that the crash site has been covered with snow by now. Mount Ashland has had 17" of snow the last 10 days. The crash site is about an hour drive from Crater Lake. The road cams at Diamond Lake have showed snow on and off.

Ideally, it would be best to go up there after the trees have dropped their leaves.

When I was up there in June 2015, the tree canopy was fairly filled out and you really couldn't make out anything on the ground from the lookout.

Fall, before the snowfall (too late now) or spring, after the snow melt, before the leaves bud out would be the preferred seasonal windows.

I've been trying to go back up to the crash site for a couple of years.

The roads are a little rugged for a car... You want to take a 4wd truck.

You definitely don't want to go up there during deer or elk season without wearing bright orange.

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Keep your PDI centered!