NF-7030 to Stampede Pass

I have run this route in one way or another more times than I can count over the years. This is a nice drive that gets you up high with good views of Mt. Rainier and the Stuart Mountain Range. This is an easy route that most vehicles should be able to handle. The Tie Road (waypoints 11 to 13) used to be kind of rough but was cleaned up for the Norse Peak and Sawmill Creek fires in 2017. Today I followed the route from the 70rd until waypoint 11 where I went straight and down into the Naches area.

Took us 5h including 1.5h lunch break. Like other reviewers, did not need/use 4WD. Some areas are little rocky so definitely recommend AT tires or RT or MT.. bring spare just in case. It was weekend, so a lot of ATV and SUVs. I saw few Subaru and RAV4. Few spots are tight so make sure you drive accordingly. No cell service most of the time, so make sure to have CB just in case .. a lot of nice camping spots and views. Definitely we will go back soon.

We enjoyed driving this trail. It has some great views/scenery. Many places to camp. Some of it is very easy wide trails, but some is a little narrower. In dry conditions I don't know if you even need 4 wheel drive. Having some decent clearance is helpful on some sections.

Really great drive! Mileage was a bit off for us. But the photos and descriptions were perfect and you really can’t get lost. I might suggest adding the little lake close to the end of the trail as a marker so folks know it’s there. Lots of dispersed camping available mid July. We will be back!

Between waypoints 11-about 13 I’d rate it at a 2 instead of 1, rocks embedded in the road up to the size of a grapefruit or so. If I did it again I’d take the time to air down my tires a bit. Still easily manageable with a forester wilderness but a little tougher than anticipated from the rating. Awesome views of Rainier!

Made it from FS Rd 70 to Waypoint 4 but continued up 7030 to 7034 to stay in a Christmas Tree cutting area. After the week's winter weather in the western Washington lowlands this route was covered with fresh, deep powder; as of 12/3 previous packed tracks are only available to Waypoint 4. I saw some folks playing a bit further up 7036 from Waypoint 4 but they did not get far before the fresh snow turned them around. Bottom line it's snow wheeling season so even mild forest roads can become impassable to milder rigs and be prepared with recovery equipment (not just for your group but other groups that over extended their reach).

Snow at Waypoint 3, by 4 it was compact snow across the entire road. Made it up just fine w/momentum but I absolutely regretted my hubris on the return trip. The compact snow was more like ice and no amount of slow rolling / light braking would avoid breaking free and just sliding downhill, being able to pick between 'select a direction' or 'attempt to slow down but actually just spin out' , neither option being great. Video is on the downhill trip before the incline started. Was quite pretty.

Love this drive. Great intro to over-landing. 4-high is all you need. And yes, I recommend going from I-90 south. GPS on my phone in the app worked fine the entire way. Even had cell service at one of the early 5000’ parts of the ridge. Encountered a near 6 to 8” deep section of snow on the first real down hill pitch going down the Green Water side of the high elevation ridge. Already rutted out enough not to make me worry. But the first person to hit that section was braver than I. After the next snow in early November that section will be closed or impassable with a normal rig.

Just completed this whole trail and it was very fun and scenic. I will agree with the rest of the reviewers by stating that you should complete this trail in reverse as to what has been posted. I entered the trail right off of I90 and completed it on the other side. This route would give you a little bit of a challenge by climbing up the mountain in the loose gravel as opposed to driving down the mountain. The views were perfect and there were quite a few vehicles on the first 75% of the trail. Please be careful in driving around the corners, I came across few dirt bike riders. Other than that this is a very doable track with a stock 4x4. Last portion of the trail has some challenges in which you're driving up the slope which has some large sharp boulders. Take it slow and easy and you should not have any issues.

Also going to agree with the two previous posts, Anticlimactic going south to north. I was in Enumclaw and wife was told not to come into work so…free time. This trail is completely doable in a Ram 2500 Megacab, it has a 3.5” lift with 37s and a Cummins, it’s usually my tow rig/mall crawler. Like other posts have said the trail is not very well marked. It’s a fairly easy through trail. GPS quit on the north side so ended up taking one wrong turn, but quickly recovered.

