- Oregon County HP: #23
- Difficulty: ⭐️ (on a scale of 5)
- Summit Elevation: 3,513 feet
- Mountain Range: Oregon Coast Range
- Ancestral Lands: Tillamook; Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, and Confederated Tribes of the Siletz; Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla
PLANNING DETAILS
Location: South Saddle Mountain is located in the Tillamook State Forest in northwest Oregon, approximately 40 miles west of Portland. The closest small town with services is Banks, OR.
When to Visit: Saddle Mountain is open year-round; however, weekends and holidays are best to avoid the logging and quarry trucks using the roads.
Fees/Permits Required: None. This high point is located in the Tillamook State Forest. There is a locked gate blocking access to the high point roughly 0.5 miles below the summit.
Getting There: South Saddle Mountain is most easily accessed from the north via Oregon Highway 6 (OR-6), which runs between Tillamook and Banks, Oregon.
Directions from Portland:
- From I-405, take US-26 (exit 1D) west toward Beaverton. Continue on US-26 for 20 miles until you reach OR-6, and take the left exit toward Tillamook.
- Drive west on US-6 for approximately 18.5 miles. Between mile markers 33 and 32, you will see a sign announcing the Rogers Camp Trailhead and Browns Camp ahead on your left. There is no left turn lane, but the left turn is immediately before the ODOT material yard.
- After turning off the highway, drive south for 100 yards before making an immediate right turn at the sign pointing toward Browns Camp. This is Beaver Dam Road.
- Follow Beaver Dam Road for 1.4 miles until you reach the T intersection. The road forks twice during this stretch on Beaver Dam Road, with signs for trailheads at each junction. Veer right at the first fork (i.e., away from Browns Camp) and veer left at the second fork (i.e., away from the University Falls TH).
- When you reach the T intersection, turn right and drive 6 miles on the gravel road until the road ends at another T intersection at C-Line Road. Do not be alarmed if you hear gunfire during this drive. There is an old gravel pit near the first T intersection that is used as an outdoor shooting range.
- At the second T intersection, turn right onto C-Line Road, then make an immediate left onto 7 Cedars Road.
- Follow 7 Cedars Road uphill for 1.4 miles up to the broad, flat saddle between the two summits on South Saddle Mountain.
Directions from Tillamook:
- From downtown Tillamook, head east on OR-6 toward Portland. At mile marker 32, you will cross over the Devil Lake Fork Bridge and then see a sign announcing the turn for Rogers Camp and Browns Camp in one half mile.
- Turn right off the highway at the junction for these camps, and drive south for 100 yards before making an immediate right turn at the sign pointing toward Browns Camp. This is Beaver Dam Road.
- Follow Beaver Dam Road for 1.4 miles until you reach the T intersection. The road forks twice during this stretch on Beaver Dam Road, with signs for trailheads at each junction. Veer right at the first fork (i.e., away from Browns Camp) and veer left at the second fork (i.e., away from the University Falls TH).
- When you reach the T intersection, turn right and drive 6 miles on the gravel road until the road ends at another T intersection at C-Line Road. Do not be alarmed if you hear gunfire during this drive. There is an old gravel pit near the first T intersection that is used as an outdoor shooting range.
- At the second T intersection, turn right onto C-Line Road, then make an immediate left onto 7 Cedars Road.
- Follow 7 Cedars Road uphill for 1.4 miles up to the broad, flat saddle between the two summits on South Saddle Mountain.
Parking: There is space for 10-15 vehicles to park at the saddle at the end of 7 Cedars Road. The closest amenities (toilets, water, trash) are located in Glenwood on OR-6.
Pets Allowed: Yes. This county high point sits within the Tillamook State Forest.
Kid Friendly: Yes. This hike is suitable for all ages.
Hiking Distance: 1.1 miles round-trip.
The Summit: The top part of South Saddle Mountain has two distinct sub-peaks separated by 0.4 miles. Until recently, there was some debate over which of these two was the highest – the eastern summit or the western summit.
- Eastern Summit. A fire lookout tower was constructed atop the eastern summit in 1934, and a USGS benchmark was placed nearby, measuring its elevation of 3,464 feet in 1935. As such, it was historically (but incorrectly) assumed this was the taller of the two summits.
