Oregon Back Country Discovery Route 3 finished

[CowboyUp]

Beautiful pics, thank you for posting them!
I flew over the Crater Lake in a plane in Feb this year, when visiting a childhood friend in California.
When I saw it, it instantly became one of those "gotta visit" -places. So amazingly beautiful!

You are welcome!

You was lucky to flew over Crate Lake and see the beauty of the Crate Lake from above. Now, is time to drive around to the Crate Lake .
Crate Lake is one of the most beautiful place in Oregon and a most to see for anybody is visiting the Oregon .

 

[CowboyUp]

OK folks, look few more pictures with Crate Lake.

 

[LCDiesel60]

CowboyUp--thanks for posting--I'm in Oregon and new to MUD and wanting to find some Expo trips in Oregon to try the rig next year--heard there were some but never knew how to find them--thanks!!
LCDiesel60
Oregon City, OR

 

[CowboyUp]

CowboyUp--thanks for posting--I'm in Oregon and new to MUD and wanting to find some Expo trips in Oregon to try the rig next year--heard there were some but never knew how to find them--thanks!!
LCDiesel60
Oregon City, OR

Howdy

You are welcome.
Try Oregon Trail ( Barlow Road ) this year if you have time ( the road I believe got closed today from Mt Hood side, but it's possible to access the BR using the 40 Rd or other few logging roads). Because of this heavy rain and snow that we have the two weeks up on Mt Hood will be a blast to drive on this old dirt road.

You can make your own exploring route by having forest service map/s beside finding other exploring route online.

 

[LCDiesel60]

Thanks for the input--is there an online resource for the FS maps or do I need to go to each ranger station to get them?

I've spent plenty of time on this side of the Cascades--not much on the back side--it looks from the off road web site that a lot of the roads go through private farm land..?...or are a lot of the trails on BLM (state) lands on the east side?....I enjoy the uncivilized wandering and exploring and the big F350 super duty diesel has been too large at times for such uses..

Thanks again!..glad you took time to enjoy before the winter weather hit us.

 

[CowboyUp]

Glad to help
You need to get a map for each forest district from our local source, library or sport stores.
However, the maps are a mess and one is not like the other one. The best is two have two maps printed by two different company and work with both. On my last trip, I bought a Delorme Atlas for Oregon and had a detailed topographic
maps for back roads, recreation sites and GPS grids and is the best map that you can get at this hour in Portland from what I know. Haves more forest service or blm roads on this map then forest service maps ( just don't call forest service for help from a road that they don't have in their maps )
Yes you right, on east side most of the land is private and no trespassing at all on most of this private lands or roads and BLM haves the most land there and definitely you need a BLM map, I never found one to buy and probably contact them by phone is the best. Some of the Forest service maps from South Oregon and East Oregon have the BLM roads to, but again don't put your base just in that map.
That pickup truck is little beet to big for this roads.
Are places where our cruiser are to big for this roads to. In special for OHV roads, some of them are so narrow that only the Heep can be in his element there.
Well, this winter will be a mess one, the Nina is here all ready and lots of the back woods roads will blocked by fallen tree. I need to get my hand in a chainshaw if I will get a job first of course .
If you need more help with the maps, I can point you to the right store/s and map/s.

good luck

 

[slickrock]

I have the same problem with doing the Washington trail. I would like to get topo maps of the trail, but it covers a lot of different quads. It will wind up costing as much as a good topo mapping software or even a GPS when it is all said and done. I know some of the State Universities I have access to in CA have Topos for CA, but washington is nonexistant if I were to copy them. I may only use my delorme software with the laptop GPS and back everything up to my Garmin GPS and maybe get a broader Delorme topo map book for Washington State as a 3rd back-up.

 

[CowboyUp]

For doing the Washington trail you will need around to 5 maps, one for each forest service district and will cost you something to 80 $ +. And to be sure and safe you will need a topo map book to, because the many times are better. However, working with two or more maps is the best when you get to that road that is closed or is not there.
WBCDR don't sell a map book like OBCDR, think that is making harder to transfer the trail from the book on the maps, how I did. WBCDR GPS coordinate on the field will make harder the trip, in special when is a detour or the map that you have is not covering what the GPS haves. Plus the forest roads haves numbers that down the road will repeat think that will make you to travel in circle. I did that to for 30 minutes...( was nice to have a gps on that moment )
And you right, because of this high price will make you to have a hard time what to chose a topo map, visitor map or a GPS.
For me, to do the OBCDR 5 will cost me probably around to + 200 $ just for the maps .

Note

And, if you decide to buy maps, start from now to find the right map/s because the stores usually are not carring all the maps and is hard and stresfull to find them in last minute.
Also, you can start by going to different stores and compare the maps and find that are the most accurate. I found that National Geographic haves nice map with relief contour, but is very hard to find them for each forest service district.

 

[CowboyUp]

Note
do everything you can and don't buy a map like this. no relief contour and in case the emergency you don't have idea where you are......

 

[slickrock]

Luckily, a guy who ran the Washington trail took very good gps cords and even took the time to upload them to transfer into GPS units. I used it on my delorme topo software and it created very detailed routes along with road numbers/names and bypasses. If you go to this page, on the left is the GPS Track download for the map on the right. Very impressive. Route Map - Washington Backcountry Discovery Route Hopefully I will be able to use 24k maps as supplement to my two GPS. Technology fails. Simple fact and don’t want to rely on that to get out if something happens.

Sorry about making your thread about Washington B.C.D. also, but its your thread that got me turned on to the trail a bit farter north. Hope you don't mind.