I followed the advice of the previous reviewer and ran this from I-90 to Greenwater, and completely agree that it would be anticlimactic running it the direction of the original post. I highly advise you download a good map with all the forest road clearly shown, and that you can follow using a GPS. The roads are mostly NOT marked and although my sense of direction is pretty good, we had to turn around twice to find the way all the way through. There were many groups we came upon running the opposite direction from us. You can't beat the views as you will see Rainier ahead of you a lot of the way. Some of the roads are pretty worn and I would very strongly advise not running this with highway tires. Have at least A/T or M/T tires. A blowout would not surprise.

Completely open, no snow. The review on 7/2 had us a bit concerned, but no issues. We took this from North to South. Rainier views are closer to the South, between waypoints 6 and 9. Had we traveled from South to North, the rest of the drive would have been beautiful, but anti-climactic. I rated it harder than the description, as the road from Waypoints 13 to 11 was steep with lots of rocks and ruts. You could do it in AWD (we saw a Subaru), but I would prefer not to. Rest of the road was gravel with potholes.

Trail becomes completely impassable due to heavy and wet snowdrifts just past waypoint 9. Based on the conditions, I wouldn't count on this being fully passable before the end of July at the earliest. My crew started out at Greenwater and entered on the south end of the trail. Super socked in with fog and scattered rain the entire climb up the pass, and we started to see snow around 4600ft of elevation. The drifts became a real problem just past waypoint 9, where we got stuck and forced to turn around after extrication. Some drifts were still 2+ feet deep, and icy. Conditions resembled a normal May expedition, given how cold and wet our spring was this year.

Used our toyota TRD offroad premium with 32" tires. Started on the north side coming from HWY 90. The trail has a few areas between way-points 12 and 13 with land slides along steep shelf road and a downed pinetree partially cleared blocking some of the shelf road that is also washing away (tire placement is critical here and I would be hesitant of if there is more rain in the coming months.) We crossed several small snow drifts between way-points 11 and 10 with no problems (tires at 15psi) we reached a large snow drift that was also up a hill and decided to turn around between 10 and 9. (I see another reviewer tried the south to north route on the same day and was turned around at what may be the same snow drift between 9 and 10.) There were tire tracks on top of the drift and may be passable with your tires at the lowest PSI. It was a beautiful drive.

I can confirm that trail has wet, heavy snow at Waypoint 4. I walked NF-7036 to the right which leads to Waypoint 5, and it is probably passable on the left as the previous post mentions, but the flat intersection leading up to it would be a lot of work. I parked to the left of the intersection on NF-7030 and my wife took the attached picture. It shows the intersection and NF-7036.

I came in from the I90 side to see if this was open yet. I was able to make it all the way to waypoint 11, but the side hill snow was forcing me to slide off the side of the trail so I turned around. Can’t wait to come back and finish the whole trail!

Trail still snowed in at Waypoint 4. Some bikers told me they were able to make a little progress to the left, but the right is deep snow.

This trail is closed for the season! See you in 2022!

Went up Saturday morning. Road is still in good shape. Quite a few more potholes on the northern end than the south, but much better fall colors on the north to compensate!! Can’t speak to the summit as it was socked in with fog—like 20’ of visibility!!

Decided to take advantage of the nice weather and check out Stampede Pass. Nice easy drive over the pass with some incredible views. Tons of dispersed camping along the route. I will definitely be back!

Camped out at point 6. Scenery did not disappoint. Took a slightly modified route vis google maps getting to the first trail. Road conditions are good. Will bring a rake and litter bag next time to clean up all the spent cartridges and targets left behind.

I did this trail with a friend of mine who has a Jeep. With my Subaru Forester and the Jeep, we started at the Greenwater end. As mentioned before there is a washout near the beginning of the road which is easy to navigate around. It does start you out with a wondering if this is a symbol of things to come. But, it is not. The weather today was pretty rainy but we did have some breaks and some dramatic views with swirling mist on the mountains. I will definitely go back on a clear day for another pass. The trail is mostly pretty easy with the typical potholes that you can navigate around. Coming down the first mountain, the road is a bit rough with rocks and it was a pleasant change to reach the valley and to have a smooth road for awhile. For the last half, you spend a lot of time under and around massive power lines, which of course means clear views but mostly of the power lines. We enjoyed the first half more than the second as it was more remote feeling without the power lines. Also, the second half was much busier and we encountered a lot more cars. We took the whole thing slowly and took about 3 1/2 hours to complete it and stopped for lunch along the way. A few others passed us who were travelling much more quickly. While this is not a difficult trail, it is a great outing for the Subaru Forester and I would recommend trying it out.

I wanted to do this trail before it got too late this year and we ended up having time on an overcast\foggy day. Still a fun trail that I think just about any SUV or truck can handle. Now I want to go when it is clear to be able to take in the views. Since there wasn't a lot to see we only stopped a couple for time for our pups to get some air. That said we made it through in just an 1 hour and 45 minutes. Maybe the duration of 3 1/2 hours includes time to stop and relax? Since I live in Auburn we came back over I90 and then 18 south, but next time I will just do it as an out-and-back.

Trail was fun. Good condition. Great views. The train trestle at the end was a major bonus.

Great trail, amazing views, will definitely do it again.

Very dry and dusty conditions currently. Quite a bit of traffic around the powerline switchbacks and lots of campers along the route this past weekend. The road can be a rough ride in spots, but we saw many, many cars taking this trail. Be aware of traffic and watch for motorcycles. Slow down at the bridges as there are numerous potholes on both sides of all of them. The views are worth it, though. Mt Rainier was hidden by clouds but the rest of the Cascades were clear. There are various pullouts along the roads that are simply breathtaking. I particularly enjoyed the lower part of the drive along the Green River underneath the trestle.

Route is snow-free all the way through.

Very nice scenic trail. Decided to try the trail to escape the heat in our Colorado z71. There were some big 9inch tall rocks we moved out of the way due to them falling on the trail. Otherwise, the Colorado did just fine. If you start from 410 about 15-16 miles we turned a corner and found a big stretch of impassable snow blocking the trail. (I link a picture of my GAIA map with a WP.) We turned around and finished the day exploring a few of the side roads and then headed home

Trail was ok up to first 23 Miles starting from I90 highway side . We had horrible experience with stucking on one of those snow piles in Mile-23 for more than 3 hours ! Finally a jeep driver pulled us out of that scary situation .

Hit snow shortly after WP4. A jeep with some huge MT tires made it through but the stock JLUR couldn't do it.

Not quite snow free yet, although I imagine you jeep havers could go up over this without too much trouble.

Tried to go to Stampede pass one more time a week later. No shooting this time but there is still snow on the road. In most cases it is fine but at some point started to slip into precipice on the main road. Tried alternative routes but at some point the snow is still too deep there too. But still fun ride. :)

Great views. Road is mostly clear with small patches of snow at least to the point I have reached. Reached 3200ft elevation only (intersection of FR51 and FR41 roads). I had to turn around as someone was shooting/target practicing and it was sounded like the bullets were flying near the road (after 34sec in YouTube video in the comment). Made me very uncomfortable considering I was with the kids.

Camped for the night at lower elevation then started up the trail in the morning. Snow started to get too deep for me about 3.5 miles up just before marker #4. Someone else had clearly been stuck recently as there were large tire ruts in the middle of the road. I was solo so I decided not to continue up the trail. Hopefully it will begin to clear up some more in the coming weeks. Trail was beautiful in the snow!

Trail was open but covered by snow 2 miles after trailhead (7030)

This is a great trail with some stunning views of Mt. Rainier and the cascade range! Nothing pops out as difficult, some of the climbs are steep and corners are blind. And the trail had quite some traffic, given its a holiday weekend. But overall some of the best views are to be had here. A tip would be to visit the trail during the morning hours when the sun is on the opposite side to Mt. Rainier which will light up the mountain for you on a clear day. We went post noon and the pictures weren't great due to the sun blinding the camera. Yes, there is a wash-out at the beginning of the trail but thats clearly marked out and easy to navigate.

This was a great trip! The directions were good, I highly recommend you print them and look at the pictures for the waypoints. We forgot to set the mileage at the beginning, so our following of the directions was a little more challenging. The pictures helped a lot! The road was good for a Jeep. It was very rocky/bumping in places, wish I could have aired down. Next time. There are a few narrow points and, of course, we met oncoming traffic at a couple of them. In one place it was a little hairy backing up to a spot the traffic could pass by. All part of the adventure. I think we did the whole route in about 90 minutes. We weren't sure how long it would take, so we didn't explore any other roads/trails we encountered. But there would be plenty of time, and and we saw lots of dispersed camping options, too. Again, next time!

Trail is super dusty but in good shape. We took it starting at 90 this time. The climb up is a little harder this direction but there is a visceral 'wow' moment as you come around the corner to see Mt. Rainier on a clear day.

