Sierra Buttes Lookout Stairs
Tahoe NF · Lost Sierra · near Sierra City / Downieville · Gold Country & Central Valley
Via Ferrata
At a glance
- Route type
- ladder-stair
- Cost
- free
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- July–October (snow buries the road and trail deep into summer); fall color in the Lakes Basin is superb
What is here
- Amenities
- Fire lookout catwalk at the top · PCT ridge walk approach · Lakes Basin swimming after · Sardine Lakes & Sierra City nearby
- Best for
- The most thrilling free staircase in California
- Features
- ~180 open-steel steps bolted to the crag · Catwalk views: Lassen to the Sierra Valley · Lookout site staffed since 1915 · The Lost Sierra's signature landmark
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- The stair flights are open steel over a huge drop — vertigo is common · Snow lingers on the trail into July · Lookout catwalk is narrow; take turns · Afternoon thunderstorms on an exposed summit
- Family friendly
- Yes
Via Ferrata detail
- Nickname
- The catwalk in the sky
- Hardware
- stairs
- Exposure
- 4
- Iron notes
- Three flights of aluminum stairs — nearly 180 steps — bolted to the summit crag of the Sierra Buttes, climbing to a fire lookout catwalk cantilevered over a 600-foot drop, with the Lakes Basin and half of northern California below
- Logistics note
- Free, self-guided; ~5 mi round trip / ~1,600 ft gain from Packer Saddle via the PCT; 8,591-ft summit; high-clearance helps on the last stretch of road
- No lottery
- Yes
- Intl tip
- A free, self-guided thrill few travelers ever hear about: ~180 open metal stairs bolted to a crag in the 'Lost Sierra,' ending at a fire-lookout catwalk hanging over a 600-ft drop. ~5 mi round trip from Packer Saddle near Sierra City (Hwy 49), July–Oct. Pair with the Lakes Basin's alpine lakes for one of northern California's great under-the-radar days.
The guide
The Sierra Buttes lookout stairs are the best-kept iron secret in California — a genuine via-ferrata-grade thrill that costs no…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Sierra Buttes Lookout Stairs — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.5946, -120.6428