- Oregon County HP: #25
- Difficulty: ⭐️ (on a scale of 5)
- Summit Elevation: 3,003 feet
- Mountain Range: South Columbia Plateau
- Ancestral Lands: Nüümü (Northern Paiute); Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla, Tenino
PLANNING DETAILS
Location: The unnamed Sherman County High Point is located on a private cattle ranch approximately 80 miles north of Bend, Oregon.
When to Visit: Year-round. This CoHP sits on the South Columbia Plateau about halfway between The Dalles and Bend. A paved highway (US-97) brings visitors within a mile of the high point, and it is drivable year-round. Nevertheless, prior coordination with the ranch’s owner must be made before proceeding the final mile on his land.
Fees/Permits Required: This county high point is on a private cattle ranch. The current land owner, Ron Mobley, is very hospitable and allows high pointers to visit the county high point, as long as they coordinate their visit in advance. Ron unlocked the gate on US-97 and met us at the spot where he wanted us to park (0.5 miles east of the highway). He allowed us to hike the remaining half-mile along the county line to the high point by ourselves, provided we closed both gates we’d go through en route to the high point.
Getting There: The Sherman CoHP is most readily accessed from a private gravel road on the summit’s west side. This road is located approximately 0.2 miles north of the Sherman County sign on US-97.
Directions from Bend
- Follow US Highway 97 (US-97) north for 88 miles until your reach the sign for Sherman County.
- During this drive north, there will be two turns that drivers should remain alert for:
- The first turn is 43 miles north of Bend in the town of Madras. The road splits between US-26 and US-97 at a stoplight. Turn right at this junction to remain on US-97 north.
- The second turn occurs 25 miles north of Madras, where the highway splits between US-197 and US-97. Stay right at this junction to continue on US-97.
- Approximately 12 miles past this second junction, visitors will enter the small town of Shaniko. It is a good idea to call Ron from Shaniko and let him know you are almost at the ranch so that he can unlock the gate near the highway.
- Continue north on US-97 for 7.5 miles until you reach the highway sign announcing the county line for Sherman County. The entrance for the gated road to the cattle ranch is located 0.2 miles north of the county line sign on the east side of the highway.
Direction from The Dalles
- Drive west on I-84 until Exit 87 (US-197/Dufur/Bend).
- Follow US-197 south for 60 miles until the junction with US-97.
- Turn left onto US-97 north and drive 12 more miles to the small town of Shaniko. It is a good idea to call Ron from Shaniko to let him know you are almost at the ranch, so that he can unlock the gate near the highway.
- Continue north on US-97 for 7.5 miles until you reach the highway sign announcing the county line for Sherman County. The entrance for the gated road to the cattle ranch is located 0.2 miles north of the county line sign on the east side of the highway.
Parking: There is no dedicated parking or trailhead for this high point. Visitors will need to coordinate with the landowner directly. During our visit, he asked us to drive 0.5 miles east down the gravel road (past the man-made pond and cabins), and to park near a large bulldozer near where the road turns left to head uphill.
Pets Allowed: This county high point is on a private cattle ranch. If you wish to bring a dog, you must coordinate this with the ranch owner directly.
Kid Friendly: Yes. However, there are grazing cattle and several barbed wire fences in the vicinity of the high point, so all children should be closely supervised.
Hiking Distance: 0.9 miles (round-trip) on dirt roads along the county line.
The Summit: The high point is marked with a small rock cairn with an old glass bottle near the top of the modest rock pile. There is no survey monument nor summit register to sign.
TRIP SUMMARY
Date Visited: October 18, 2025
Hiking Route Used: Dirt roads on private cattle ranch – 0.9 miles (round-trip)
I’ve been putting off visiting the high points of Sherman County and Gilliam County for two years now. Both counties have unnamed points located on cattle ranches in the middle of rural Oregon.
However, while I was at the Annual Highpointers Convention this past September, Dave Covill, the current president of the Highpointers Foundation, mentioned he and Patrick Thornley planned to visit both of these remote high points during an upcoming trip to Oregon.
With Dave running down the permissions from the local land owners in Sherman and Gilliam counties, I’d be a fool not to piggyback off his legwork. I agreed to join him and Patrick when they came through central Oregon in mid-October.
Unfortunately, their summit of Bear Mountain (California) the day before our meet up, coupled with the long drive, meant we wouldn’t depart Bend until after 2 pm.
