Whaleback, OR | July 2023

Turn off ORE-62 Crater Lake Hwy onto NF-68, and then just follow NF-68: right at 42.8641, -122.5061; bear left at 42.873, -122.4977; and follow the pavement to the end; the turns are mostly obvious after here, Caltopo's map is quite good to Abbott Butte Trailhead; when forest management crews haven't closed the trail for fire and burnt tree hazard mitigation, you can combine this with that hike.

If you have a passenger car, this drive is quite pleasant. If you have a passenger car, I do not recommend driving it up this. It is theoretically possible; I drove up this without a problem. HOWEVER, it did eat my oil pan on the way down, and my subsequent activation on Round Top returned me to a car with no oil. I do not recommend putting yourself in this position.

IF you have some clearance, you might have more fun with this; if you have a lot of clearance, you're fine, it's a beautiful road. HOWEVER, it's a mile-long hike; just hike it. Be careful of motor traffic; I met no one driving, but I was passed on peak by a few trucks and several groups of offroad bikers.

You can drive into the AZ on the main road, or drive right up to <5 ft from the summit. There is a huge AZ, this summit is beautiful and flat, and you will get a lovely view down into the valley from the multiple channels of downed trees.

Combine with CS-070 (unactivated as of today, but with an established trail to the summit) or CS-101 (500' gain, 1.2 miles RT) or both.