Getting started with some mild offroading

[popoga]

Hey folks, got my lovely R1T recently and am keen to try and find a few places to stretch my legs, make use of the AT tires, and get a little mud on the panels maybe.

Not super familiar with the scene - I've looked at the suggestions in Alltrails and Trailsoffroad, but a lot of those are real destination trips (3+hr drive each way) and/or mostly snowed over at this time of year. I'm in the Seattle area, and was hoping to find some lighter fare, forest service roads or similar, within an hour or two to start bumbling around on to get a feel for the new AWD system and such. Cougar mountain? A ferry ride? Trip out past Duvall?

Any suggestions or discussion appreciated.

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[domoplaytime]

There are some good discussions on earlier threads that may give you some ideas. I haven't been out with the forum group yet but I hear folks are considering a trip in January.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/off-road-meet-up-stampede-pass-seattle-area-october.8648/

I'm new to this as well. I'm thinking of trying Tahuya ORV park west of here. https://www.dnr.wa.gov/GreenMountainTahuya

 

[SeaGeo]

The Emerald City Rivian club will be coordinating a trip soon hopefully.

I'd point you to the website, but the RF Admin's would probably delete my post, so use google.

 

[popoga]

The Emerald City Rivian club will be coordinating a trip soon hopefully.

I'd point you to the website, but the RF Admin's would probably delete my post, so use google.

Cool, signed up. It's odd, domo had pointed me in that direction earlier but all that came up initially was an instagram page, not the website itself. Now it actually came up. Google fuckery, maybe.

 

[Riviot]

I'm new to this as well. I'm thinking of trying Tahuya ORV park west of here. https://www.dnr.wa.gov/GreenMountainTahuya

Has anyone taken an R1T there? I used to take my $5k Disco but am very hesitant to take an $80k truck with less breakover, more weight, and fresh paint.

 

[SeaGeo]

Has anyone taken an R1T there? I used to take my $5k Disco but am very hesitant to take an $80k truck with less breakover, more weight, and fresh paint.

@dmc94 and I are contemplating it. Hearing that from you makes me think it looks easier than it is. Tahuya seemed like the most open and easiest OHV park in the area when I was perusing them. The other parks all seem to have gate keepers that are more likely to cause body damage than I'm comfortable with.

 

[Tbirdjeff]

Hey folks, got my lovely R1T recently and am keen to try and find a few places to stretch my legs, make use of the AT tires, and get a little mud on the panels maybe.

Not super familiar with the scene - I've looked at the suggestions in Alltrails and Trailsoffroad, but a lot of those are real destination trips (3+hr drive each way) and/or mostly snowed over at this time of year. I'm in the Seattle area, and was hoping to find some lighter fare, forest service roads or similar, within an hour or two to start bumbling around on to get a feel for the new AWD system and such. Cougar mountain? A ferry ride? Trip out past Duvall?

Any suggestions or discussion appreciated.

Can't run it right now with snow, but in the spring, head to Twin Lakes trailhead near Baker. You can make it in a car if you want to beat it up, so it isn't too tough, but it will "stretch your legs" on a semi-challenging road with a huge payoff. Make the hike to the fire lookout... worth it.

 

[SeaGeo]

Can't run it right now with snow, but in the spring, head to Twin Lakes trailhead near Baker. You can make it in a car if you want to beat it up, so it isn't too tough, but it will "stretch your legs" on a semi-challenging road with a huge payoff. Make the hike to the fire lookout... worth it.

I actually did that this summer. It's actually where I got some pinstripes where I encountered someone heading up on our way back down where it is only one lane wide.

 

[Riviot]

The other parks all seem to have gate keepers that are more likely to cause body damage than I'm comfortable with.

Tahuya has them too. My wife got out of the Disco when I went thru them. Not to say the Rivian can't do it, but the R1S is more likely to clear with less worry.

 

[Inkedsphynx]

It's snowing up there right now (literally, lol, and at my house) but if you drive up 90 and get off on any of the exits up around Tinkham Road, there's a ton of really easy and fun forest service roads there with some incredible views up at the top. I've done those a ton of a times in everything from my R1T to a Velar (only some of them in the Velar). Great way to get some gravel under the tires without feeling like you're taking on a monster.

Once you graduate past that, head out to the eastern WA dunes for some sand fun. Between Seattle and there are also a few rock crawling parks. Stick to the easiest trails to start with and you'll be fine.

Edit: I haven't hit Tahuya yet but have a friend who has in his Taco. I'd love to go, tho thinking maybe I'll wait for the spring and get some sliders in the meantime just in case.

 

[popoga]

It's snowing up there right now (literally, lol, and at my house) but if you drive up 90 and get off on any of the exits up around Tinkham Road, there's a ton of really easy and fun forest service roads there with some incredible views up at the top.

Oh not a bad idea. I've done a bit of tromping around and I think even camping off that stretch and it's definitely lovely. As you say, it feels more like a gravel road than 'off road', but a good idea for getting out of town nonetheless.

 

[Inkedsphynx]

I definitely camp up off Tinkham a few times every summer. Only takes 60-90 minutes to get to a decent dispersed site off those roads from downtown Seattle and unless you go on a holiday it's not usually too busy.

 

[kylealden]

+1 for Tinkham Road. My other favorite is the WABDR - Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR) Map & Information (ridebdr.com). It runs the Cascades from OR to Canada and is a ton of fun with decent dispersed camping along the route. You can pick and choose legs individually - you don't have to commit to the whole route (which is at least a several day affair for an experienced crew).

A few of us did the leg from Ellensburg to Yakima earlier this summer, which is easy to pop into with good charging options on both ends. The Ellensburg to Leavenworth leg is also one of my favorites and has charging options at both ends as well. Just be aware most of it is snowy and inaccessible right now or very soon.

The BDR was originally scouted for ADV bikes but the whole thing is accessible to (and frequented by) full size rigs as well. I've done most of it on ADV bikes and several legs in my old CJ - the Rivian is plenty capable, and the routes are well established enough that it's very low risk. The technical sections tend to have bypasses but most of it isn't a lot worse than "rough forest road"; where it is, you can get by with clearance and good traction, which the R1T has in spades. Bring a chainsaw in case of treefall.

(Non-WA folks - there are BDR routes in most of the West and even a couple in the Northeast these days, check them out and donate if you use them!)

 

[popoga]

Made it out to that Tahuya place today, pretty pleasant drive up along the canal, little rainy and foggy but I'm by no means opposed to that.

The roads themselves (USFS 24 and 2480) had about 4-10 inches of packed but wet snow on them throughout. Tracks existed and there'd obviously been a plow through in the last few weeks, which was a surprise. Ended up doing 10 or maybe 15 miles of forest service road driving (and one ~14 point turn when things got a bit dicey for my first time out in the truck), and it was never anything but easy. Had a few points where i could tell one tire or another wasn't on traction (hard to tell where the berms are, hence the 14 point turn) and I just put the pedal down til the others picked up and rolled me forward.

Had hoped to find one or two of the shooting spots recommended by Domo in the link above but alas all the side roads were completely snowed out. Not sure I'd want to do much shooting in the cold and rain anyway, but I've been on the lookout for a good not-super-trafficked DNR area for a bit, so...

Lovely drive though, and not hard at all for the little bits I did. Fast chargers and good breakfast in Olympia, too. Might do it again soon. You can see the slush and existing tire tracks that were basically the norm for 90% of what I saw.

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