The afternoon drive north up US-97 was mostly uneventful. That is, if you are on board with Dave’s eagerness to get to the next high point as fast as possible. His driving style reminded me of competitors in the Cannonball Run. Very fast. Always passing slower cars. He was a man on a mission, for sure!
Nearly 80 miles north of Bend, we drove through the tiny town of Shaniko (population: 33) and Dave made a call to Rob Mobley, the rancher whose land we would be visiting this afternoon. Ron was super accommodating and told us to drive north on US-97 until we reached the green highway sign telling us we were entering Sherman County.
Ron directed us to drive about 0.2 miles further until we reached a gravel road on the east side of the highway. He’d leave the metal gate unlocked so we could drive onto his ranch and park near the giant D8 bulldozer.
We made the turn off the highway and proceeded up the gravel road for about a half mile, past the man-made pond and a few metal shipping containers that Ron recently converted into vacation cabins. After 0.5 miles, we reached the aforementioned bulldozer that Ron acquired when the Bachelor Ski Resort decommissioned it a few years back.
True to his word, Ron was waiting to meet us. He’d driven his Polaris OHV across the ranch to meet us and then shared directions for the easiest way to the high point.
He pointed toward a wooden pump house (which looked a bit like an outhouse) sitting atop a hill. From the pump house, we could follow the barbed wire fence line for about a quarter-mile as it ran along the county line, and we’d eventually reach our destination.
We thanked Ron for his hospitality and for allowing three complete strangers to traipse across his ranch toward an unremarkable spot inside one of his fields. The hardest part about summiting this high point was just getting permission to go and find it.
Dave, Patrick, and I set off toward the small hill that would take us the 100-foot rise in elevation to the pump house and the upper grazing fields. It was an easy climb on a rocky road, and gave us a better view of Ron’s little lake.
At the top of the hill, we veered right toward the fence running along the county line. A lightly used two-track road sat atop the flat plateau, which made for easy walking for the final 0.25 miles to the county high point.
Our only obstacles were the two gates we had to pass through, where other barbed wire fences met up with the one we were following. We were careful to close them behind us, ensuring none of the cattle escaped their designated pastures.
After the requisite distance, we stopped to survey our surroundings. The flat, high-desert grazing area around the high point was covered with patches of sagebrush and chaparral, so visually discerning the highest natural point was an exercise in futility. Everything looked exactly the same.
We traipsed around several higher-looking dirt mounds, and then Patrick noticed the glint from a glass bottle in the late afternoon sunshine. He’d found the modest rock cairn hiding amid the yellow brush. The CoHP was only about 20 yards north of the fence separating Sherman County from Wasco County, and it was about as unremarkable as any high point I’d visited.
There was no summit register to sign, so after a few quick photos, we retraced our steps back to our starting point. In less than a mile, I had my 25th Oregon county high point. Only 11 more counties left to go!
Bonus Material
Camping Nearby:
- Maupin City Park is a municipal campground on the Deschutes River approximately 25 miles northwest of the high point. This campground offers 22 tent sites and 25 RV sites, bathrooms, showers, free wifi, and is steps from the Deschutes River and local restaurants. The campground is open year-round. Cost: Fluctuates by season (peak season is June 15 to September 15). $20-35 for tent sites; RV sites $30-45 (+tax). Reservations can be made online or by calling (541) 395-2252.
- Sherman County RV Park is located near the Sherman County Fairgrounds overlooking Moro, Oregon, approximately 35 miles north of the high point. This county campground offers 33 full hook-up RV sites, a tent area, picnic tables, newly renovated bathrooms with showers, free wifi, and a coin-operated laundry. The campground is open year-round, but availability is extremely limited in late August during the fair & rodeo. Cost: $15-40. Reservations available by calling (541) 565-3127.
- Jefferson County RV Park is an urban campground located near the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Madras, Oregon, approximately 45 miles south of this high point. The county campground offers 65 full hook-up RV sites, bathrooms, showers, and an RV dump station. The campground is open year-round, but availability is extremely limited the last week in July during the fair & rodeo. Cost: $15 for tent sites, $30-35 for RV sites. Reservations can be made online.
Resources:
- Highpointing the Sherman CoHP (Peakbagger)
- Highpointers Club
- Sherman County Trivia (Oregon Blue Book)