Easy Trail

The road is in good condition. It is driveable by a Prius. They also ran a brush mower all the way up the road very recently. The corridor is nicely cleared with all the attendant vegetative carnage 12 feet on either side of the road. Sight lines were good, too. 

You can drive right into the activation zone where there is a nice, flat clearing with a fire pit in it. There is plenty of space to set up a 67 foot wire antenna. 

Pine Ridge is an easy to moderate hike along a double track and easy bush wacking. Any passenger car should be able to navigate to the place we parked and many would likely have no trouble driving further up the 2 track if desired. We had plenty of activity on 2M and I wouldn't expect any trouble activating 2M only. The views of the Grasslands and Central Oregon Cascades are fantastic and the solitude is remarkable for the ease of access.

Full Report here

Mount Pisgah is one of two Mount Pisgahs in Oregon, this one is near Prineville, the other near Eugene. The one near Eugene is a nice hike, this one is a tedious drive up.

The map shows several ways to get there. We drove on forest road 22 past Walton Lake. The pavement ends a bit after the lake. There is a connector road 150 and then we were on Summit Road, aka 2630.

The rode gets interesting at (44.46717, -120.25927). We continued on 2630 here where it splits with 450.

Captain Grey Mountain is a road walk of a few miles gravel through a mix of forest and clear cuts. The road is within the activation zone. It’s on land owned by Lewis & Clark Timberlands, and as such there is no driving up but non-motorized access is free with a Required Annual Permit, link below. **

Wizard Island was on my “Must Do” list since I learned it was a SOTA summit and it did not disappoint. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is in the park doing some of the other summits or just making a special trip as we did. Plan for 5 hours from start to finish, 30 mins on the boat and 3 hours on the island plus hiking in and out of the boat docks. The total hike was about 4.5 miles from the parking lot down to the ramp, up to the summit and back and back up to the parking lot with approximately 1400ft elevation gain.

Peak 8740 was first activated a month ago on 08 Aug 2023 by KJ7GRQ and N0DNF. This is a very straightforward “trailhead” from a rough dirt/gravel road.  Definitely not Prius friendly and I wouldn’t take anything but a vehicle with more than standard clearance.  Recent rains have created water channels, mud puddles and exposed rocks in places. 4WD is not required, however.

2023 update:  You can access North Green Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. If you purchased the non-motorized permit, you can walk or bike (no Ebikes allowed) up up from the “Blue Gate” at the end of China Garden Road which Weyerhaeuser appropriately calls the “Green Mtn N” Gate.  If you have the motorized permit, you can use your access key to open the gate and it is a short drive all the way up to the summit, no other gates.

You can access Wilkes Hills if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. There is no rec permit access gate from the I5/Burma Road side. You have to go around to the East side a bit. It is about 8 miles from the intesection of Tower Road and Hwy 504.

Signal Peak is a 12.7 mile Priusable drive up with some pot holes that are easily navigated.  It does not need a Weyerhaeuser permit for access.  Although you traverse through Weyerhaeuser land, the road you take is designed as a “Public Access Corridor” to the state forest where the Signal Peak summit is located. 

New (and Improved!) Lake Butte 6260 W7O/NE-264

There are three options for getting to this peak.

Priusable road: Hike 4.2 miles RT with 900 ft elevation gain.

High clearance 4x4: Hike from a hunting camp 2.75 miles and 700 ft elevation gain.

High clearance 4x4 and willing copilot: Hike 1.75 miles and 500 ft of gain