Ball Mountain is a relatively easy drive-near summit in the Oregon coast range, east of Lincoln City. Your passenger vehicle will get you close to the summit, followed by a short walk and then a bushwhack, neither of which is challenging. The summit area itself is treed in with ample space to set up and plenty of trees for antennas.
Summary - The trailhead for Bells Mountain (45.79834, -122.40197) is about 45 minutes from SE Portland, the hike is an easy 650' climb on a rock-and-gravel road, and 2M contacts into Portland and Vancouver are possible with a half-wave whip. The view is open; you can see downtown Portland and with trees on the bordering the clearing, it is easy to get a wire into the air. A great "first season" summit. A Northwest Discover Pass is needed to park at the trailhead.
This is an urban park activation about thirty minutes from downtown Portland. No GPS device needed as Google maps provides good driving directions. Though you can pull off a 2M sidelwalk activation near the summit (which is on private property), a more pleasant place to operate from is Skyline Ridge Park (45.3905, -122.6634), about a half mile south. RF noise levels are high, so while a nice spot for an activation, don't expect big things on the HF bands.
Tiffany Mountain’s 8242 foot summit classifies it as a 10 point SOTA summit. With only a few exceptions, 10 point summits in the W7W association are technical climbs, or exposed Class 3 or 4 scrambles. Tiffany Mountain offers a well maintained and well graded trail to the summit. Starting with a gentle climb along a sparsely treed ridge, the trail gradually makes it way to a large grassy meadow about 1.5 miles into the hike. From the meadows, the wide rocky topped summit is viewed.
For those new to SOTA in the Portland, Oregon area who might be looking for some easy, one-point summits to get their feet wet - or for anyone who might want to try out new antennas or gear with less investment of time - or for a quick activation when there's a spot of dry weather, here's a guide to summits in and around the city.
State or City Park in Activation Zone - easy HF antenna setup: