New to WA: Anyone got some tips?

[Pancakeshake]

Hey Guys,

New to the forum. New to Washington. Not 100% new to back country riding.
I grew up on sleds in NH (No decent back country) then moved to Tahoe for a bit (Amazing back country) and now I find myself in N. Washington (Bellingham).

I have a Rev Chassis Summit 800 151” that I plan on beating the snot out of this season, but I am trying to learn where to go / not to go. Looking for spots about an hour or less from me in BHam. It seems like a great spot will be the Baker Rec. Area off on Baker Lake Rd (NF-12 & NF-13 Roads). Riding up there is sanctioned so I’m comfortable venturing out there (hopefully with a local the first few times!)

Some other potential spots I “Google Mapped” and read about online are…
- NF-38 road (South east of Deming off of Middle Fork Rd)
- NF-31 road (Canyon Creek, off of 542)
- NF-39 road (Glacier Road) off of 542)

Are those other spots listed legit to ride? Any good off trail riding? Tight? Open? Legal? Stay the F out?

I would love some feedback before the season gets underway so I know the basic lay of the land.

Thanks guys! Pray for snow.

[Snowizard]

Welcome to BCR.
I'm in Minnesota, and correspond with a few riders who ride in WA, here on BCR,
Things are S-L-O-W right on the forums, but hang in there, people will respond to you.
Roger/Snowizard

[Mac-Daddy-Racing-212]

Give it a few days, some guys will be back on here before to long

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[Krash]

Welcome to Washington.

-The Mount Baker National Recreation Area (Schriebers Meadow) is a great riding area and it should get going some time in December if we get a some what normal snow year. There has to be 24 inches at the end of the road in order to ride thru the meadow though so don't go too early. Baker has everything from road riding to tight trees to creek drainages to huge open bowls, mild to wild. If you are one of the lucky ones to get "sick" during the week and go see Doc Baker conditions can be epic. It does get fairly busy on weekends and the road in and out can be brutal.

-Canyon Creek Road (Bear Paw) is currently closed due to a "washout", so it is out unless we get rideable snow down to about 1500ft . It doesn't look like it will be fixed until maybe next summer but this is one of the areas that we can ride late into the season. We will ride here well into June if not July on a good snow year.

-Glacier Creek is a good area and I think the road is open. The last several years have seen washouts there as well.

-If the middle fork road you are talking about is off the Nooksack I believe that ends up in wilderness, so maybe a no go.

-Another option, which is just up the road from Mount Baker NRA and across the Baker Lake dam is Anderson-Watson. It is a smaller area but has some great riding if you aren't afraid of the trees. It also provides some great views of Mount Baker on a blue bird day.

If you have the time for a short trip there are a lot of awesome riding areas in the I-90 corridor from Snoqualmie Pass to Cle Elum and Blewett Pass.
Here is a link to the snow parks.

http://parks.state.wa.us/443/Mount-Baker-Methow
http://parks.state.wa.us/438/Blewett-I-90

All of these areas are bordered by wilderness areas so check the boundaries. You are also going to need an avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe in all of these areas. If you don't have them, get them!

[ArcticBoy]

Don't forget about Fish Lake Krash

[Krash]

Fish Lake is EPIC!