- Western Summit. A series of radio towers and small outbuildings were built atop the western summit more recently. This summit has been unofficially measured over the decades at elevations ranging between 3,440 feet and 3,520 feet. Thus, many highpointers historically climbed both the east and west “summits” to ensure they reached the county’s highest point. LiDAR officially confirmed that this western summit (sometimes called South Saddle Mountain West) is the mountain’s true summit at 3,512.86 feet.
TRIP SUMMARY
Date Visited: July 28, 2025
Route Used: South Saddle Mountain Road – 1.7 miles (round-trip) for both summits
South Saddle Mountain was part of a two-fer of county high points (CoHPs) I bagged during my visit to the Oregon Coast in late July.
I visited Rogers Peak (the Tillamook CoHP) first, and saved South Saddle Mountain for second because this peak was pretty close to being a “drive-up” high point.
My route to this high point began on OR-6, the paved highway that runs between Tillamook and Portland. At the bridge spanning the Devils Lake Fork of the Wilson River (mile marker 32), I spotted the first brown road signs for Rogers Camp Trailhead and Browns Camp.
A short half mile later, at the eastern end of an ODOT gravel yard, I turned off the highway to begin the 9-mile drive on logging roads that would take me to my “trailhead” near the top of South Saddle Mountain.
The most difficult part of this CoHP was the drive from OR-6 to the saddle that sits between the two sub-peaks of the mountain. This part of Tillamook State Forest is a patchwork of dirt roads that weave in various directions toward trailheads and OHV trails. One minute you think you are headed south, but then the road sends you east or west, and you begin to doubt if you are still on the right path.
Although there were a lot of signs on the road pointing toward places named Rogers Camp, Browns Camp, University Fall Trailhead, and Stagecoach Horse Camp, none of these signs included directions to South Saddle Mountain. Luckily, I created a GPS route on Gaia, and I downloaded it to my phone to ensure I didn’t get lost in a random logging area of the forest.
My destination this afternoon wasn’t always named South Saddle Mountain. Until 40 years ago, it was just named Saddle Mountain. And it’s no wonder how this peak got its name. It’s the 8th highest mountain in the Oregon Coast Range, and its 3,500-foot summit is very distinctive looking, with two prominent subpeaks separated by a wide saddle between them.
Unfortunately, Saddle Mountain is a very popular name here in the PNW. There are 16 other peaks in the Oregon Coast Range with this same name! So to avoid confusion with the more popular Saddle Mountain located in Clatsop County just to the north, this county high point’s name was ultimately changed to South Saddle Mountain in 1983.
The first portion of my drive on Beaver Dam Road was a typical logging road that passed by hunting camps and a few trailheads, The road was nice and dry this July afternoon, making travel easier than it might have been in the spring or fall when the rains tended to turn everything into slick mud.
The only noteworthy thing to occur on my drive happened about 10 minutes after I departed the highway. I was approaching the first T intersection (where I would turn right), when I heard the pop, pop, pop noise of a gun firing rounds nearby. The noise was extremely loud, so I knew the shooter had to be close by.
Luckily, a fellow highpointer’s trip report told me there was a gun range resting deep inside the Tillamook State Forest along my drive. It wasn’t the sound of a militia group ambushing Sasquatch. It was just three guys in shorts out doing some target practice inside an old gravel pit.
After another six slow miles of driving on dirt logging roads through the forest, I reached the second T intersection. As soon as I turned right, I could see a white picket post sign ahead that told me I was on C Line Road. But barely drove 50 meters later, it was time to make an immediate left onto 7 Cedars Road, the final road up to the summit.
After a mile and a half of driving on 7 Cedard Road, I reached the flat, wide expanse at the top of South Saddle Mountain. Not a single soul was present on the mountain, so I parked beside the only tree providing the saddle with some meager shade. The final approach would need to be on foot.
Two round tree-covered mounds rose above me on either end of this broad saddle. These were the east and west summits. I spotted gravel roads climbing upward on each one, but locked gates sat across both roads, ensuring visitors wouldn’t attempt to drive up them.
I chose to hike up the western sub-peak first. It didn’t appear to be higher (or lower) than its eastern counterpart. But I knew LiDAR recently confirmed its elevation at 3,512.86 feet, making it the taller of the two summits by nearly 50 feet in elevation. This was the true county high point. So it would get my first visit.
