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Washington Backroads Discovery Route

Dream470

Rank IV
Member
Investor

Member II

1,051
Shelton, WA, USA
First Name
Ryan
Last Name
Miller
Member #

31958

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KJ7 OQK
Hello fellow overlanders,
I have just upgraded our 2020 150 Transit van with 30 inch tires, 2 inch lift with Agile Offroad front control arms, Blisteins, rear spring and Fox 2.0 reservoir shocks. Also added a ford F150 limited slip rear differential on our 2WD 130 length mid roof..... Wow that is a mouth full.

The vision of this rig is NOT rock crawling but rather a "Capable gravel road touring machine"

I know nothing about the Washington Backroads Discovery Route and want to know if taking a rig like ours would be foolish or appropriate. I look foward to hearing your thoughtsView attachment IMG_5334.jpeg
 

Attachments

OTH Overland

Local Expert Washington, USA
Member
Investor

Trail Blazer III

4,847
Camano Island, WA, USA
First Name
Dave
Last Name
Ballard
Member #

20527

Ham/GMRS Callsign
N7XQP
Service Branch
Fire/EMS/SAR
Ryan, nice looking van build! The WABDR overall is not difficult and mostly forest service roads. There are however a few areas that may cause some issues with tall vehicles and 2 wheel drive. I would recommend going to ridebdr.com if you have not already, you can download a gpx file for the route there and upload onto your mapping software. This will give you the route and available bypasses for some areas along with points of interest along the way. I would also recommend purchasing the paper map version they have for sale. This map has good descriptions of the route and a really nice elevation profile of the route showing how much up and down you will be doing. The BDR routes were created by adventure motorcyle folks and they run the website. There is a facebook group called WABDR for 4x4s where people post trip reports and general information that can be useful. If you can travel with someone it gives a bit of insurance and confidence to attempt any of the parts that may be a challenge to 2 wheel drive. (I have seen plenty of vehicles with less ground clearance and capabilities make there way through the entire route.) Remember to watch out for motorcycles and have a great time. Most folks tend to run the route south to north so you will find less oncoming traffic if you go that way, but it is just forest service roads linked into a route so vehicles can go where they wish, and you may need to back up once in a while on the narrow sections.

The first part of section 1 has some areas that are pretty overgrown with low fir tree branches, expect some pinstriping and maybe trimming a branch here and there to get a van through. (it is later in season so may be more clear than usual.) Bethel Ridge has some really rutted out sections from people pushing their way through in the we muddy season, as long as you take your time and stay on top you should be ok, would likely get stuck if you drop one side into a rut with 2 wheel drive. The second half of section 2 has an hill climb named baby head hill that has a lot of round rock that may be hard to climb without 4 wheel drive, especially if you do not have a locker or at least limited slip. (There is an alternate route that bypasses this section). Section 3 has an obstacle called Beehive washout, has a couple of off camber sections that you would need to be careful of to avoid an issue with rolling. (you can turn left on Liberty Beehive Road and then right on Swauk Meadow Road which will take you down to Blewett Pass to avoid this if you wish). There is a section called the Jungle on section 4 before you get to Lake Chelan, just take the bypass (which is the main dirt road) as this is nothing but a couple of miles of super overgrown old road that you have to push heavy brush on both sides of the rig, will leave lots of marks on your paint, wheels etc., I went that way once, won't do it again...lol.

The rest of the route has some steep sections, but mostly gravel so should not be an issue especially in the summer season. A lot of the route is at higher elevation so most sections start shutting down due to snow sometime in October depending on weather.