Stimson Lumber is the property owner for David Hill. Their public access policy is fairly generous, and most of their parcels are open for walk-in use. However, a few of their areas as listed as Sensitive Areas and closed to access. Until recently, David Hill was one of these areas. With a recent change it's now accessible, and a short hike will get you to the summit.
- Follow your favorite map site's directions to (45.55059, -123.15859) or David Hill Winery.
- Pass by the winery driveway on David Hill Rd a few hundred feet and park along the curve where the shoulder widens at those coordinates.
- Across the road on the inside of the curve, find a use trail and follow it up.
- After a hundred feet, take the fork in the trail to the right.
- The trail continues a few hundred feet and then transitions to forest road.
- Follow this road for 1.7 miles to the summit, with about 450 feet of gain.
- There are a couple forks but the most prominent road is the correct one, until the last forks just before the AZ.
- Track is available on sotamaps/SOTLAS.
A large portion of the AZ has been cleared, so there's plenty of room to setup, with lots of trees on the periphery for a mast or tossing a wire over. Because only this staging area is cleared and the AZ is not currently clearcut, there are no views from the summit, but there are a couple of peekaboo views along the road.
There is also a north route available through the Stimson gate at (45.563469, -123.146008) on NW Buckley Rd. However, due to the proximity of a neighbor's driveway and bordering property lines, it feels more invasive to park in this area and hop the gate regardless of how allowed it may be.
The Stimson policy is posted on their site at https://stimsonlumber.com/recreation-land/. The "Access policies: Oregon" link is updated as the new policy document is posted. As of 10/25, the policy document is at https://stimsonlumber.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2025-Stimson-Access-Document-1.pdf but this link is updated from time to time, so visiting the main recreation page guarantees a link to the latest. Note that at this time, the web site access FAQs still say that David Hill has no access, but correspondence with Stimson confirmed that the document is the most accurate. They also advised: "It is your responsibility not to trespass/park on the neighbors' property. Our public access does not give the public permission to cross our neighbors' lands to access ours."
Finally, be aware that the recently cleared staging area and other signs nearby indicate there could be increased logging activity on David Hill soon. Keep in mind that any area on their property, including the AZ, could become closed at any time due to active work.
