Activation Reports

After activating Little Glass Butte, I drove down the south side towards Round Top Butte (GPX). The road down was rocky with obsidian, be sure to collect some when you stop to open the wire gates. Once down the mountain, turn east and follow the ranch road. I parked at approximate 43.50076, -119.93735.

The drive from Glass Butte to Little Glass Butte looks straight forward on a map. It is anything but. 4wd is required and high clearance is recommended. If you do not have these, park at 43.53358, -119.97777 and hike up. Additionally, the rocks on the rough road are obsidian and can puncture tires. Thankfully this did not happen to me, but I was surprised. The road up from the parking coordinates is steep and I nearly stalled getting up it. Pumping the clutch kept me moving. Once up top it is a matter of navigating around ruts and obsidian rocks. I was about at my vehicle's limit.

Glass Buttes in central Oregon is a premier rockhounding location. The summit of Glass Butte is accessed off of Highway 20 up a well-maintained gravel road (GPS track). There are some small water bars on the road, a passenger vehicle could make it up no problem with careful driving.

I did Pothole Butte after Maklaks. It was not on my list for this trip but you always should keep a back up plan if you have some extra time or one fails right?

I came from Sun Mountain Rd but this is easily accessed from 97 via FS RD 70. Take a left off RD70 at 42.95707, -121.87904. The SW side of the mountain is very steep and cliffs. We drove around the south side to 42.95635, -121.9501.

Maklaks was the 2nd summit I did while camping at Jackson Kimball State Park, Sand Ridge the evening before, Maklaks the next morning. These two can easily be done in one day. If really ambitious, you could even add Pothole Butte or another Hwy 97 summit.

Sand Ridge was the first of 3 I did while doing a quick spontaneous one night camping trip to Wood River at Jackson F Kimball State Park. After setting up camp, we went to scout it for the next day but were able to get close enough I decided to hike up and activate it that evening.

Summary - I first hiked Lookout Mountain via the usual route, High Praire Trail, Tim N7KOM as part of a two day outing that included SOTA summits 6001 and Badger Butte.

Summary - Most folks drive to the Larch parking lot and walk up to the observation platform. This is the long way up. You will start from Multnomah Falls on I84 and climb 4200 feet over seven miles.

Update July 2025:

I noticed this trail on my first hike and again on my second ascent.  I decided to give it a try on the way down.  It avoids the false summit and saves a little time.

http://www.pnwsota.org/content/goat-mountain-w7wlc-035-better-trail

This is another summit I activated with my mountain bike and in this case that turned out to be a mistake as the bushwhack to the top is very steep, very thick, and not at all fun to do in bike shorts and shoes with spd cleats in them.