Mountain loop highway in Wa.

[Bigdog]

Now that the I-5 bridge has temporarily dissappeared,it would appear that there will be a large number of campsites opening up in the north part of the state and I,for one, would like to make use of some of them. I was thinking about heading up to Monroe and then taking the Lake Roeseger rd north to the mountain loop highway and then around to Darrington and wherever. I haven't been the on loop highway since I was a kid and we were in our brand new 1955 DeSoto. I have been thru Darrington many times since then,but never on the loop. I'm wondering how I would do in my 40' A with a toad. I know it meanders a lot and that would make for a great slow trip.

[paulj]

The OP wrote about going to Lake Roesiger, and exploring Mt Loop from there. That's only 10 miles south of Granite Falls. That road is just as good as the one from Monroe to the lake. These are county roads, used more by commuters than through traffic. Curvy without much in the way of shoulders, but not difficult. I've only driven in the area on Saturday joy rides.

Roesiger is a day use county park. Flowing Lake is a nearby county park with hookups.

[jamesu]

I've been using the Mt. Lp. for hiking, cross-country skiing, etc. since I was a kid. There are no hook-ups along Mountain Loop Highway. It's all dry camping. It is very remote through rugged mountains with hardly any elevation gain.

The only way in from the south is through Lake Stevens off WA-9 to Granite Falls on WA-92. From the north via Darrington on WA-530 from either Arlington or Rockport on WA-20.

From Granite Falls to Barlow Pass it is FS campgrounds along the Stillaguamish River. From Barlow Pass to Darrington camping is pretty much just primitive pull-offs along the Sauk River better suited to truck campers and tenters. Hiking/backpacking access into the Glacier Peak Wilderness is in this "Darrington" section of the Hwy.

Personally, I would not take my rig into the Mt. Lp. Hwy. A small trailer with a generator - yes. Longer than 23' - no.

[paulj]

I don't think this bridge issue will make much of a difference in campground use along Mtn Loop. Access from Seattle to Granite Falls or Darrington hasn't changed. However if going east on WA20, going by of Darrington (WA530) is now more attractive (I liked it even before).

The quickest way to Mtn Loop is Lake Stevens (Hwy 9) to Granite Falls.

It is paved from Granite Falls to Barlow Pass (SE corner of loop). Nothing difficult about this part. There is one long straight grade before entering NF, and a curvy part along the river. Stop at the ranger station at Verlot for more info. Besides Verlot camping, the biggest campground is Gold Basin.

From Darrington it is paved till the White Chuck Rd turn off.

The rest (a NNW leg) is gravel, rebuilt since parts were washed out in 2003. Nothing tricky about it, but I can't imagine driving it in a bus size RV. FS describes this as "The middle portion (14 miles) is a single-lane gravel road."

There is only one organized campground along this gravel stretch, though there are a number of well used 'dispersed sites'. Camping in this area is the province of pickup slideins.

Reservations in this forest is handled by ReserveUSA, and most of the campgrounds are managed by Hoodoo

http://www.hoodoo.com/mt-baker-snoqualmie-national-forest-wa/mt-loop-scenic-byway/

Campground use around Mt Baker might be a bit lighter this summer, though it is close enough to Vancouver to get a fair amount of Canadian use.

[n7bsn]

I'd certainly check first, I had no issues with the old rig, but I would hesitate to try with the new rig. The Barlow Pass area is tricky.

[ArcticDodge]

I'd advise against doing the loop in any RV. Road turns gravel at the Monte Cristo trailhead is better suited for Jeeps and SUV's. Wish I had the SUV and not the Miata when we drove up there last summer. Then again, the Miata is a blast on a warm summer day on windy mt roads....

from Wikipedia:
Paved segment 1 [edit]
The Mountain Loop Highway starts at the eastern end of SR 92 in Downtown Granite Falls. Within Downtown Granite Falls, SR 92 is called E Stanley Street and the Mountain Loop Highway is known called N Alder Street.[5] The highway goes north away from Granite Falls and turns east at the point where the road meets the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River. From there, the road roughly follows the river and intersects some Forest Routes such as FR 4201, FR 4018, FR 4020, FR 4037, FR 4052, and FR 4059 while traversing the communities of Robe, Verlot, and Silverton before the river ends.[6] The loop continues and intersects a private road that connects the highway to the Old Monte Cristo Townsite, which is located 4 miles east of Barlow Pass.
Unpaved segment [edit]
At Barlow Pass, the Mountain Loop Highway goes north, and becomes unpaved Forest Route 20 or FR 20. Shortly after becoming unpaved, FR 20 starts to follow the Sauk River towards Darrington. FR 20 goes northward past Bedal, and it becomes paved again at the new Whitechuck bridge (approximately mile marker 44).[7]
Paved segment 2 [edit]
From Whitechuck, the Mountain Loop Highway continues north along the Sauk River. On the opposite side of the river, the N. Sauk River Road (Forest Route 22) parallels the route of the Mountain Loop Highway. The loop enters Darrington, where Railroad Avenue splits from the highway to become a short bypass to the eastern end of the highway. The highway ends at SR 530.[8][9]

[Tom_Barb]

We were thru there last fall, and it was pretty narrow and rough in many places. try running it with the toad first. but there are some pretty nice camps just out of Darrington