Boondocking on BLM, etc.....general road conditions?

[Allentc2]

What are road conditions typically like on BLM/USFS lands? Do they see a grader annually or do the conditions vary so widely that it's impossible to really generalize? LOL

[Yarome]

1 hour ago, Allentc2 said:

What are road conditions typically like on BLM/USFS lands? Do they see a grader annually or do the conditions vary so widely that it's impossible to really generalize? LOL

The later. 

It depends on what part of the country your in, terrain, activity levels within that particular area, if it's a BLM crossing or cut-through road to a destination or not, etc. etc. Conditions can change dramatically year to year.

If you're main area of interest is staying within designated dispersed camping areas then those will generally be the better of the lot and maps are available from the local BLM offices. It's good to stop in for updated maps every year.

If you want more off the beaten track... Generally what you'll find is somewhat of a network of fairly decent roads with "spur" roads off of those that will greatly vary in travelability. Of course... some of those "decent roads" may be gated, or if there is no state sponsored activity in the area that year you may find it in disrepair or... in forested areas... covered in blow downs (With permission, they are generally more than happy for anyone willing to clear them). One thing to also be aware of. Many "back roads" are dead ends (or terminate in a "landing").

You have to be prepared to do your own scouting. Be it on foot, vehicle, or by air (where permitted).

To answer your question... Couldn't say! 

[trailertraveler]

2 hours ago, Yarome said:

...Conditions can change dramatically year to year...You have to be prepared to do your own scouting. Be it on foot, vehicle, or by air (where permitted)...

I agree and would add that they can even change day to day. Some soil types will change from dry hard pack to slime or muck with not all that much rain. During the monsoon season in the desert states, roads can change dramatically in just a few hours. Dry washes can become raging torrents well downstream of where it actually rained. I agree that you need to scout and also in some areas watch the weather. The local district offices are great sources of local information.

Also, you need to check which areas are currently open to dispersed vehicle camping, especially on National Forests. The regulations can be revised as often as every year and the current regulations are published on the Travel and Motor Vehicle Use Maps. Regulations on how far off the road surface you may travel seem to be what changes the most often along with expanding areas where vehicle camping is restricted to designated sites or areas. Again, the local district office is a good source of information.

[Yarome]

27 minutes ago, trailertraveler said:

...watch the weather.

Agreed. That's an absolute "must do" at all times. I highly recommend carrying an Eton or similar. Great little devices, pretty much self sustaining, independent from all other power systems and you can run an antenna extension to the roof for better reception.

There is a newer model than the one I linked to... for about 2x the price. Not worth it in my book.

[Pat & Pete]

57 minutes ago, Yarome said:

Agreed. That's an absolute "must do" at all times. I highly recommend carrying an Eton or similar. Great little devices, pretty much self sustaining, independent from all other power systems and you can run an antenna extension to the roof for better reception.

There is a newer model than the one I linked to... for about 2x the price. Not worth it in my book.

I'll second that recommendation .

We have an Eton Scorpion 2 . The battery can be dead and we'll have reports coming in inside of a minute . 

http://www.etoncorp.com/en/productdisplay/scorpion-ii

[Yarome]

Sorry to have de-railed the OP.  One final on the NOAA radios. No matter whose... one of the best features I really like is an "alert" function. It can sit and run idly but will activate itself when a NOAA alert is received. It's always good to know when weather may be heading your way instead of waiting to turn it on and tune in "after" it is apparent somethings up.  

[Kirk W]

17 hours ago, Allentc2 said:

What are road conditions typically like on BLM/USFS lands?

Like most government agencies, the degree of maintenance depends to a great extent on the amount a particular road is used. Busy roads are much better maintained than those seldom used and some are not maintained at all. The more remote the place you wish to stay, the more important it is that you check the road out before you enter with the RV. Keep in mind also that if you should get stuck, help is difficult to locate and very expensive in the more remote areas. I have traveled more than one road over lands of both agencies that require 4WD in even the best weather and very few of those roads could be considered "all weather" for an RV.

[Al F]

17 hours ago, Allentc2 said:

What are road conditions typically like on BLM/USFS lands? Do they see a grader annually or do the conditions vary so widely that it's impossible to really generalize? LOL

There isn't a yes and no answer, as is typically the case.  I would compare the change in conditions on NF or BLM areas to what one would see just by wandering around rural areas near wherever you live.  You could be driving down a nice paved road and it turns into rough pavement and potholes, because for what ever reason this section has reduced maintenance.  Or you turn off of this nice paved road on to a narrower paved road or a gravel road which is still a public road. 

