Good Parking At Trailhead

Prairie hill is a forested 3/4 mile bushwhack over an extremely overgrown old road. It is on public land and getting the “trailhead” is pretty easy. 

Turn off North Bear Creek road onto the gravel forest road at 44.97596, -123.88224. The road was in decent shape and should be passable by any normal vehicle. Continue down this road until 44.96405, -123.92107. There is space for a couple cars to park here. You will need to get out and bushwhack from here. A machete or similar tool could be recommended. 

With a slight gap in my family duties, the time finally came for one last 2024 SOTA adventure on Vedder Mountain (W7W/WH-196). Perched along the US–Canada border and overlooking Sumas and North Whatcom County, this summit has been on my list for a while. The best part of this activation? Bringing along my new hiking buddy, Nella, our Red Retriever puppy!

Here’s a near drive-up 2-point summit that might be part of your plan to visit the Redwoods in SW Oregon.

Mount Gauldy is an easy summit near Hebo Oregon
It is either a drive up or a road walk of at most 3.5mi RT and 600ft elevation gain.

Just an update: the road to the trailhead has been re-gravelled since we activated in 2023.  Discovery Pass still required.

And it is possible to get closer to the summit by parking next to the electrical tower at (45.658181, -122.183540).

There is a motorcycle path that runs 1/2 mile up the hill to the summit instead of the previous directions that winds around the hill.

It is quite a bit steeper but we didn't have any trouble getting there.  There was no snow at the time.

Getting there: The route is quite straighforward. As of October 2024, it is possible to drive the 1/2 mile up the brushed-in logging road from the 5800 road to where the old road grade peels off. There is parking for two vehicles at the start of the bushwhack. 

This summit was my last one on a recent trip to Willamette National Forest.

It came about after all the other summits I had selected north of the Santiam Hwy were closed due to recent fire damage.

Having approached this area from both the West and the East, I strongly suggest that you get here from the East, by driving through Carson and driving up the 42 road to where it meets with the 53 road. The route from the West is technically shorter if you're coming from the Portland area, but unless you live in Battle Ground, it's not worth it. The roads from that direction are just too bumpy and grown over. It takes longer and it beats up your vehicle.

Hike: 2 miles RT Bushwhack

Elevation Gain: 500 feet

There are eight Round Tops in Oregon although two of them add another word to the name. This one is a few miles north and a bit east of John Day Oregon as the radio signal flies.

To get there, turn north from US 26 on Keeny Creek Road, AKA FR 18. Get to Four Corners (44.5404, -118.8427) and turn left (west) on good gravel road FR 36. Proceed to FR 544 at 44.52833, -118.88636.

Hike: 2 miles RT

Elevation Gain: 500 feet