No View From Summit

Hike: 2 miles RT

Elevation Gain: 500 feet

Maklaks was the 2nd summit I did while camping at Jackson Kimball State Park, Sand Ridge the evening before, Maklaks the next morning. These two can easily be done in one day. If really ambitious, you could even add Pothole Butte or another Hwy 97 summit.

The network of roads that accesses this summit are minimally maintained, and the final approach road isn't maintained at all as there is no active tree harvesting happening at the time I activated the summit. Expect the final access road to continue to degraded and grow over. When I activated this, I was able to ride my bike to the highest point on the road but had to lift it over a large blowdown that you won't be able to drive past or lift a motorcycle over. if you're feeling ambitious, you and another experienced sawyer could get it with a 24" bar. 

Start at the Lewisburg Saddle in the OSU research forest. Hike the Vineyard Mountain Trail shown on the maps provided at the trailhead or you can walk the Nettleton road. Trail was by far the better choice. while hiking you will pass mountain bikers on the way down as well as other hikers and this trip we came across some horseback riders. Roughly 2.5 miles to the summit. you can either go through the gate on the right side at the end of the trail and walk to the top past a private house. End of the road is a gate to the tower site. No trespassing signs are visible.

Vineyard Mountain is 2 miles north of Corvallis, OR. Its an easy,
summit for beginners.

From Corvallis, travel north on OR-99W till reaching the "City
Limits Store" at Lewisburg (red light). Turn left onto Lewisburg Rd.
for 1.3 miles. Then, take the right side fork onto Sulfur Springs Rd.
Go another 1.3 mi up to Lewisburg Saddle. At the Saddle, there is
parking for maybe a dozen cars. It's a popular and crowded place.
Go slow near there.

From the trailhead at the Saddle, head NNW on Nettleton Rd. #500.

6.5 miles RT with 1100 feet of elevation gain from the pavement. I suggest this is where you start. None of the track is steep, but there are some steeple chase logs and at one point the road was so over grown we lost it.

This is another peak in the Stimson family of parcels, specifically the region they call "Wildcat/Munson Creek". Pleasantly, this parcel is open to recreational walk-in access all days of the week from sunrise to sunset. Note though as with all Stimson property, it will be closed during the summer fire season starting at IFPL2 and higher. Access aside, it's a pleasant enough hike and nice open summit but not much for views. The ascent takes you around the back of Munsen Falls State Park. The path is a 2.3 mile hike one-way with 1700ft gain.

 Driving directions:

This summit is a good pairing with Cedar Mountain (W7I/NP-119), though a bit of a long hike around 8 miles RT for both.

Starting from State Highway 231 northbound towards Chewalah and turn right on Hafer Rd.  The turn left on Cottonwood Creek Rd and then right on Horseshoe Lake Rd.  Finally, there is a left turn on Mud Lake Rd.  This is somewhat rough and I would not do it after a heavy rain.  Alternatively, follow 231 into town and turn right on Flowery Trail Rd to the other end of Mud Lake Rd.  In any case, you can park at the Quartzite Mt Trailhead.  There are several spots available up and down the road.

The mountains near Marble Mountain hold snow for longer at a lower elevation than other nearby mountains, so keep that in mind. Even at 2600 feet elevation, which is pretty low, there was still 2 feet of snow on the road all the way up to where I left the road to bushwhack the rest of the way to the summit. 

There is a bridge out but someone has laid the guardrails from the old bridge across the creek and that works for crossing on foot. You could carry a bike across if needed.