But more specific to your questions:

--  "Do they see a grader annually?"  The more used and important roads are graded annually, sometimes more than once a year.  The smaller side roads may not see a grader, ever, or just when it is washed out and the organization maintaining the roads decides the road needs to be kept open. 

--  That makes it difficult to generalize on specific roads.

Here is an example using Google Maps or any other mapping app which also shows satellite views and a 360 degree ground view.

For this example to be useful, use Google Maps, Google Earth or other online mapping program.

If you start at: N44.446092 W118.776386 where CR-18 starts at US-26 near Prairie City, OR you can follow some typical county and NF roads.  CR-18 is paved for about 12 miles before it turns to a very good gravel road which eventually connects to US-395 at Long Creek, OR.  The gravel part was very well maintained in mid August this year.  Almost no washboard and no potholes.  It is wide enough for 2 large vehicles to pass easily assuming you both slow down to 5-10 MPH.  Some sections are wide enough for vehicles to pass by at 20-30mph. 

What the maps don't show is a short side road to a huge gravel pit with room to park 10 or more RV's spaced well apart on ground level enough to easily level the rigs.  Go to 44.545373, -118.851960 and then switch your app to satellite view.  What you will see is a gravel road which appears to be in good condition, leading to the gravel pit.  With GM or GE you can drag the little orange man, found along the right hand margin of the app to the coordinates above and see a 360 degree view of the intersection.  Be sure to notice that the photo is from April 2012 so conditions may change.  However in mid August this year, the side road was in the same condition as seen in the 2012 photo.  This side road to the gravel pit was suitable for any size rig to get to the gravel pit. 

From the gravel pit road continue NW on CR-18 to FR-3620 which branches to the SW to FR-3618 to Magone Lake NF CG.  What you don't see until you switch to satellite view is that FR-3620 and FR-3618 are paved.  However they are one lane roads with pullouts to allow other vehicles to pass. Keep in mind it is possible that 2 vehicles can meet on a section of the road and one vehicle will have to back up a 100 yards or more to a wide spot. Unless you are there on a busy weekend, traffic is very light and you most likely will not have to back up.  Sometimes, as in this case, you find a pleasant surprise.  Drag the street view man to FR-3620 and you have a 360 degree view of the paved road. However the street view is from 2009.  However in this case the road has been repaved in the last couple of years, so it is in better condition than the street view shows.

North of the junction with FR-3620 CR-18 turns to gravel and unfortunately the street view ends at the end of the pavement. However the satellite view continues and you can get a pretty good indication of the road condition from the satellite view.

By now you probably have noticed there are a number of NF side roads off of CR-18.  Those roads vary greatly as to how well maintained they are.  Typically those side roads are not what you want to drive an RV down until you have verified the conditions with your tow vehicle or toad, or perhaps walked the road for a few hundred yards.  If the beginning of the road looks to be in good condition you can drive your RV down the road with the expectation that if the road deteriorates you may have to back out however far you drove.  

I hope this has been helpful.  We boondock a lot and search out remote places with exceptional views to park our RV for several days using the tools I have outlined above. Generally we park our MH in a public CG (NF, State Park, County Park, etc) for a night or two and explore with our toad to find the place we want to boondock. 

 

[Al F]

About all weather roads in NF's.  I find lots of all weather roads suitable for RV's.  They may be very dusty though and sometimes they may have quite a bit of washboard.  Most of the time it requires slow driving.  In the example below it took us 30 minutes to drive our MH the 8.5 miles to our boondock spot.  You don't want to see all the dust which piled up on our truck we towed behind the MH.  Sharon no longer drives so we had to tow the truck.

I gave one example in my previous reply, here is another one in the same general area:

At 44.555685 -119.314231 is a large gravel pit with water in the pit.  If you park your RV in the sun, you can park at the N end of the pit with a very nice view of the water and sky to the south.  Or you can park under the trees to the S of the gravel pit.

To reach this location, start at the junction of US-395 and CR-88 (FR-3950) GPS: 44.570965, -119.124665 and drive ~6 miles to FR-741 at 44.565129, -119.226648 which goes south about 2 miles to FR-3955.  Follow FR-3955 west to the gravel pit.  This route is an excellent all weather gravel road which was very well maintained in August this year. Note however, that FR-3955 to the east of FR-741 is a dirt road and will be muddy if there is a fair amount of rain.

