Are there actually medium to difficult rockcrawling areas in OR/WA?
I'm guessing tight is going to be challenging with a wide vehicle like the Bronco?trailsoffroad.com is a great resource, I would say that trail rating are subjective and depend on the vehicle and driver experience, for example an moderate trail (orange) can be either easy (green) or Difficult (red). The ratings are also for dry conditions which we don't have a lot of in this area. Most trails are snowed in right now, snow wheeling is also great fun!
Most of the trails are more dirt/mud, tree roots and tight. There are some rocks but not constant rock crawling. There is plenty of challenge, it just depends on what you are looking for. I consider section 1 of the Naches Trail (from the West end to FR 7068) decently challenging, particularly if you have a vehicle where the tires don't stick out side the body. I have not run it in my Bronco yet and I am guessing it will be much easier than my Tacoma. The middle sections of the Naches trail are great for new drivers with a reasonably equipped stock vehicle.
Following on IG now.I've done a couple of really light trails since I got mine in September.
This is Lolo Pass Road off highway 26 in Oregon. From 26, it climbs steeply and becomes a forest service road. Typically an easy drive, but made more difficult with the snow. We got a few miles in where a washout stopped us from going any farther. The plan was to go all the way to Hood River, spotting campsites along the way, and a side trip to the top of Mt Defiance. Will definitely try this again when it thaws out up there.
This is inside the Gifford Pinchot National Forest just east of Moulton WA. We took NE Dole Valley Road to forest road L-1100 (or DNR-1100)to NF-4109. The first road was a well graded gravel road with small pot holes. Once into the national forest it was considerably slower going, with mud at first, then gigantic potholes filled with a mix of mud and water. Some could have been called very small ponds.
in this picture, Red is Moulton WA, Green is where NE Dole Valley meets L-1100, and the blue trail is the route we took into the national forest.
I try to post to Instagram (@pnw.bronco) before I do any trails. Will try to remember to post here too in case anyone wants to join.
Might just be the first place I hit.
Tricky beat me to it... Elbe and TSF are probably the two most notable, with a few additional areas around Bend that have some pretty gnarly terrain. Walker Valley and Evans Creek up near Seattle and Tacoma respectively also offer some more challenges than your typical forest service two track. In comparison to places like Utah, Arizona and Colorado our options are pretty limited...
I'm planning on a Moab trip in June. Want to get a little practice before then. I'm not expecting Devil's Gate...
I think you mean May 2-6 right?
But May 20th is the big PNW Bronco meet-up in Moab.
June. Sadly I will miss those other events.
