PCT: Hwy 99 to Pilot Rock

The PCT section from Hwy 99 to Pilot Rock is 8 miles out and back, fairly well traveled and nicely maintained.

Driving

– It’s a quick 25 minute drive from Ashland mostly along Interstate 5.
Head south on I-5 towards California and get off at the Mount Ashland exit. Go straight, towards the Mount Ashland Road turn but don’t turn right up to the mouintain. Continue straight underneath the freeway and keep your eyes open to the left. Within a couple hundred yards you’ll see the telltale green trail sign.

Parking

– You will be parking along the roadside, but the left side of the road has a much wider berm so make a U-ey and park near the trail sign. There are usually a few cars there, but sometimes zero – and sometimes 20. Good luck.

The Trail

– A consistently moderate uphill the entire way… I mean unless you actually summit Pilot Rock at the top. Then, extremely not moderate!
The first mile hits a newly (Fall 2020) gouged logging skid road which obliterates the PCT for a couple hundred yards. If the pink flagging isn’t there, just turn right and head uphill along the muddy new gouge and keep your eyes open. (this is where the AshlandTrails.com video comes in handy)
Less than a mile after that you will see Pilot Rock for the first time and that view will come and go and change for the next 2ish miles.
At the 2 mile mark you will cross a private gravel driveway, and then the gravel Forest Service road you can take up to the traditional Pilot Rock trailhead. A mile and a half later you are at the intersection of the Pilot Rock trail. The PCT and Pilot Rock trail combine for a hundred yards or so and then you should take Pilot Rock trail to the right and power up the steeper slope, and the old CCC handmade rock stairs to the base of Pilot Rock Peak.
If it’s a nice day and you are young and fit, go ahead and climb that crevice up the the summit. If it’s a crappy day and you are old and out of shape – just watch the AshandTrails.com video and when you get home you can just tell people your summited. I will never tell.