What a cool trail! This was my first time doing anything off road. My Expedition handled it easily. I do have a minor lift and good tires, but I suspect most vehicles can make it through this trail. It took quite a while because of how long it is and partially because I was driving very slowly. Very cool scenery and following the map helped big time especially in the last bits. The wife got to drive for a bit and she loved it. The pupper loved it as well! Planning on doing this with my Triumph Tiger 800XC soon!!

What a lot of fun. Driving from Highway 410 to Interstate 90 was a blast with many great vistas and offshoot trails to explore. We only crossed paths with a few other vehicles. Next time I'll have to do the reverse.

Absolutely awesome road! Beautiful panoramic reviews of Mt. Rainier and surrounding mountains. Even got glimpses of Mt. Stewart! Nothing too technical, but the road is pretty rocky, lots of potholes, and steep exposed road edges so its worth noting to pay close attention to the road. Also, there was a fair amount of traffic we encountered so be mindful of the many blind corners, especially on a weekend. This is a long enough strech of road that it may be be worth airing down if your have a way to air back up at the end of the trail. There is still a wash out at the Greenwater side at the start of NF-7030. It is clearly marked and should be passable with any vehicle.

***beware at the entrance half the road has been washed away, it’s passable and marked, but caution should still be taken!*** Excellent day for a cruise around stampede pass! Explored some of the unknown roads and found some gems for sure! Definitely recommend going during the middle of the week after reading some of the reviews from others, as I only encountered maybe 5 other vehicles the entire stretch from Greenwater to 90.

Perfect conditions this time of year. High 60s, dry roads, and only thing that could have been better would have been less cloud coverage. Impacted views. Traveled from 90 to Greenwater; 1.5 hrs with minimal stops. Tried to cross in the middle of May and snow patches made it impassable.

Great day for a ride. We headed east and started out with that great Rainier view. The road into the valley (7037) is rocky and somewhat steep. I put it in 4L to get some engine braking because it was rough. FS52 and 54 were full of potholes - some pretty deep. Had to be careful not to get going too fast because they were hard to see in the shade. I wouldn’t mind trying this westbound. I feel like 7037 would be a little nicer as a climb given how rough it could be.

Trail is in very good shape, no snow across the path or obstacles. Hit up some geocaches along the way as well! The valley stretch between waypoints 13-15 feels like you can get up to speed but has a few suspension-eating potholes if you hit them at 45; watch out for those.

Made it through without any issues. No issues with snow covering the road. Fun drive with beautiful scenery. Perfect for a laid back day trip / picnic with views. The road itself is in good shape, no real challenges or obstacles. The fun here is in enjoying the spectacular views. We did check out a few spur roads which proved to be a lot of fun, and just a bit of a challenge.

We did the Stampede Pass today from NF-7030 and exit out near I-90 hwy. There was an overcast and didn't get to see the Cascade Mtn or Mt Rainier. Kinda bummed cause I really wanted to hang out there longer to soak in the view. Guess it's another reason to revisit soon.

Attempted trail from Greenwater. Encountered snow before waypoint 4 (1 wheel's worth of dirt poking out, but you'll be tipped significantly and near a soft edge if you attempt it), and a hiker coming from further indicated there was more snow later.

Attempted a through drive from 90 to Greenwater, ran into 2-4 foot snow just before waypoint 11 at 4750ft. A few more weeks until road is passable.

We almost made it to waypoint 5, but then we hit some pretty deep sloshy snow. Since we didn't bring a shovel or any kind of snow gear we decided to turn around. It was a beautiful day and pretty drive.

Hit snow around 3600ft, but took until around 5000ft for it to be on the road. Roads in great shape. About 6" base layer at the highest parts of the trail.

Had a great time. Some ice but not too bad. Going again today to explore the side roads.

We went up for some fall scenery but it turned into a snow storm which was awesome. Thank you for providing directions and the photos really helped us navigate! Definitely with be back up here to explore.

Great trail for beginners. Nice scenic views, good switch backs. No cell service so print the map and take with you with the turns and photos. Not necessary to air down. But would have certainly made the ride more comfortable in my Jeep JK.

I had an opportunity to take this completely from 7030 through Stampede pass on the 15th. The snow Scott mentions below is now down to 3 small patches that are easily driven through. The rest was wide open. What a great trip - beautiful scenery, some great switchbacks going back down over the passes. Great times -I highly recommend. Thank you so much for the exceptional directions above. They are spot on. With so many off-shoots and other roads to explore, these directions got me back to I-90 perfectly.

