You know...Highest Road in Washington State...Eastern Washington...Near Mazama / Winthrop...

I was wondering just how good/bad the road is up to the campground. I'm hearing various stories...Not sure which ones to believe.

I've been meaning to try it, but haven't passed through the area late enough in the summer. A neighbor goes up there frequently; his current car is an Xterra.

The forest service web site will give current information on whether it is open - currently it is snowed in. At times last year it was close by mud slides, if I recall correctly. Fires also affected the area. I believe one campground at the pass was recently destroyed by fire.

Here's the road report for the north Methow Valley ranger district
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/oka/recreation/mvroadsn.shtml

Washington Byways, Tony Huegel, Wilderness Press, describes the road in tour 10:
''Easy, but rocky and narrow in places with blind curves. The road is typically open from early July through September. It's busy on weekends, so expect to encounter hikers and other vehicles, including stock trucks. Trailers are prohibited."

Late in April last year I poked around in the Winthrop area. FS 37 to Conconully was nice driving up to the junction with FS39, at which point it was snow covered. A Jeep with large mud tires had made it up to Baldy Pass, but had to winch itself several times.

FS39 up to Tiffany spring and the hike up to Tiffany Mtn looks interesting, but will have to wait till summer. In late June, on a return trip of Canada, I tried get into that area from the Conconully side, up FS38. But we hit a heavy rain storm (with hail) as Salmon Mdws, so I decided not to try the more primitive 3820.

In both April and June I drove a nice road in the grassy hills east of Winthrop, to the Pipestone Canyon trailhead and on to the Beaver campground. In April there was large equestrian gathering in this area.

In April I also drove the loop up to Black Pine Lake west of Twisp. I was interested in driving up to Butterilk Butte, but its road was snowed in. As it was, I had to snowplow through a hundred yard long snowpatch near Black Pine Lake. FS43 from Black Pine Lake to Carlton was blocked with fallen trees. The upper portion of FS300 (near the Lake) is narrow and about as twisty as roads come, though with a good gravel surface.

paulj

We just made a quick loop of the north Cascades, crossing east over WA 20 and back on US2. We spent the second night at Hart's pass. The pass itself is about 6200 ft, with the highest drivable point at Slate Peak closer to 7000 ft. The drive includes about 15 miles of gravel/dirt. In dry weather it can be handled by any car. Subarus seemed to dominate at the PCT trailheads.

Near the start of the gravel stretch, there is a half mile that may test your fear of heights. The area right around Hart's pass was burned recently, while the area around Slate Peak is just above the timber line, so offers wide alpine views.

paulj

Spectacular, Paul. Those are the first series of photos I have ever seen from H.P. We will probably get up there late Summer, or early Fall for some camping.

??? How would you rate the campground? Clean, private, crowded, etc?

Thanks. :)

My 'deer blind' thread has some pictures from the Meadows camp ground near the pass.
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15961

Right at the pass there small campground, about 5 irregular sites. About a mile to the south is Meadows, about 20 sites. The area between was burned in the fall 2003, and Meadows was closed while it was cleaned up - removing burned trees that could fall on campers, new gravel and wood chips, etc. There is decent separation between sites, but no screening trees now.

So Meadows is bleak with all the burned trees around, but interesting in its own way, with an abundance of deer and flowers (at least at this time of the year). Midweek the campground was nearly empty, with only 3 sites in use.

These are barebones forest service sites ($3) with no water or garbage collection, but new outhouses.

There are number of other forest service campgrounds in the area, including a couple closer to Mazama before narrow part of the Hart's pass road.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/oka/recreation/cg.shtml
I've stayed at Lone Fir (closest to Washington Pass on 20), Falls Creek north of Winthrop, and Loup Loup (to the east of Twisp). Beware that campgrounds will be crowded at the start of hunting season (around Columbus day). There is a state park at Pearrygin Lake, which tends to be full with the water skiing crowd. You can also hitch your Element to a rail in Winthrop and browse the boardwalks and saloons.

Pictures:
View north past Meadows CG to Slate Peak
Falls Creek north of Winthrop, typical lower level forest service cg
Pearrygin Lake, typical hills around Winthrop
Winthrop


paulj