Easy Trail

Flattop Mountain is a drive-up for those with capable high clearance vehicles. And maybe for those ready to buy new tires - which was required of us - as the road was steep with sharp rocks.

Here's a nice summit with a trail to the top, about 5 miles RT and more elevation gain that you might have wanted at 1800 feet - but know that it's worth it. A bit obscure perhaps outside of huckleberry season, you might not see many folks at other times. The views of Mt. Adams are fabulous. 

Elk Mountain is in the Olympic National Park and accessible from a well-maintained forest service road named Obstruction Point Road. The road is not open all year, so check park conditions before you go. The summit is attainable by taking the Obstruction Point Trail and then making the easy traverse up to the base of a large rock formation. A quick stairstep up the rocks brings you to the summit. Total hike from parking to summit is about 1.5 miles.

Summit 5645 (Hurricane Ridge) is in the Olympic National Park and accessible from a well-maintained forest service road named Obstruction Point Road. The road is not open all year, so check park conditions before you go.  There is no established trail to this SOTA summit, but it is quite straightforward to follow the ridgeline to the summit and does not require bushwhacking.

On-Trail, 2.5 miles, +2,240 ft

Baldy Mountain is a locally popular on-trail hike to one of the high points in the East Pioneer Mountains.  The foundation of the old fire lookout provides some shelter in the event of windy conditions.  We saw one other party on the mountain on a nice Saturday during the summer.

NC-009, Sheridan Peak, is a good first-time activation destination.  It is an easy half-mile hike (about 300' climb) from the parking lot to the summit, which is broad and flat; lots of good spots to set up.  The summit is wooded and shady with a fair amount of old growth, so there are no views. Cell data service is spotty. I managed to spot myself once with SOTA GOAT though I tried four or five times. Two way APRS coverage was excellent and I spotted myself on aprs using a VX8DR. 

Camel Hump is a summit out of St. Regis, Montana on the Interstate 90. From St. Regis you have about a 7 mile drive on paved roads, then about a 6.5 mile drive up Forest Service road 3800. At that point you encounter a closed gate but it's an easy 1 mile walk to the summit from here. Please refer to my saved map in the link below. You do not need a four wheel drive on this road, any car can make it easily. 

0.5 mi, +200 feet

This looked like a simple drive-to peak from the topo maps. However 1.25 miles from the summit I encountered a Forest Service gate blocking the road so I walked the remaining easy road to the summit. The views are excellent but the presence of large communication towers ruined any attempt I had at getting out a signal. I'm currently just using an 5 watt handheld on 146.52 FM voice. I've connected in this way up to 50 miles in the past. I had K7VK waiting to hear from me in Missoula and although I could hear him clearly, he could not hear me.

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.