Any recommendations for off-roading locations near Seattle?

[SeaGeo]

I couldn't make it, already on another trip, but my coworker claims he saw like 60.

I'm concerned about your coworkers ability to count... lol.

More like 11.

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[Riviot]

I'm concerned about your coworkers ability to count... lol.

More like 11.

He's a retired Boatswain's mate, anything over 2 hands is 60.

 

[gregtay]

Decided that BDR segment 3 was going to be a long day from Seattle. Another time when we can do 2 days.
Plan B- Stampede (Crystal Springs to Greenwater)
Short Version- We didn't make it- Too much snow
Long Version- We made it a bit over 26 miles and past the high point of 5500' before we hit way too much snow and decided to return back to the starting point.
Start point was Crystal Springs sno-park- elevation 2400'. The sno-park is 78 miles from home (just above sea level) and on east side of snoqulamie pass- elevation 3022'.
Hit snow fairly early around the Stampede Pass/Lizard Lake area.
To head off comments- yes, I know, wrong choice of wheels/tires. Still deciding on proper AT wheel/tire setup.

Dropped down lower

Then back up

And up

I think we were the first this season. Had to clear some trees and lots of bball sized rocks

That was about the best we could do without a winch/pulley setup. Had an axe to clear the limbs and we had a super tight passage.
Lesson learned- bring a chainsaw especially early season

Spring thaw/mud don't mix well with a heavy ass truck.

We both got stuck multiple times. 4 recovery boards became a necessity.
This spot got very tricky with an off camber road. Was getting way too close to that tree.
Luckily we both had recovery straps/kinetic ropes. Combining two with a soft shackle allowed for the Jeep to get off the snow to help me stay further away from the tree. My DR tire was on the soft/muddy back. The others were on snow. Cleared a path for the DF tire. Axe came in handy since there was 2" of ice below the snow. This area was close to the hight point of 5500'.

Stuck jeep. Photos don't show the road grade very well. Steeper than it looks. took us about an hour to get thru this section. We had scouted ahead and the road looked much better.
Lesson Learned- having redundant recovery gear gives you more options. Also, bring a shovel! Recovery boards suck as shovels. And bring gloves & towels

Lunch Break- Little did we know that our turnaround point was less than a 1/4 mile further

Hit way too much snow a little over 26 miles in at about 5400'. This area is due north of Windy Pass & Pryamid Peak

Range Stats-
Left Seattle at 100%
Sno-Park 71%- 78 miles
Turnaround point 47%- 26.5 miles
Back at sno-park 43% (not a typo) 26.5 miles
Back home 20% -78 miles
Of note-Jeep was running low and had to stop for gas in North Bend

Also, the recent thread re: roller tests was good knowledge to have. If I just gently pushed the go pedal down while stuck the wheels wouldn't move. Hitting the pedal faster (in off road mode) got me on the recovery boards and out of a bad situation.

All in it was a great fun day with temps in the 70s.
And...no damage to vehicles

I actually love that you ventured out on the 22s. My wife won the wheel/tire war and we settled on the same dark 22s you have... but I still want to be able to take the kids up some trails like I did with my Jeep. Nothing crazy, just some good off road adventures. So it is good to know the 22s do okay. Sure.. not ideal, and I keep saying I will get a set of 20s to swap for my fun days, but realistically snow tires will end up on the 20s and in the summer I will have the 22s on. (that's what we do with both our cars today and the winter tire setup for Seattle's wet winters is great)

 

[Carloc]

I actually love that you ventured out on the 22s. My wife won the wheel/tire war and we settled on the same dark 22s you have... but I still want to be able to take the kids up some trails like I did with my Jeep. Nothing crazy, just some good off road adventures. So it is good to know the 22s do okay. Sure.. not ideal, and I keep saying I will get a set of 20s to swap for my fun days, but realistically snow tires will end up on the 20s and in the summer I will have the 22s on. (that's what we do with both our cars today and the winter tire setup for Seattle's wet winters is great)

I was mulling over the reverse (21/22 with snow tires and 20s AT for summer fun). The problem per my other thread is the $60 to SC every time we change tire size (for the computer to align range and all that). I suggest matched height tira for summer / Winter

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