I had a great time out in the woods this last Saturday. Right before reaching waypoint 11 there were some piles of snow blocking most of the roadway. I was able to sneak past with some creative shovelling and careful driving. Right after waypoint 11 I was stopped by significant snow on the roadway. Perhaps it will take a couple more weeks for it to completely melt off up there.

What a wonderful drive around NF roads on the mountain. Unfortunately no cell coverage so I didn't recall the RIGHT on NF-7036 at the fork in the road on #8 above. Regardless, running left at that fork leads you to a dead end, but again some fantastic views. Overall I followed NF-7030 as far up as you can right now, which led to a small parking lot and the road was blocked off with a pylon so I circled back around and headed back on NF-7030, I ran into a very small, 1/4 mile road, NF-410. While trees hit both sides of the truck lightly, it was just a great, secluded location with yet another set of amazing photo opportunities. I then continued back down and ran across NF-7032 and decided to take that for a spin. I reached the end of that road and continued up an unmaintained portion of trail that took me to the top of a hill, and yes, more photo opportunities. I finally made it back to NF-7036 and took that up until I made the wrong turn at the fork on #8. Then decided to head home. Overall I never took the smile off my face - almost all of the snow is gone (small patch on NF-7036 on the shady side of the mountain), but very easy driving today. Just a great time exploring and I cannot wait to go back and follow the correct path next time (I think I'll print the information above :)). I've attached a bunch of photos, which really don't do it justice to see first-hand. I highly recommend exploring these trails.

Only completed the first 8 miles of the trail before turning around. After a certain point the snow accumulation was beyond our comfort level as rookie off roader. However, the views were amazing and will try it again late spring next year.

Went here today as my first ever 'off road' excursion on my 2005 4Runner. I've been on service roads before just to get to hiking trialheads but nowhere the distance of this scale. Trail heading up was smooth with gravel and dust and minor pot holes that you can avoid most of. After you pass the two AMAZING scenic views, the downhill trail can be tricky for cars without much clearance but if you have clearence and 2WD (like a 2WD 4runner, not sure why people buy that but to each their own), you can make it down at a nice slow pace. It's bumpy but nothing crazy. This trail is exactly what I've been looking for, a mountainous drive without needing to lift your car/giant tires and have amazing views. I only wish that the trail lasted longer up in the mountains as once you pass the 2nd scenic point and start going down the valley, it gets moot. All in all, I am glad I found this website and this trail, it was truly breath taking.

Just did this route with a DR650 and a KLR250. Lots of fun, nothing too challenging for a dirtbike. Beware of taking other shortcuts, many of the forest roads that are supposed to exist around here have long since overgrown or gotten washed out.

We just drove it yesterday afternoon. What was left of the rockslide has been cleared.

Ran the trail South to North today, open.

Beautiful, easy, and plenty of spots to take pictures. Only confusing part was the road name changes but the gpx file was good. Also recommend going across 90 to the trails over there.

We headed up yesterday to do some work on the reported rock slide. When we got there though, someone had beat us to it. I was able to squeeze by with my full size rig (Tahoe). It was a pretty tight squeeze with a significant drop on one side so we stopped and cleared out a little bit more rocks to help widen the path. It should also be noted that there's another big chunk of rock that looks like it's ready to fall anytime. We did the trail North to South and only proceeded about a half mile from the rock slide. The north section of the trail was clear and easily passable with a two wheel drive vehicle.

Rock slide just north of pin 56. I approached from north to south. Impassable at this time.

Great views, plenty of scenic turnouts. Highly well maintained, 2WD accessible. Dry and dusty

Great views, plenty of scenic turnouts. Highly well maintained, 2WD accessible.

Day trip on 4th of July. Beautiful clear skies and the trail was fully open. Saw some wildlife. A large unknown bird, because my buddy fumbled the binoculars and a coyote. Don't need to air down, but would of made the trip a lot smoother. Started the trip in Greenwater.

Drove from North to South. The roads are fully accessible. Lots of smaller to mid-sized rocks on the roads, especially on NF 7036. Some trees hanging into the road - enough clearance for my F-150 though. Made a little side-trip to the big railroad trestle bridge near Lester. Was lucky since shortly after my arrival, a grain train passed by. Great trail. Really enjoyed it.

Snow at 5000 ft. Looked passable with a bike from what I could see. Turned around at N47° 07.220' W121° 24.569'. Some rocks on the sections that must have recently melted out.