Good Views From Summit

Table Rock lies between Summer Lake and Fort Rock in central Oregon. It's easily visible and obvious for miles--a large round platau surrounded by desert. Views are great, of course.

USFS-Yakima Tribal lands bisect this summit.  Activate to the west to be on USFS properties.  See the attached map.  Beautiful views of Mt Adams to the north but an exposed summit, i.e. can be windy.

While we used motorcycles to get to this summer, a descent AWD car should have no problem with the road. There is enough space just to the south of the cow area to park one or two rigs and the hike is relatively quick. Not much in the way of shade so plan accordingly and bring extra water. This is pretty remote country but in the event of an emergency, you could likely get into the HiDARG Repeater on Sharps Butte [147.300+, T162.2].

Just to add an alternate route if you don't have an Inland Empire Paper permit.

There is a gated access road that starts at the same Blanchard Hump parking area as previously mentioned.

Follow the road upwards which has quite a few switchbacks so the distance uphill is more like 2.75 miles OW.

The road is part of Hancock Timber IX and is posted for non-motorized access only.  Partway up, the land ownership transitions to WA DNR for most of the rest of the way to the top.

This summit was a bit of a drive up from Highway 95.  Turn east onto E Ohio Match Rd and follow until E Forest Service Rd 1552.  This becomes gravel and then dirt and then rather rutted dirt.  A car might be able to navigate the ruts with careful driving but a high clearance vehicle or 4x4 would be better.  The upper portion of the road gets better.  Park at (47.87615426731026, -116.63432109643475) and follow the spur road around to the summit.  Hike is around 2 miles and 800' elevation OW.  The spur road had a couple tank traps in it and appears to dwindl

A Weyerhaeuser "Longview St Helens" motorized permit is required for this route: Take I5 to Exit 32; head East on Kalama River Road to very end. That is gate 6000 unlock gate and pass through. Take Road 6000 all the way to the end where you run into a gate is for non-motorized access. 

NOTE: not to be confused with the other Blacktail Mt, which is much farther north in the Idaho Panhandle.

For this 1pt summit, you really have to work for it.  The elevation gain is around 1800' and distance is around 2 miles OW.

The Spence Mountain Trail climbs about 1800 ft in 7 miles. Its not ever terribly steep but climbs steadily without much relief. There are plenty of gorgeous views to the South and West.

Willamette Pass is a really fun activation if you are a downhill skier/snowboarder. The resort uses a demand pricing model so you can get really smoking deals on tickets if you can buy early or go on off days. We paid $34 per ticket for our April Saturday, not bad considering they also gave us $10 per person credit at the ski shop or restaurant.

NO VHF!

I'm not sure if Sheepy is technically "PNW" but I wanted to make sure those in the area know about this fabulous summit. It's a steep climb just over a mile up the SE ridge starting at the Tulelake NWR Headquarters-now I think Klamath Basin Refuges. It was an amazing experience of a hike with interesting plateaus and ridges and seeing and hearing plenty of songbirds, raptors, eagles, deer, etc. There is nothing to block your 360 view and it is absolutely amazing.