Bay Area to Seattle - Trails to Run?

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WadeGreenwood

WadeGreenwood

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Nov 14, 2010
Threads
41
Messages
139
Location
Bay Area, CA
Hey All,

My girlfriend and I are taking my '84 FJ60 from Berkeley up to Seattle during the week of Memorial Day. We're hoping to check out Crater Lake and Mt. St. Helens along the way. Possibly Cannon Beach on the way back. We'll probably take 97 North through OR for a bit to hit up Crater Lake, and pass through Bend (which I've heard good things about). We'll be pounding a lot of pavement, but we'd like to spend at least a couple nights making proper use of the truck on some trails. Any suggestions for overnight-length runs near I-5 on stretch from CA to Seattle? Or over near Crater Lake and Bend?

I'd love to hear any other places worth checking out. We'll be staying with a friend in Seattle for a couple of days, so I've got that covered.

Thanks,

Adam
 
The Cascade trails east of Mt. Rainier don't open until June 15th, but Hwy 410 should be open by Memorial Day. Take a drive over Chinook Pass on Hwy 410. It's one of the best drives in the state. There are spectacular views of Mt. Rainier and there is some great camping and trout fishing on the east side of the pass (Little Naches River area).
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I would recommend The Naches area off of Highway 410 it is great. I will be driving to Moon rocks and Funny rocks just north of highway 410 on Sunday 5-27-12, but I will be leaving from the Cle Elum area and accessing Moon Rocks from The I-90 side of the mountain. This area has very advanced rock crawling as well as some longer tight trails that almost stock vehicles can access. If you do it right you can drive from highway 410 over the ridge to I-90 on trails only, but I would recommend a trail guide as the maps of the area are less than accurate for the number of turns before you even get to the labeled ORV trails.
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You can easily get to Moon Rocks and Funny Rocks by going up forest service road FS-1701 off of Hwy 410.
http://www.nwjeepn.com/CJRsHideout.htm

I do think, however, that the short trails between FS-1701 and Moon/Funny Rocks are closed until June 15, as are all 4wd trails in the district.
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/05/02/all-naches-district-trails-closed-until-mid-june

You'd better check with the Naches Ranger Station before heading out on the trails.

Naches Ranger District
Okanogan & Wenatchee National Forests
10237 U.S. Highway 12
Naches, Washington 98937
Tel. (509) 653-1401

You can also look into the Elbe Hills and Evans Creek 4wd areas.
 
A nice day trail from I5/Southern Oregon over to the coast to hit 101 is the McGrew Trail. We host an annual TLCA event on it. Not too difficult; stocker with some careful driving on some parts will be fine.

JEFFERSON STATE CRUISERS - TLCA McGrew Trail

Let me know if you want more info. There is great free camping at the end (Sourdough).
 
Thanks for all the tips guys! Heading out tomorrow, the rough plan is to make a loop through the northwest over the course of 9 days or so. Here's my rough itinerary, of course it could quickly change if we want to stay somewhere longer or decide something isn't worth our time. Any suggestions for camping spots, wheeling spots, good food or sights to see along the way are still welcome, I'll probably check this thread a couple times as we're traveling.

Leave Bay Area, CA - Camp at Chappie-Shasta OHV Area

Head to Klamath Falls for lunch at The Creamery

Check out Crater Lake then camp somewhere between Crater Lake and Bend (suggestions welcome, I think camping at Crater Lake isn't open yet).

Head into Bend and check out the Deschutes Brewery and Mirror Pond.
Camp near Bend or on the road (Route 97) towards Yakima, WA (again, suggestions welcome).

Take 410 to Naches, check out the Forest Roads in that area, trails if they're open, though I'll certainly check the with Ranger Station first.

Head into Seattle, spend a couple days with old friends.

Head south on 5, stop in Portland for a day or so. Get donuts at Voodoo donuts. Possibly check out Mount St. Helens before arriving in Portland.

Head south on 5, take Route 20 over to Newport, OR. Follow 101 south to go play in the Oregon Dunes (suggestions on specific sections would be great). I hear 10-15psi is recommended. I have a pump to air back up. Where is the best place to camp in this area?

Take 101 south along coast to Redwood National Forest.

Go back to the Bay Area, go to work, plan the next trip.
 
I just saw this post, sorry. I hope my info isn't too late.
1. Place to camp between Crater Lake and Bend = Lava Lakes just south of bend. Absolute incredible camp ground. Was there last summer, great views, few people and pretty country.
2. Yakima area - growing up in WA I can say, Naches area just NW of Yakima offers some good camping, wild life viewing and 4x4ing. (Check out "Bull Run" although probably snowed in)
3. Go over Chinook Pass, views are great
4. Seattle
5. Seattle to Portland - check out Mt. St. Helens (visitor center just opened), the Ape Caves. If adventurous, the back roads between Randle/Morton, WA and Mt. St. Helens have great views (mostly paved now)
6. Portland
7. Dunes.
 
