Dan Lee

Trail Reviews: 2600 points

Questions Answered: 0 points

My Profile

Off-Road Experience:

6+ years

Off-Road Style:

Dirt Roads, snow, rocks

My Garage:

Nothing in garage

Learned to 4x4 in elementary school on back roads in Western NC w/ my father in a '88 stock Jeep Cherokee. Passion continued by hitting muddy fields on the farm growing up, and still exists today. 2020 F-250 Long bed, extended cab isn't so great for offroading due to size. 2.0 Fox Racing shocks and 35" BFG KO2s help make it a little more civilized once off pavement. I primarily run ATVs for the actual trails...if you break your highway rig, you're in a bad spot. If you break your toy, you hike/hitchhike back to the truck and then figure it out, but at least you're not stranded! Currently beating up: '08 Polaris Sportsman X2 (up-sized to 27" UTV tires) '17 Can-Am Outlander stock (26" A/Ts) '20 Polaris RZR Fox Racing edition on up-sized 27" tires and a 1/2" UHMW full body skid. Prefer avoiding the challenges that risk breaking the vehicle and the crowded "Instagram" spots, look more for those access roads that few people use to avoid the crowds and four-wheel at my own pace exploring the back country and dispersed camping. Enjoy testing out trails in winter too, seeing how much different they are once buried in snow, so 4x4ing continues year round!

My Trail Reviews (4)

(within last 6 months)

Rollins Pass East (06/12/2021)

Made it to Yankee Doodle Lake! Caveat: was on quads, there's a super off camber snow pack area after the last cut out (WP7) which is also snow packed. Some full sized SXS were able to clear that, albeit with some sliding and possibly grazing the rock walls, but were too wide for the off camber slope a half mile back from Yankee Doodle. Jenny Lake still isn't nearly accessible yet, and historically isn't until mid July or later. Side note: assholes have been building campfires right on the road, guessing it was from people driving up in Spring as far as they could in the snow then calling it a night. Also, some kid on a quad ripped through alpine prairie to go around a snow pack field. Please don't do that, it's how we get roads closed.

Bill Moore Lake (05/29/2021)

Made it just past WP #11, to 39.786095,-105.678299. Impassible snow drifts. I busted through 4-5 of them solo on a stock quad before giving up since they stretched as far up the trail as I could see. The initial "gatekeeping" parts of the trail have gotten rougher in the last couple of years from erosion. I used to take my long bed F-150 up without incident, but I don't think I'd risk anything with a lengthy wheelbase with the current conditions of deep off-camber washouts. There was a convoy of Jeeps on 40-42"s unloading when I got back to my truck that likely could've plowed through with caution, so there may be ruts all the way up now. There were some wide single tracks (adventure bike/enduro, narrower than a Rokon) on the downhill exposed side that got quite a bit further than I did. I'm speculating with some snow coming in tomorrow night that it'll be a couple more weeks before it's feasible to make it all the way to the lake.

Jones Pass (04/08/2021)

Jones is typically impassible to wheeled vehicles into July. Did an overnight snowmobile camping trip, pack is getting rotten and sketchy. Mix of ice and crust on top with varying levels of slush and sugar powder beneath depending on sun and wind exposure. There's still a berm up and snowcat grooming, so wheeled vehicles can't even (and shouldn't) attempt it yet.

Webster Pass (03/21/2021)

Little late posting, but ran it on a sled on 21MAR21 up the Handcart Side all the way the radioactive mine. Very inconsistent snow pack, and with the snow hitting this week it's going to be awhile till safely passable for wheeled vehicles. More recent review suggests the snow berm has been removed to allow truck access again. May still be viable for snowmobiling for a few more weeks, but it's pretty rough between exposed rock, off camber drifts, and ice.

My Trails Offroad