Bunker Hill, Oregon | Dec 2019
My Automotive GPS did a pretty good job getting me to Bunker Hill. However, I did need to turn around once and do some reconnoitering. To help the next activator here are some specific directions.
My Automotive GPS did a pretty good job getting me to Bunker Hill. However, I did need to turn around once and do some reconnoitering. To help the next activator here are some specific directions.
Illahee Rock Lookout is a relatively easy hike, 1.9 miles and 590 ft. elevation gain, with good road access from the North Umpqua River (Highway 138). The trail and its access are well described on several web pages and William Sullivan's book “100 Hikes in Southern Oregon”, so I won't repeat that here.
South Fork Mountain can be a drive up. It is somewhat less than a mile from NF-4540 on an unmarked road. The fork off of NF-4540 is at approx. 45.101, -122.249. From here a high clearance vehicle that you don't mind getting scratched is required. The road is quite overgrown and has drainage ditches cut across it at various places. It opens up a bit before you get to the top, so you can park and make your final ascent by foot. I had to drive to the top after activation to turn around. A shorter wheel base vehicle might be able to avoid that.
Here's another summit in Crater Lake National Park that accessed with a cross-country hike. The easiest ridge for ascent is near the angle of repose with loose red pumice-like scree on the upper slopes, giving Red Cone its name. Although only about 2.5 miles round trip, half of the 600 feet of gain is in the last quarter mile.
Walker Mountain is a Southern Oregon summit that could be a drive-up for those with a fully capable 4x4. However, the roughest part is also the start of a decent hike and getting to that rough spot is easy with a vehicle with decent clearance. Note that there is another Walker Mountain in Oregon - this is the one near Grants Pass.
Fielder Mountain is an easy 'road' summit in Southern Oregon. With several large RF sites at the top, the road is passable in a passenger car all the way to the summit - however a gate may put you on foot for the last portion.
You can find Nugget Butte just north of Gold Hill Oregon. Use Exit 40 from I-5, head to US 99, Then up Gustaf Street to the gate. There has been local knowledge that arranged access in the past, but without permission, do not activate.
Just south of Pistol River, Oregon take the Carpenterville Road about 8 miles south. This summit is posted "No Trespassing" except for members of the Southern Curry Dirt Riders Association.
Update February 2021 - Lost Dog Road is now gated with no motorized vehicles allowed. It's only a one mile road walk to the AZ.
This is a very much out of the way summit, along Highway 101 on the Oregon Coast, about 14 miles north of Bandon. Note that there are other Peak 740 in Oregon - make sure this one is your intended peak.
NOTE in January 2021 there was a NO TRESPASSING sign posted on the Stimson Gate Placard. See photo below.
There are FOUR Wildcat Mountains in Oregon, so be sure you want the North Coast version south of Highway 26. The road to the trailhead is short and easy in any passenger vehicle, there's a good spot to park, and summit is in the Tillamook Forest, although the shortest access crosses private timberland. The hike is about 1.5 miles one way, and 400 vertical feet gain. This description I consider the 'no bushwack' version.