Hi All:

Hey 1967TLC, what do you want to see / do on your trip?

BTW - what sort of rig are you driving on the trip this summer? Is it your built 60 Series?

Regards,

Alan
 
Josie'sLandCruiser said:
Hi All:

Hey 1967TLC, what do you want to see / do on your trip?

BTW - what sort of rig are you driving on the trip this summer? Is it your built 60 Series?

Regards,

Alan
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My wife is flying up to Seattle for a conference and my son and I will be taking our FJ-60 to fetch her. We plan on taking an inland route, camping along the way up to Seattle. The three of us will then drive back to SoCal by way of the coast, stopping at B&Bs and small hotels along the way. We want stay off of the I-5.

We are not making any specific plans or reservations, just a seat of the pants trip. A lot of great locations have been posted so far. It will be fun to plot them on a map and go!

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You'll have to spend some time in the Naches area along Hwy 410. The trails will be open by then.

There's great info on the Naches area trails in this link. Look at the trails listed under Manastash/Little Naches near the middle of the list and also the Naches Trail at the bottom. Maybe we'll see you out there.

http://www.nwjeepn.com/WAtrails.htm

1967 TLC said:
My wife is flying up to Seattle for a conference and my son and I will be taking our FJ-60 to fetch her. We plan on taking an inland route, camping along the way up to Seattle. The three of us will then drive back to SoCal by way of the coast, stopping at B&Bs and small hotels along the way. We want stay off of the I-5.

We are not making any specific plans or reservations, just a seat of the pants trip. A lot of great locations have been posted so far. It will be fun to plot them on a map and go!

.
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Thanks again for all the tips everyone... here's a quick trip report:

First off, I was VERY happy with my stock 2F's MPG on this trip, after adjusting for the 265/75 tire size that I run, my MPG's broke down like this, to a total average of just over 14mpg. Terrible by normal standards, but great for an original 2F with 215,000 on the clock.

Berkeley, CA to Red Bluff, CA
222.9/16.35 = 13.63
Red Bluff, CA to Klamath Falls, OR
174.3/12.415 = 14.04
Klamath Falls, OR to Bend, OR
207.2/14.636 = 14.16
Bend, OR to Goldendale, WA
177.2/12.535 = 14.14
Goldendale, WA to Seattle, WA
236.27/16.772 = 14.09
Seattle, WA to Portland, OR (with 2 minor fill-ups in between)
364.57/26.341 = 13.84
Portland to North Bend, OR
209.36/17.298 = 12.10
North Bend, OR to Eureka, CA
238.73/16.448 = 14.51

Eureka to Berkeley I didn't have to fill back up and stopped tracking MPGs. Obviously I didn't get to play on too much dirt with numbers like that, but it was a great trip overall. Did a lot of our camping on middle-of-nowhere national forest land, got to play in the Oregon Dunes for a while and test out my new LED dome lights, roof rack, and curtains for the truck. Here's a few pictures...

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A few shots of the camping/cooking/sleeping setup. My girlfriend just made the curtains, they worked great.

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Crater Lake

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Found a great place to camp on National Forest land south of Bend

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The Deschutes Brewery in Bend was great, the whole town was beautiful.

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North of Bend Smith Rock State Park was amazing, home to TONS of climbing, of which we did a little.

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We camped on National Forest land near the Naches River in Washington but most of the 4x4 trails were not yet open. The next day we went up through Chinook pass on our way to Seattle.

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We left Seattle, visited Portland, and then camped at the Oregon Dunes NRA and had a blast driving around there. The girlfriend drove the truck for only her second time ever (I'm teaching her to drive stick) and did well, but damn if doesn't feel strange sitting the passenger seat.

P6020078.JPG

The Oregon coast on the way back down 101 to California was beautiful.

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And those Redwoods in NorCal just make the 60 look like a little toy.


That about sums up the trip. It would probably be best to do this in late summer when there's more trail access and less snow up at elevation, but we had a blast.
 
1967 TLC said:
.

Keep the ideas coming!!

Subscribed to this thread because we are making a similar July run from the SoCal area to Seattle!

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If you have some extra time on your July trip up to Seattle and plan on staying inland a bit, Washougal, WA is a great spot to go. Just about a half hour from north Portland. Alot of great views, trails, wheeling and great driving fun!
 
FJ40restorations said:
If you have some extra time on your July trip up to Seattle and plan on staying inland a bit, Washougal, WA is a great spot to go. Just about a half hour from north Portland. Alot of great views, trails, wheeling and great driving fun!
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Thanks for the suggestion! I am planning on going by Mt Hood and Mt St Helens, so Washougal is right in between. I'll check it out.
 
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Question:

If I wanted to spend a couple of days in one spot somewhere between Mount Hood, OR and Mount Rainier, WA, next to a lake or stream to fish and kayak. What would be the perfect spot?

A campground or BLM land is fine. Just needs to be outstanding!!

Thanks!
 
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