Hi Jason, I am your local member representative and you can always reach out directly if you have any questions. We are located on Camano Island, just a short distance south of you. Upper Skagit Valley has some great easy forest service roads for out and back day adventures. I have included a GPX file with a few routes to explore, all are standard forest service roads and easy to travel until the snow flies (like horse flies but colder)... Our corner of the NW does tend to a bit brushy and can cause pinstripes on the paint of vehicles, as we enter the winter roads will close down quickly due to snow, but you can still find some to play on year round, you just won't get far and plan on turning around often.
Several roads in the Baker Lake area north of Concrete on Hwy 20, (Baker lake dam has a great campground that is accessible year round and free in the winter season.)
FS 12/13 runs up to Schreiber Meadows, can be super busy with hikers/skiers
FS 1130/1131 goes up to Rainbow Ridge, there is a hot spring up there that can be popular, and Rainbow Falls which you can get a peek a boo view of unless you hike down the trail to the bottom for a great view.
FS 110 on the other side of Baker Dam goes up to Watson Lakes Trail Head, lots of switchbacks some steep sections and amazing views of Baker Lake, Mount Baker.
Others in the nearby area
FS 17/18 runs from South Skagit Hwy to Mountain Loop Hwy near Darrington. Mainline forest service road with some good views and plenty of spur roads to explore.
Gee Lake is a nice little spur road just past the junction of 17/18 and goes up to an alpine lake, Large annoying bugs may be present at the lake, and road gets a bit tight with brush in a couple of places.
Cascade river road out of Marblemount is paved then turns into dirt and goes up to the Cascade pass hiking trail, great scenery and a picnic spot at the end, a short hike up some steep switchbacks leads to some even better views (can hike over the cascades to the far end of lake Chelan if one was ambitious and had an extra few days..lol
Beyond that the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR) runs north/south from Oregon to Canada mostly along forest service roads and is one of the more popular overlanding trails. there are 6 sections and it can be done in one shot or a section at a time. the northern sections are lots of fun, with plenty of alternate routes to keep on busy for a long time. GPX tracks for that can be downloaded here
Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR) Map & Information (the BDR routes are created by motorcyclists, but often adopted by overlanders)
Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest has a great interactive map
Story Map Series this shows the last know status of all the forest service roads and last reported conditions. many roads have 'seasons' that travel is permitted for various reasons, not always accurate but a good tool for route planning.
Michelle & I try to host a trip at least once a month, often more, and we usually have meetups in the Stanwood / Camano area during the off season so folks can visit, meet other members and plan trips. Hoping to put on some basic training this winter for those new to Overlanding and backcountry travel. Keep an eye out on the Rally Point tab and or calendar for upcoming events. you can sort by NW region to filter out far away events.
Lastly, we are always open to spontaneous trips and adventures schedule depending if others are looking for company on a trip, just drop us a line...
Welcome to the Northwest and hope you enjoy getting outside.
