Good Parking At Trailhead

This is an easy drive-to summit on Forest Service roads. See link below for map of route. It will take you approximately one hour from downtown Plains, Montana to get to the summit. Four wheel drive not needed. The only downside are the large communication towers that will interfere with your transmitting. I found that if you drive to the far side of the loop road and get the towers out of sight, you can get a good signal to and from Missoula and up to Whitefish. Let me know when you plan to activate this easy one and I'll chase you as I live in Plains.

UPDATE 09/24/2022

My second SOTA required a longer hike (~2 miles each way) than Mt. Electric but was also a lot of fun.

Hike in started from the Tiger Summit Trailhead (just up the access road from the bigger lot along the west side of SR-18. Discover Pass Required.  Lot was about 60% full w/ maybe a dozen people (mostly mountain bikers) in and around their cars.

The trail to Spot Mountain is a typical multi-switchback route rising from the steep Selway River Canyon walls to long undulating ridges.  These ridges were used historically by American Indians as routes to bison hunting areas in the eastern plains from the lowlands of the Salmon and Snake river drainages that supported huge runs of salmon and steelhead. 

Spectacular peaks of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness are in view from this summit.  September visits are rewarded with brilliant yellow to orange needled alpine larch, a deciduous high elevation conifer and many times snowfall. 

Nice hike in the Lake Wenatchee area near Plain WA.  From US 2 turn onto HY 207 at Coles corner.  Turn right onto HY 207 and follow through Plain WA and continue to the top of the hill  (47.753780, -120.646782) where there is a large parking lot.  The trail head is across the road on the south side of the road.  

The trail is good but steep in places but there are good views along the way.  The hike to the summit is .78 miles.  There is little view at the summit but the area is large enough to erect an EFHW or dipole antenna.

After my success over at Break In Pk., I continued on to Lone Butte to give it another go, after my previously failed attempt. Access remains the same, only take the road in if PNW pinstriping is something you like to adorn your paint.

In a normal year, this would be an easy 4-point drive-up. Driving access is via Forest Road 8303 (Ape Cave Rd.), 8303340, and 8303341. From the end of 8303341 the summit is ~500' to the NW, where the trail ducks off the ridgeline you would just continue straight to the summit.

Spencer Butte is the site of a former fire lookout in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, just north of the town of Northwoods. At the time of my attempt, the simplest access is to go north on FR 25, turn onto FR93 (if you go through the winter gates on 25, you just missed it), and follow 93 to the trailhead. This route is mostly paved, just a short section of gravel from the Muddy River up to the junction with road 9039.