Hunting Washington Forum

Classifieds & Organizations => Where To Go - Partners - Hunt Swaps => Topic started by: tself9 on October 06, 2021, 04:59:05 PM

Title: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: tself9 on October 06, 2021, 04:59:05 PM: hello,
hoping to spend some time getting to know colville national forest in a couple of weeks. any insight into how the roads are there? will my subaru forester have enough clearance (8.7 inches) for those roads? (i know, i know, not a great hunting rig, but great in the snow and killer turn radius). is it white-knuckle driving? just don't want to get in over my head and then be in a place where turning around is sketchy.
thanks all.
Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: 10thmountainarcher on October 06, 2021, 05:02:25 PM: All depends on where you are. I would think you should be just fine on most the roads.
Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: buckfvr on October 06, 2021, 05:06:11 PM: Lots of roads you can travel, and some you cant. My biggest cringe factor with suvs is the tires most often 4 ply passenger tires with vulnerable sidewalls. Id worry more about the tires than getting turned around.

It may be great in snow on paved roads but those tires arent worth a pinch of shtuff ( once it snows ) on mountain roads. :twocents:
Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: tself9 on October 06, 2021, 05:12:02 PM: Quote from: buckfvr on October 06, 2021, 05:06:11 PM
Lots of roads you can travel, and some you cant. My biggest cringe factor with suvs is the tires most often 4 ply passenger tires with vulnerable sidewalls. Id worry more about the tires than getting turned around.

It may be great in snow on paved roads but those tires arent worth a pinch of shtuff ( once it snows ) on mountain roads. :twocents:

Great point. The Forester killed it in the Nile GMU 352 a couple of years ago, and we went pretty deep...all gravel going up and snow coming out...but those forest roads were in pretty solid condition. Just not sure how Colville compares.
Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: Billy74 on October 06, 2021, 06:00:32 PM: I think you should be fine on most of the roads. My biggest mistakes are always heading down an offshoot and getting a mile or so and finding out the road ends IRL and on the map it looks clear with no place to turn around. I alway keep track of wide areas and how far back the last one was.

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Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: WildcatRanger on October 06, 2021, 06:40:32 PM: I spent a week up there last month for archery elk with my Subaru Outback. Drove the majority on secondary roads and did just fine. I’m running the Falken Wildpeak tire which is a much more capable tire than most passenger car tires, it has a beefy tread and sidewall.
Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: tself9 on October 06, 2021, 08:13:19 PM: thanks all. super helpful.
Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: typi314 on November 06, 2021, 08:05:32 PM: Roads looked fairly decent when I was there. I’m going to be up there most this week. What areas you looking at? I’m thinking about starting around huckleberry peak.
Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: boneaddict on November 06, 2021, 08:12:30 PM: Watch for mud on secondary ones. If you have a small saw, stick it in. Wind is bringing down lots of trees in burned areas.
Title: Re: colville national forest road conditions
Post by: Limhangerslayer on November 06, 2021, 09:00:58 PM: This was near Colville today, my buddy took the pic. Road was nasty and sloppy mud