Ten minutes after departing the saddle, I could see an ugly microwave tower and outbuilding dominating the summit. A chain-link fence formed a square at the center of the peak, but nothing inside the fenced perimeter appeared to be any higher than the ground outside immediately outside it. The CoHP was just an unremarkable summit in the middle of the forest.
From the top of Washington County, I could make out Mount Hood sitting 80 miles to my east. The views were somewhat hazy, but 80 miles of visibility isn’t half bad on a summer day! In fact, I was looking across almost all of Washington County and Clackamas County from this vantage point.
After a quick selfie on the CoHP, I descended back down to the saddle so I could begin the approach to the eastern sub-peak. There was no need to hike up both “summits,” but I was going to do so anyway.
I knew the eastern summit held an old USGS benchmark that was placed there in 1935, and it was only about one-third of a mile hike from the saddle to see it. So why the heck not? My experience would be like all those former visitors who’d bagged both of South Saddle Mountain’s summits (“just to be sure”) before the recent LiDAR confirmation of which sub-peak was taller.
The dirt road up to the eastern summit didn’t take me all the way to my intended destination, though. The road ended abruptly, and I was still at least 50 vertical feet below the summit yet. A hillside of loose chalky soil sat above me to my left, and I’d have to scramble up that obstacle if I truly wanted to see the survey marker.
This was one of those tasks where I’d have to choose my path carefully. Otherwise, it would be one step forward, followed by two steps of backsliding. With the help of a few boulders and some tree branches, I picked my way to the top of the slope with minimal dirt filling my shoes. But I still had to bushwhack a path through dense underbrush and trees toward the rocky outcropping on the edge of the summit.
Lucky for me, that rock outcopping held the survey marker I was looking for, so I didn’t need to continue picking my way any further onto the densely overgrown summit.
Ruins from the old fireplace of the caretaker’s cabin were also supposed to be somewhere up there on the eastern summit. But if they still existed, I sure didn’t see them. Everything on the summit was too overgrown, and I wasn’t going to risk any poison oak rashes or a twisted ankle searching for some ruins being reclaimed by the forest.
After taking a photo of the USGS marker, I turned my back on the summit and began to carefully pick my way back through the trees and toward the loose slope I’d scrambled up a few minutes earlier. As I did this, I heard the sound of something moving behind me. Twigs and branches snapped, and foliage rustled nearby. This wasn’t the wind or a squirrel. A larger animal was up on the eastern summit with me.
Naturally, this was the moment when I remembered a trip report I’d read from last July. Just twelve months before my visit, another woman drove out to visit this peak, and she turned back before the summit. She’d noticed some recent mountain lion droppings and didn’t want to risk an encounter.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and then slowly moved toward the loose dirt slope. I wasn’t going to look over my shoulder. If there was a mountain lion behind me on this summit, I didn’t want to know. I had no means to fight it off. I didn’t even bring my trekking poles on this super short hike from the saddle.
I was busy telling myself that the noise I heard was from a skittish deer breaking branches to run away from me. It wasn’t a mountain lion. And as long as I made it back to the car intact, it wasn’t a mystery I was interested in resolving.
BONUS MATERIAL
Camping Nearby:
- Gales Creek Campground is located on OR-6, just 15 miles west of Banks, OR. This State Forest campground is open from mid-May to early October, has 21 first-come, first-served tent campsites, a vault toilet, picnic tables, and a hand pump for water. Cost: $20 per campsite (includes two vehicles); fee station is on-site.
- Elk Creek Campground is situated on OR-6, between South Saddle Mountain and Rogers Peak, and is open year-round. This State Forest campground has 15 first-come, first-served walk-in tent campsites, a vault toilet, and potable water. Cost: $15 per campsite; fee station is on-site.
- Jones Creek Campground is situated on OR-6, near the Tillamook Forest Center, and offers 28 drive-in campsites and 14 walk-in tent campsites. This State Forest campground is open from mid-May to early October, and all campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. This campground features vault toilets, picnic tables, potable water, fire rings, and a wood shed. Cost: $15-20 per campsite (includes two vehicles); a fee station is on-site.
Resources:
- Highpointing South Saddle Mountain West (Peakbagger)
- South Saddle Mountain (SummitPost)
- Tillamook State Forest Recreation Map (Oregon State Forest Dept.)
- South Saddle Mountain Fire Lookout Info. (Former Fire Lookout Sites Register)
- Washington County, OR (official site)