Folks Keep Visiting And Disappearing From This California Lookout

Lookouts make traveling that much more fun and often provide great opportunities to snap some incredible photographs for that road trip scrapbook or album gallery. There's one particular California stopping point that is just off Highway 108 in Central California that some travelers may want to just pass right up due to its bizarre and mysterious history.

I've traveled extensively in the Western United States. I've explored every state that lies in this territory with the exceptions of Colorado and Alaska. Our family owns property in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near the city of Sonora, CA, which is approximately 55 miles from one of the state's most investigated lookout points.

Are people coming to this lookout to end their lives for some reason, or has there been a human predator stalking travelers along this scenic highway since 2005?

Donnell Vista Point is located just off Highway 108 near the community of Strawberry, which is nestled in the mountains between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, in the Stanislaus National Forrest. It's an incredibly beautiful part of the state, and very close to Pinecrest Lake, which is a popular tourist spot in the summer months.

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Donnell Vista Point has a very dark past. Some disappearances have been reported by local authorities dating back to the early 2000s. I've personally visited the site multiple times and stared down from atop the edge's railing and wondered what happened to these people.

While the numbers are often debated, the site has been the location for almost a handful of confirmed disappearances in the past 20 years. These missing people have been reported on by numerous state agencies and have also been featured in several blogs, podcasts, and documentaries.

In two of the cases, car keys were found lying in the driver's seat. Has the dangerous terrain of this 6,300-foot vista point caused people to slip and fall to their deaths, and if so, how come no bodies have been found? Are people coming to this lookout to end their lives for some reason, or has there been a human predator stalking travelers along this scenic highway since 2005?