Near Castle Rock, on Cedar Rock Road, is what people in the surrounding area have dubbed, “Lookout Point.”
There, sits a medium sized wooden bench that overlooks the area. Attached to the bench is a small black mailbox.
In that mailbox is a few flyers from Castle Rock Lutheran Church just down the road, as well as a little spiral notebook. That spiral notebook has been updated in the 10ish years that the bench and mailbox have been sitting at Lookout Point.
Since the bench was placed there by Jim Tollefson, who has a farm just up the road, people have been leaving notes, messages, praise, and signatures so much that the notebook gets updated with a “fresh one,” every so often.
The idea/history of the bench on Lookout Point, actually originated in the mid to late 1970s according to Jim. A family relative, Kenneth Johnsrud, placed a picnic table and some “guard rails” near the edge/cliff.
According to Jim, after the years, as the area became a popular, lets say, “party spot” for area high schoolers, the picnic table one day, “up and disappeared,” and over time, the rails had rotted away.
With parties usually came campfires, so during the drought of 1988, the DNR, closed up Lookout Point, and according the Jim, “I guess the kids forgot about it after that year,” and Lookout Point just became another spot along Cedar Rock Road.
Then, “about 10 to 15 years ago,” according to Jim, Castle Rock Lutheran Church was having a program called, “God’s Work/Our Hands.” and Jim and a few others decided to clean up the area.
Jim had a tractor and two people attached themselves to pulleys and went down the hill Lookout Point stands on.
They brought up, trash, bottles, cans, computers, and even a couch. They cleaned up the area, and installed new rails for people to look over and enjoy the view.
A couple of years later, when some concrete work was being done at church, Jim was able to have a concrete slab placed back at Lookout Point.
Jim built a nice little wooden bench, and securely fasten it to the concrete to avoid any “unexplained disappearances.”
Jim also attached the mailbox and enclosed church information and a notebook, and the rest is history as they say.
People have been leaving their signatures, the date of their visit, and little notes such as “Thank you,” “Such a beautiful view,” and the ever popular “I haven’t been up here in years.”
Once, Jim stated, someone left a message in an native African language.
And as UTVs have become more popular, Lookout Point has had even more visits and messages.
When my wife and I visited, one of the messages before ours stated, “Crossed off the bucket list.”
Jim also has it “on good authority” that there has been at least one marriage proposal since the bench and mailbox’s installation.
So as the weather stays nicer, and you’re on the area and looking for maybe an “outting” (as my wife and I call them) some weekend, take a short drive out to Cedar Rock Road to visit Lookout Point.
There, sits a medium sized wooden bench that overlooks the area. Attached to the bench is a small black mailbox.
In that mailbox is a few flyers from Castle Rock Lutheran Church just down the road, as well as a little spiral notebook. That spiral notebook has been updated in the 10ish years that the bench and mailbox have been sitting at Lookout Point.
Since the bench was placed there by Jim Tollefson, who has a farm just up the road, people have been leaving notes, messages, praise, and signatures so much that the notebook gets updated with a “fresh one,” every so often.
The idea/history of the bench on Lookout Point, actually originated in the mid to late 1970s according to Jim. A family relative, Kenneth Johnsrud, placed a picnic table and some “guard rails” near the edge/cliff.
According to Jim, after the years, as the area became a popular, lets say, “party spot” for area high schoolers, the picnic table one day, “up and disappeared,” and over time, the rails had rotted away.
With parties usually came campfires, so during the drought of 1988, the DNR, closed up Lookout Point, and according the Jim, “I guess the kids forgot about it after that year,” and Lookout Point just became another spot along Cedar Rock Road.
Then, “about 10 to 15 years ago,” according to Jim, Castle Rock Lutheran Church was having a program called, “God’s Work/Our Hands.” and Jim and a few others decided to clean up the area.
Jim had a tractor and two people attached themselves to pulleys and went down the hill Lookout Point stands on.
They brought up, trash, bottles, cans, computers, and even a couch. They cleaned up the area, and installed new rails for people to look over and enjoy the view.
A couple of years later, when some concrete work was being done at church, Jim was able to have a concrete slab placed back at Lookout Point.
Jim built a nice little wooden bench, and securely fasten it to the concrete to avoid any “unexplained disappearances.”
Jim also attached the mailbox and enclosed church information and a notebook, and the rest is history as they say.
People have been leaving their signatures, the date of their visit, and little notes such as “Thank you,” “Such a beautiful view,” and the ever popular “I haven’t been up here in years.”
Once, Jim stated, someone left a message in an native African language.
And as UTVs have become more popular, Lookout Point has had even more visits and messages.
When my wife and I visited, one of the messages before ours stated, “Crossed off the bucket list.”
Jim also has it “on good authority” that there has been at least one marriage proposal since the bench and mailbox’s installation.
So as the weather stays nicer, and you’re on the area and looking for maybe an “outting” (as my wife and I call them) some weekend, take a short drive out to Cedar Rock Road to visit Lookout Point.
Have a seat, enjoy the beautiful view, and leave a message, and be part of its history.
