Thread: logging roads

if you wanted to do a widerness squat for as long as possible and be pretty far out and have your car handy for supplies what about logging roads?i know theres alot of logging roads in washington state not to sure about oregon?you could always pull your car in the woods somwere and camoflage it.and are they heavally patrolled

I've spent quite a bit of time up lots of logging roads in Oregon and northern California and never had any problems although national forest service roads as opposed to plain logging roads tend to be patrolled a little more but even those I've never had any problems with since when I'm camped up those I just move camp every so often. Don't really know about the ones in Washington very much. For really long term though in a single spot I think vehicles are hard to stash and depending on the type of vehicle can be hard to get it up into alot of the most isolated(washed out/overgrown) roads.

I check out logging roads all the time. BC has lots, and they are in fairly good shape being industrial forest and all.

Car? no no no..

Try and find a van or truck.. something that can get over "tank traps" onto deactivated roads easier. AND once you're on the old road you'll want something that can make it through small creeks beds that cross the road... small boulders on the road.. downed trees.. etc.

Or.. if you have a POS car you could pull a stunt like the duke boys and errr.... rip the bottom of your car off

Biggest thing you might have to deal with is logging roads are the favorite travel route of hunters/poachers.I've walked up a few(logged myself back in the '70s),and unless you can be cool with hunters in season,and convince poachers that you are no threat,better be WAY back off the track.

I'll add that old 4wd subarus are great for forest roads, and you can get them in running order for less than 500 bucks. Get the older Hi/Lo dual range type, 5speed manual tranny, and make sure both spares are in there before you head out.

They usually don't care even if they all know you're out there. Not saying don't be cautious, you always should, I've just never had a problem with squatting up loggin' roads before. And if you're in trouble, normally they're willing to help. It's definitely a lot safer than being way out in the woods off a deer trail with no one around for kilos and miles.

if your on logging roads here in Kentucky (where i live) and in the pacific northwest during the summer you better watch yourself. you are walking on roads marijuana growers use to gain access to there plants. i don't know how growers act on the west coast but here in kentucky a good ol' farm boy wont think twice about shooting you if they think you are a security risk. the county i live in has unemployment as high as 20%. growing marijuana is there livelihood and they will protect it. here in eastern Kentucky growers will set up traps along logging roads intended to maim or kill you.

i'm not saying that squatting off of logging roads is necessarily a bad idea but they aren't completely abandoned and people do use them and people need to be aware of that. not all marijuana growers support these tactics and this is no way an indictment on them. i know several growers that don't carry guns or set up traps intended on hurting people. however there are people out there like that and if you want to live a long a logging road you need to know this stuff.

My favorite trick:

Pick some kind of far-out critter like a Bald Eagle or, my favorite, an Osprey. Download some internet material about said critter and if confronted take on the role of the free-lance photographer trying to get some candid photos of said critter. It helps to have a camera. Ask the game warden to take a photo with you. Tell him it's for Boys Life magazine(Boy Scouts?).

Leave a note under the windshield of your car saying as much, and asking for privacy because the Osprey is such a private creature and interruptions might ruin days of work.

I'm going to be pissed if the next time I try to play this game I get arrested because so many damned bird watchers have been intruding on federal land.

E.

well here in kentucky if anyone asks me what im doing on private land i tell them i am looking for wild ginseng. i also get a permit to collect ginseng in Daniel Boone Natl. Forest. ginseng used to grow wild all over the place in the Appalachian mountains but a majority of it has been poached. i adhere to the permit within park boundaries but on private land your allowed to collect it anytime you want. really its just my excuse to be in the woods like your bird watching technique.

i know a farmer out here in eastern Kentucky that grows marijuana and he acts like a cryptozoologist when he is in the woods and tending to his plants. cryptozoology is basically is the belief in and search for animals that are considered non-existent like big foot or the Loch Ness monster. he wears a ufo t-shirt and tells people he's looking for whatever animal he makes up. sometimes acting like a complete fucking wing-nut works.