Forested Summit

W7O/NC-113 (“good ‘ol 1783” as they say) is a small coastal peak in USFS Siuslaw Forest land. From Hwy 101 take the turnout at (45.065829, -123.948579) — Google calls it “Cascade Head Trail - North Trailhead” as it’s the road that leads to the trailhead. This is forest road NF-1861 and is nicely graveled and easy to drive with a passenger vehicle.

Note: this road is closed by the USFS from Jan 1st to July 15th, effectively making this summit inaccessible during that time.

UPDATE March 2023: W7O/WV-069 has been retired. 

Blowout Benchmark is a short hike and cross-country summit near Detroit, Oregon. There are no views but you get to enjoy the quiet of a second-growth forest.

Peak 3700 is a bit of an adventure, but certainly do-able summit near Detroit, Oregon. You'll follow a long-abandoned logging road and head cross-country for the final ascent into the Activation Zone. There are no views and the final ascent is very rough, but you get to enjoy the quiet of a second-growth forest.

This summit is an easy driveup, though low clearance vehicles will have trouble with the last half mile or so. Even better, park at the bottom of the steep hill climbs and hike in or pick up the unused motorcycle trail (starting near 45.3353, -123.559) that crosses over the summit and follow it up. The hill is accessed by Boundary Road, which is accessed from the upper reaches of the Trask drainage or a variety of roads that climb up from the Nestucca.

An easily accessed summit, that's easily access from the Nestucca River byway. A bunch of different roads will lead you into the area from nearly any direction. Probably the easiest is up Fan Creek Road from the Nestucca River. It is near enough to Boudary road to access several other nearby summits along the same ridgeline.

A one point summit that you might want to do along with close by Cedar Butte, Triangulation Point, Blue Ridge or Peak 2300.

Planned on a camping trip for a few weeks to the area so I'd scouted out the summits on the map and noted routes in. Our orignal plan was to camp at and activate W7O/CE-265 - 6057 but in the weeks leading up to the trip, lots of snow had fallen in the higher elevations.

UPDATE MARCH 2023 - W7O/NC-037 has been retired. Please refer to the replacement W7O/NC-129. 

Ten miles from Tillamook and off Highway 6 there is a near drive-up summit – Blue Ridge. The road is a bit rough in places but should be okay in a carefully driven passenger vehicle. Don’t confuse this Blue Ridge with W7O/SC-202 Blue Ridge near Coos Bay. The hike is short but steep 0.2 miles.

This is a delightful mile scenic hike to an active US Forest Service Lookout. The staff was very friendly and knew about ham radio. Views are spectacular unless you are there in the middle of an active fire season when smoke obscures the mountains. Getting there is over the better-maintained portion of the Magruder Corridor Road approximately 14 miles west of the Magruder Crossing. The lookout trail begins as an old road, but then transitions to a single-track trail through a very open grass/forb corridor, a snow glade, where deep winter snow drifts persist into the late spring growing season and prevent trees from growing. Steep mountain cliffs, cirques and mountain lakes are adjacent to the trail to the east.

Crescent Butte should be a simple drive-up just off Highway 97 south of La Pine about 17 miles. The roads in the area are quite confusing, and the main track is quite dusty in the summer. Thoughtful consideration of these directions and Google Maps is recommended.