PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 8; Flight Crew Total 270; Flight Crew Type 43
Confusion; Training / Qualification; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Inflight Event / Encounter VFR In IMC; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Weather; Human Factors
Planned to fly to practice area near airport. The practice area is just beyond [Mountain A]. The top of [Mountain A] was clearly visible from airport. Planned to go around mountain and to stay at low altitude below clouds. Ran into cloud layer at a lower altitude than expected. Contacted tower and explained situation. Followed their instructions for heading and altitude. Since I am not IFR certified we determined that it was best to divert to the closest VFR airport which was ZZZ1. ZZZ monitored our progress until we were able to get below the clouds and had the airport in sight. They asked us to call when on the ground. We tried several times but could not get through so we contacted Flight Services and they said they would contact the tower.
PA-28 pilot reported entering an unexpected cloud deck that resulted in ATC assistance to a nearby VFR airport.