I am going to do a loop through BC this summer and I want to some down into Washington state on the #97 at Osoyoos Lake then make my way west to Bellingham. Is there a backroad/gravel/forest road route that roughly parallels the #20? Less pavement the better. thanks
You can get as far West as Mazama on Goat Crk Rd, then 20 over the mtn to Marblemont. The South Skagit Hwy is a nice alternate down to Sedro Wooley but most of the gravel roads are blocked by timber companies or wilderness. A loop can be made from FR18/17, from the SKHWy at Concrete to the SKHwy at Day Creek. Well worth doing but it doesn't reduce the asphalt much. Benchmark Atlas, WA Dave
As Dave mentions, there is no way across the mountains near 20. You can avoid the more boring sections of 97 by roughly following the northern WABDR sections. Here is one alternative to get you to Winthrop. Link to a Google Map: Oroville to Winthrop via FS39 [ Can you embed Google Maps here? Dunno. ] edit: Yes you can! edit again: This looks fine in Chrome on Win7 but it is pretty mangled on Tapatalk on my iPad. Still dunno. <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Central+Ave+W&daddr=Loomis-Oroville+Rd+to:Loomis-Oroville+Rd+to:Toats+Coulee+Rd+to:NF-39+to:NF-39+to:NF-39+to:NF-37&hl=en&sll=48.564396,-120.170474&sspn=0.033228,0.056691&geocode=FSbB6gId3Y_h-A%3BFWlv6wIdX3je-A%3BFUpj6QId7lbe-A%3BFchG6QIduEPc-A%3BFeZ36QIdAcrZ-A%3BFelU5wId4D3a-A%3BFVEc5gIdwjzZ-A%3BFbcF5QId6T_W-A&mra=mi&mrsp=7&sz=15&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=48.799627,-119.783936&spn=0.633206,1.167297&z=9&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Central+Ave+W&daddr=Loomis-Oroville+Rd+to:Loomis-Oroville+Rd+to:Toats+Coulee+Rd+to:NF-39+to:NF-39+to:NF-39+to:NF-37&hl=en&sll=48.564396,-120.170474&sspn=0.033228,0.056691&geocode=FSbB6gId3Y_h-A%3BFWlv6wIdX3je-A%3BFUpj6QId7lbe-A%3BFchG6QIduEPc-A%3BFeZ36QIdAcrZ-A%3BFelU5wId4D3a-A%3BFVEc5gIdwjzZ-A%3BFbcF5QId6T_W-A&mra=mi&mrsp=7&sz=15&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=48.799627,-119.783936&spn=0.633206,1.167297&z=9&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left"target="blank">View Larger Map</a></small> Another option is through Conconully. Link to a Google Map: Conconully to Winthrop via West Fork Rd <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Broadway+St&daddr=W+Fork+Rd%2FNF-42+to:W+Fork+Rd%2FNF-42+to:W+Fork+Rd%2FNF-42+to:NF-4225+to:NF-200%2FUpper+Beaver+Creek+Rd+to:Lester+Rd+to:Lester+Rd+to:Bear+Creek+Rd+to:Bear+Creek+Rd&hl=en&sll=48.496246,-120.170088&sspn=0.033273,0.056691&geocode=Fa_s5AIdA8Lc-A%3BFc5D5AIdae3b-A%3BFR_h4wId4s_b-A%3BFebZ4gIdXXfa-A%3BFV4U4wIdhKXY-A%3BFTkB4wIdhoLY-A%3BFZJJ4wIdTMHX-A%3BFQdh4wIdJxzX-A%3BFTIO5AIdpazW-A%3BFTn-4wIdo0HW-A&mra=mi&mrsp=9&sz=15&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=48.524791,-119.962463&spn=0.318334,0.583649&z=10&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Broadway+St&daddr=W+Fork+Rd%2FNF-42+to:W+Fork+Rd%2FNF-42+to:W+Fork+Rd%2FNF-42+to:NF-4225+to:NF-200%2FUpper+Beaver+Creek+Rd+to:Lester+Rd+to:Lester+Rd+to:Bear+Creek+Rd+to:Bear+Creek+Rd&hl=en&sll=48.496246,-120.170088&sspn=0.033273,0.056691&geocode=Fa_s5AIdA8Lc-A%3BFc5D5AIdae3b-A%3BFR_h4wId4s_b-A%3BFebZ4gIdXXfa-A%3BFV4U4wIdhKXY-A%3BFTkB4wIdhoLY-A%3BFZJJ4wIdTMHX-A%3BFQdh4wIdJxzX-A%3BFTIO5AIdpazW-A%3BFTn-4wIdo0HW-A&mra=mi&mrsp=9&sz=15&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=48.524791,-119.962463&spn=0.318334,0.583649&z=10&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left" target="blank">View Larger Map</a></small> There are a number of options getting to and from Conconully.
Dammit Dave! (just had to say that) - thanks for the info. pckopp - thanks for the tracks. This helps a ton!
The sggestions for the Washington side are spot on. I was pressed for time and made this loop with one overnight stay. Here's the write up, phootos and tracks.
Having done both set of tracks PCKOPP posted (on snowmobile and bike) I'd recommend the first set of tracks...Over totes coulee to NF39. The beginning of totes coulee rd is mostly paved (patches of gravel and dirt) with some fun twisties and spectacular views. NF39 is dusty gravel, with constant curves and ups/downs. You'll run across some amazing vantage points, a beautiful lake or two, and some very large meadows. You can easily average over 35mph for this section. Going off memory here, but I think you'll see 75-80 miles of road for this set of tracks. Once you hit the end of the tracks, I'd jump on west-side chewuch road which will lead you directly past the ranger station and down to HWY20. Follow 20 west to goat creek rd--paved, parallels hwy20, and will take you right to the gas station in Mazama. If you have a couple hours to spare I HIGHLY recommend a detour up harts pass to the top of Slate peak--this is the highest elevation road in WA, and leads to the highest lookout tower in WA. Beautiful area with AMAZING views. You will have to back-track back to HWY 20. There is gas in loomis, as well as in winthrop, and mazama. Then you're committed to HWY20 until you reach Marblemount. From there you can jump around backroads, but there isn't much for gravel roads. Fuel up in marblemount. At the 90* corner in Marblemount I'd go left and cross the river to Cascade River Rd, then shortly a right down Rockport Cascade Rd. Once you hit HWY530, take a left (south) until you reach Concrete Sauk Valley Rd on your right. This is a common backroad cruise along the Skagit River. It eventually turns into South Skagit Hwy and take you Sedro Woolley...if you crave some more dirt, jump onto Finney Creek Rd. The first several miles are paved, then it turns into FS17. It's one of the hotspots in the area for dual sports and other vehicle traffic. It will tie right back into South Skagit Hwy. It will save you (estimates) 12 miles of pavement, in exchange for about 28 miles of *mostly* dirt. Once you hit the end of S. Skagit HWY, you'll be on Hwy 9. Head north 1 mile to Sedro Woolley for gas and grub. There are SEVERAL options from here to get to bellingham. The main tourist route would take you West on HWY 20 to Burlington, then hop on HWY11/Chuckanut Drive. Its a street bikes dream--a windy road that overlooks Samish and Bellingham bay., heading north right into Bellingham. Expect plenty of traffic. Hope that helps....and sorry for being so long winded. It would've been easier to upload tracks if I had them handy...