Good Parking At Trailhead

Here's an unremarkable drive-up summit in the mid-Willamette Valley west of Salem.
 

I was looking for a reasonably tough snowshoe that could be accomplished in a day, and with few bonus point opportunities, and only so many sno parks, I kept coming back to my favorite mountains from last year. I decided to give this a try, and all things considered it went very well.

Cole Mountain is a drive-up in the Coast Range south of Highway 26 off of Highway 53. The road is passable in any passenger car and it's a radio quiet spot.

We might call this Peterson Summit rather than Peak 1700 - it's a drive-up in the Coast Range about 20 miles north of Tillamook and 20 miles south of Cannon Beach. The road is totally "Prius-able" (passable in a passenger car).

2.0 mi, +800 feet, -400 feet

0.3 mi, +515 feet

0.9 mi, +940 feet

1.3 mi, +780 feet

1.3 mi, +680 feet

This is a good early season summit and is also suitable for bicycle access.

There are a number of options to access this summit.  It can likely be nearly a drive-up if it is approached from Hwy-278 to the north going south past Road Agent’s Rock.  It may also be accessed from the town of Bannack year-round.  Bannack was originally the territorial capital of Montana and is now a historic ghost-town state park that is well worth visiting.  We accessed the summit by foll