 

[CowboyUp]

Luckily, a guy who ran the Washington trail took very good gps cords and even took the time to upload them to transfer into GPS units. I used it on my delorme topo software and it created very detailed routes along with road numbers/names and bypasses. If you go to this page, on the left is the GPS Track download for the map on the right. Very impressive. Route Map - Washington Backcountry Discovery Route Hopefully I will be able to use 24k maps as supplement to my two GPS. Technology fails. Simple fact and don’t want to rely on that to get out if something happens.

Sorry about making your thread about Washington B.C.D. also, but its your thread that got me turned on to the trail a bit farter north. Hope you don't mind.

Howdy

I looked over the link and definitely they did amazing job and is free to get the coordinate to .
I looked over trail from satellite and is a amassing trail . Maybe I will tailgate your cruiser and do this trail to . One think is concern me is about gasoline station, not to many towns around from what I see in Washington state map.
I know from fact that in zone 1 to 2 is only one gas station down in Carson and next one will be in Randle, close from where is starting zone 2. When I did this zone two months ago or so, I drove to Randle just to get 5 gallons to be sure I have enough to return back to Carson.... But, was ok because I was there to explore and enjoy the nature.
Don't worry, we can mix both trails info and in the end both are about exploration.

 

[slickrock]

Gas is an issue. I'll carry an extra 10 gallons to keep me safe, but there is mention of hitting paved roads here and there to fill up. Fell free to join the trip. It will be sometime around the first week or two of June.

 

[CowboyUp]

thanks, i will look on that.

 

[LCDiesel60]

Great information everyone--thanks for the info and mentoring and exploring--I have a GPS but prefer old fashioned, maybe even just a few maps if needed--getting an oversized fuel tank for the HJ60 (relatives can fab/weld tanks, so in the price range), about 60 to 62 gallons in place of stock tank/spare tire so at 20-22 mpg should be enough for the adventure and some 'wandering'--

Thanks Cowboyup for the Oregon tips--only problem is now I have to wait all winter and Spring before I can get out there--could be a hard/long/white winter in those back areas so likely a later start for both Oregon and Washington next year--June might even be too soon for some parts of WA..?

Slickrock--sounds like a fun trip planned!!

Take care all--
LCDiesl60
Oregon

 

[CowboyUp]

With that mpg and that diesel tank/s you can cross Oregon and California in one trip with no problem . My cruiser haves around to 8 mpg in the woods .
You are welcome!

You are right some roads can be cover with snow late in june, in special up in north.

Snow is not big deal, money is the problem. I have in mind when I will be rich to buy a snowmobile and do the OBCDR and WBCDR . Some of the OBCDR trail is actually on the winter snowmobile route!

 

[slickrock]

The end of first week of June is about when I can head up there. I'm a teacher and after I do the graduation ceremony Friday (3rd) night, I'll lode my son, buddy, and dogs in my rig and head up north. I have to be back home around the 15th of July so my son is back home for his birthday. My wife (while she teaches summer school and we are having fun) would never forgive me if I didn’t get him home for his birthday on the 21st. The latest I can push it back would be the 10th-15th of June.

The Discovery Route isn't the purpose of going north so it is just an addition to getting to my cabin in Canada. I hope by that time, I will not be the first person through the trail for the year. That would be way to much work cutting and pulling dead fall out of the trail. It would turn a 5/6 day trip into more than a week and I would have to spend a lot of cash building a front bumper for a winch. As it is, I have my high lift and enough straps to get me unstuck manually. Lots of work, but old school still works. If that is the case, the only option will be to do as much as we can then head west towards the coast to hook up on I-5.

If anyone wants to hook up with me on the trip, please let me know. The more rigs the safer it is.

 

[CowboyUp]

The more work on the trail is the more fun . Or something like that !

I drove once with a minivan in a forest road up in the Mt Hood to Devil Peak after a late November storm and was fun to remove all the obstacles and work hard to get where I had in plan. I did better job then forest service in the end to clear the road because I made with my minivan where only a 4x4 can go. Next day, a guy with a Jeep was in shock to see me there, his Jeep was cover in mud and me few drops .
Winch is great, but you can do work with out winch to and we can use the rig to pull the tree or few guys and a rope . Sometime a chainsaw will be more handy then a winch.

We drove one of the best rigs in the world and definitely or stock rig can do what other rigs with all the moods can't do. I drove my stock rig last month off road in a lava "pit" and I made out in despite that was the most stupid thing that I did in all my years driving a car .
I do exploring by my self always, but having few rigs with you is the safe thing to do in a back woods exploring.....

 

[joelev]

We went up that trail to Devil's Peak a few weeks ago. One of our first off-slab trips in the new hundy. We were totally impressed with how awesome we were in getting all the way up there. Got all the way up to where the trail ends and then hiked to the lookout. When we got back, there was a dude there in a Corolla who had made it all the way by throwing one wheel up onto the roadbank every time he hit one of the big washouts. We didn't feel so badass after that.

 

[CowboyUp]

We went up that trail to Devil's Peak a few weeks ago. One of our first off-slab trips in the new hundy. We were totally impressed with how awesome we were in getting all the way up there. Got all the way up to where the trail ends and then hiked to the lookout. When we got back, there was a dude there in a Corolla who had made it all the way by throwing one wheel up onto the roadbank every time he hit one of the big washouts. We didn't feel so badass after that.

That dude was super good driver, but he was driving a Toyota to . How he made all the way up only him knows
I had been there in September this year and I dragged my spare tire almost over every water bar that was in my way. Forest service just finished to maintain that road and they used the backhoe to to do the drainage.
Two years ago I meat a guy with a Geo Metro Hatchback up at Eureka trail head ( at that time the road was a mess and worst the what is now there). For some people is no limit when they want something.

Yes, people like that dude is ruining our day and make us to feel normal people again and not specials,

 

[juanchogaviria]

Cool pics, thanks for sharing!