In addition to the gravel pit, there are 2 nice boondocking spots under large ponderosa pine trees along FR-3955 between FR-741 and the gravel pit.  Here are the GPS markers for both:  44.544533 -119.26461 and 44.55015 -119.30157.

A fair question is, just how likely is someone to find these places by randomly turning off of the US highway and driving their RV down the NF roads?  Not very likely.  You really need to know these places exist or use a vehicle other than your RV to explore the back roads for several hours. 

In my mind at least, a lot of the decision process comes down to "what do you want to do".  Do you want to stay in an established campground and socialize with your neighbors (sometimes listening to their dogs bark or the music they like to listen to) or do you want to camp in a remote area with total peace and quiet. Many times with fantastic vistas and wonderful sun rises, sun sets, moon views and dark skies for viewing the stars. 

It comes down to your priorities and your willingness to make the effort to find the remote places to stay at.

In the above area is we spent 13 days boondocking to be in place to view the solar eclipse in the center of the totality viewing area. We selected this spot for its privacy and for our son and his family to join us for the eclipse weekend.  This is the GPS for our BD spot:  44.543661 -119.258277.  I didn't include this spot as an example as it is challenging to get an RV into this spot.  First there are two erosion control bumps on FR-3955 leading to the side road and a bit of a short steep climb when you turn off of FR-3955.  A longer RV than we have, or one with a longer overhang behind the rear axle would not be able to get into this spot.  Another priority for us was we had fairly decent (2 bars of 4G) Verizon signal and a good view of the southern sky for satellite TV.  This RV is our home for 6 months this year, last year it was 8 months, so we want much the same facilities we have in our home back in Texas. 

 

[reed and elaine]

Definitely second on Yarome on scouting. We try to drive into a desired BLM/Forest Service) area in our tow vehicle (4 x 4 Dualie - with extended bed and cab, it is not for use on "four-wheeler roads").  Make sure you can turn around. Nothing is less enjoyable than backing up a few miles in sand on a narrow twisting road.

Road can look great but there may be small arroyos that a trailer will definitely bottom out and get stuck. Then it can get really expensive. Some friends drove their TT down the beach on Padre island and got mired in sand. It cost a lot to have it hauled out. There is a couple at Elephant Butte that travel around i an old militay 6x6 and help pull out folks. First extraction is free - but they charge for second extraction.

Definitely carry axe and saw. Blowdowns can cover a back country BLM road and prevent you from getting in - or getting out.

We carry a mountain bike or recumbent trike when we travel with 5th wheel. Have used this numerous times to check out sites in Yucatan, US, and Canada.

Al F posted just as I did. Agree with everything he posted.

 

Reed and Elaine

[Allentc2]

These are some incredibly informative answers guys, thanks very much! AI F, your "tour" is over the top. And as much as I've used Google Earth to recon potential homesites in the past, you'd think it would have occurred to me to use it to check roads. LOL

I have to say, I am still leaning towards a TC as my retirement vehicle, but it seems like even if I have one of those, a toad might be desirable. Now, slight thread drift.....side-by-sides. Seems like that'd be the perfect "recon vehicle" for a lone guy and his camper. Thoughts?

 

[Yarome]

On 8/24/2017 at 0:46 PM, Allentc2 said:

.....side-by-sides. Seems like that'd be the perfect "recon vehicle" for a lone guy and his camper. Thoughts?

A side-by-side would be a perfect little vehicle to have aboard. Outside of scouting it would be great for a variety of duties... and let's face it... just down right FUN to tool around in.

It might be a bit out of the ordinary but the past several years I've actually been using a drone to scout areas and get a good overview. There are some restrictions on where you can fly, but they can cover a "lot" of ground very quickly.

[Jimalberta]

We travel with a side by side on the back of our pickup. I have used the sxs to scout but generally I will simply unhitch the pickup and use it to scout a place for the MH. It takes longer to unload the sxs off the pickup.

[reed and elaine]

Had to google side-by-side. Had always heard them referred to as quads. Sounds like a great plan if you have a means to tow or carry one

 

 

[Vladimir]

This is how Forest Service road numbers work.....quality of road.

http://usbackroads.blogspot.com/2011/04/driving-on-national-forest-roads.html