A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

When the Smoke Clears, We Want a Weekend Away in This Mountain Lookout

We’re a pretty satisfied bunch, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t covetous. Sometimes we see things out there that we just must have. Cool Things We Want is an archive of those earthly desires.

Chances are good you and your lungs are sick of all this forest fire smoke and yearning for some clean mountain air to breathe. We feel the same way and have been daydreaming of a very particular escape that’s within a day’s drive of Vancouver…

Located outside Tiller, Oregon and built in 2009, the Summit Prairie Lookout was based on the classic fire lookout towers that sprung up in the western states in the early part of the 20th century.

It is set in the midst of 160 acres of private land, and despite its outward appearance evoking a bygone era, its interior is loaded with several modern conveniences, including a fully equipped kitchen and an outdoor shower.

Other bonuses include a fire pit, wood-fired/spring-fed hot tub, vegetable garden, hammock tree and views that go forever.

Best of all, it’s available for rent on Airbnb. It’s already booked through to the end of the year (they only accept 55-60 reservations a year), so we’re crossing our fingers for 2019.

– All images via Summit Prairie Lookout –

    UBC Farm’s Spring Workshops Make a Strong Case for Getting Your Hands Dirty

    A full run of practical, well-built sessions that move from soil to kitchen, giving you a reason to start something new.

    2026 CSA Guide: The Best Produce Box Programs in Vancouver. Score Before It’s Too Late!

    Looking for a CSA in Metro Vancouver? Our 2026 guide breaks down the best produce box and farm share programs, with pricing, pickup details, and honest recommendations.

    We Want to Jetset to Montreal for the Menu Extra & Dan Climan Pop-Up This July

    This summer the Montreal artist, who sports cred as an Emily Carr School of Art + Design graduate, is growing his food-art relationship with a series of lux, collab pop-up we can only dream of attending. Time to buy a lottery ticket!

    We Want to Quench Our Thirst for Spring with KPU’s New 桂 Reverie Beer

    Our appetite for tasty and creative craft beer is bottomless. So the moment news of what students enrolled in the Diploma in Brewing and Brewery OperationsKwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) have been brewing up lately landed in our inbox, we got awfully thirsty...