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Crane Mountain is in the Warner Mountains range and is the tallest peak in Lake County, Oregon It is located southeast of Lakeview in south-central Oregon, near the northwest corner of the Basin and Range Province of the western United States. The mountain is in the Fremont section of the Fremont–Winema National Forest. There was a United States Forest Service fire lookout located near the summit which was removed in 1972. The Crane Mountain National Recreation Trail runs north and south along the crest of the mountain.
Crane Mountain is a fault-block geologic structure typical of southeast Oregon's basin and range country. The primary rock that makes up the mountain is basalt. The mountain has a west-facing fault scarp with a steep cliff face overlooking the Goose Lake Valley. The mountain's fault-block displacement tilts layers of basalt upward to expose the underlying John Day rhyolite tuff formation on the western flank of the mountain. and are found in the rhyolite layers. Small amounts of gold bearing quartz are also found on the southern slope of the mountain. This is very unusual for an area dominated by basalt. The soils around the mountain are typical of the area. They are derived primarily from broken-down basalt and materials.Anderson, E. William, Michael M. Borman, and William C. Krueger, "Klamath Ecological Province" , The Ecological Provinces of Oregon, Department of Rangeland Resources and Management, Oregon State University, 1997.
Crane Mountain is near the northern end of the Warner Mountains. The pine and fir forests of the Warner range extend north and south from Crane Mountain. "Table Two – Bird Habitat Conservation Areas by Ecoregion" (pdf), "Coordinated Implementation Plan for Bird Conservation in Eastern Oregon", Oregon Working Group, Eastern Oregon Habitat Joint Venture, West Linn, Oregon, 2005, p. 24. To the west of the mountain is the Goose Lake Valley and to the east is the Warner Valley; both are developed agricultural areas.Johnson, Daniel M., "Goose Lake" (pdf), Atlas of Oregon Lakes, Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Oregon, June 1, 1985, p. 86.Whistler, John T. and John H. Lewis, "Transportation and Markets", Warner Valley and White River Projects, United States Reclamation Service, United States Department of Interior in cooperation with the State of Oregon, Washington D.C., February 1916, p. 19.
The mountain is drained by five permanent creeks. Crane Creek drains the northern slopes of the mountain. The western flank of the mountain is drained by Cogswell Creek and the southwest slope by Kelley Creek. All three of these creeks flow into Goose Lake. The northeast slope is drained by Willow Creek while the east and southeast slopes are drained by Deep Creek. Both of these creeks flow into the Warner Valley, supplying the Warner Lakes system with water.McArthur, Lewis A. and Lewis L. McArthur, "Crane Creek", Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh Edition), Oregon Historical Society Press: Portland, Oregon, 2003, p. 245.McArthur, Lewis A. and Lewis L. McArthur, "Cogswell Creek", Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh Edition), Oregon Historical Society Press: Portland, Oregon, 2003, p. 216.
Crane Mountain and the surrounding area host a wide variety of wildlife. Larger mammals found in the area include mule deer, Rocky Mountain elk, , , and . Smaller mammals include , , , black-tailed jackrabbits, white-tailed jackrabbits, , golden-mantled ground squirrels, and . "Wildlife list for Crane Creek" , Oregon Wildlife Explorer, National Resources Digital Library, Oregon State University Libraries, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, accessed December 10, 2014.
Forest birds common to the Crane Mountain area include pygmy nuthatch, juniper titmouse, mountain chickadee, blue-gray gnatcatcher, Cassin's vireo, plumbeous vireo, American dusky flycatcher, Hammond's flycatcher, olive-sided flycatcher, Vaux's swift, hermit thrush, Bullock's oriole, Woodhouse's scrub jay, Steller's jay, Clark's nutcracker, and black-billed magpie. There are also at least five woodpecker species that live on or near Crane Mountain, including the red-breasted sapsuckers, Williamson's sapsucker, black-backed woodpecker, white-headed woodpecker, and Lewis's woodpecker. Birds of prey found in the area include northern pygmy-owl, northern saw-whet owl, long-eared owl, Barn-owl, great gray owls, great horned owls, prairie falcon, northern harrier, northern goshawk, , , , and .Miller, Craig, Scott Carpenter, et al, "Lake County Birding Locations", Birding Sites in Oregon, East Cascades Audubon Society, Bend, Oregon, accessed May 15, 2015.
After the army drove the native people out of the area, settlers began to populate the Goose Lake Valley west of Crane Mountain. The mountain was named for Samuel Crane, an early pioneer who settled near Goose Lake at the foot of the mountain in 1869.Shaver, F. A., et al, An Illustrated History of Central Oregon Embracing Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam Wheeler, Crook, Lake, and Klamath Counties State Of Oregon, Western Historical Publishing Company, Spokane, Washington, 1905, p. 816. Cogswell Creek was also named for an early pioneer who settled near Goose Lake, just west Crane Mountain.
In 1952, the Forest Service built a fire lookout tower on Crane Mountain along with a small cabin to serve as the lookout's residence. This Crane Mountain lookout was sited a short distance north of the mountain's summit at an elevation of . It replaced an older lookout located at Willow Point, approximately northeast of Crane Mountain summit. "Crane Mountain Lookout Site" , Former Fire Lookout Site Register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, Vienna, Virginia, accessed April 28, 2015.Kresek, Ray E., Fire Lookouts of the Northwest (Third Edition), Historic Lookout Project, Spokane, Washington, Ye Galleon Press, 1998. The tower was a standard treated timber CT-6 lookout with a elevation. The cabin was a one-room L-4 hip-roof structure with a footprint. The Willow Point garage was moved to the Crane Mountain site for the lookout's use. The total cost of building the lookout was $2,828. The cabin was renovated in 1963. After two decades of use by the Forest Service, the tower and support structures were demolished in 1972.
There are three day-hike trails that lead to the summit of Crane Mountain. The Crane Mountain National Recreation Trail reaches the summit from the north and the south while the Crane Mountain Summit Trail comes up the east slope of the mountain. Crane Mountain National Recreation Trail is long, running from the California border in the south to the point where it links up with the Fremont National Recreation Trail northeast of Lakeview. The trail is rated moderate to difficult, covering terrain that is both steep and rugged. In addition, the higher elevations near the summit of Crane Mountain normally have snow until July. As a result, the trail is lightly used. The Summit Trail begins at a parking area near the junction of forest roads 4011 and 012, east of the summit.Lorain, Douglas, "Crane Mountain", 100 Classic Hikes in Oregon: Oregon Coast, Columbia Gorge, Cascades, Eastern Oregon, Wallowas, The Mountaineers Books, Seattle, Washington, 2011, pp. 231–232.
From the old lookout site near the summit of Crane Mountain, visitors have an excellent view of the Goose Lake Valley to the west as well as a number of Warner range peaks to the north and south. From the lookout station view point, visitors can see as far south as Mount Shasta and as far west as Mount McLoughlin as well as Drake Peak and Hart Mountain to the north and northeast.
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