Cycling

Round Top is a nice mostly drive up activation. Being me, I had to do it the hard way: Mountainbiking from Gale's Creek Campground. It is an 18 mile round trip ride with ~3000' elevation gain. 

I recommend doing some stretches or warmups before heading out because the hardest part of this ride is the first few miles: steep trail that gets the blood moving. Overall the trail is a singletrack and mostly follows the creek through the forest. Not much for views, but there are the occasional waterfall and views of Gale's Creek. 

In my quest to activate all the Portland Metro summits by bike I decided to link together a route that would have me hit Mt Scott (W7O/WV-095) and Mt Sylvania (W7O/WV-096). 

First the TL;DR: This is a five star bike ride. I HIGHLY recommend this route. This route passes many different trailheads and parking areas along the Deschutes River, so it is possible to put together a ride that is shorter and easier. Much of the route is gradual uphill with Lava Butte itself being the real kicker.