New to wheeling Everett/Seattle area

yellowjacketx, nice to meet you. I live just south of Seattle in Renton. I was also prior military, Army Infantry. I have lived i the northwest most of my life except Texas and Iraq. Originally from Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, good wheeling over there too. Around here most every thing is accessed with a Washington trails pass, about 50 bucks a year. Some of the good spots but more popular are: Deer Creek up near Index, Wa which is north east of your location also the Naches Trail which is a good all around trail located near Enumclaw, well kinda. Also Capital Peak which is just south of Olympia. I hope this helps. Unfortunately I am with out a Jeep as it was stolen from me a week ago today. Waiting for insurance to cut a check so I can get a 05/06 LJ Rubi, But I would be happy with my XJ back Once I get back on my feet again with a jeep I could show you some decent spots.:thumbsup:

There are a lot of trails and a lot of clubs in the state (if you're looking to get involved with a club).

There is a Washington Virtual Jeep Club or something like that started by some JF members here.

There is also the Pacific Northwest 4WD Association which has a listing of individual member clubs. Click the link for a regional map. I'm with the Seattle Jeep Club which is, ironically, now largely centered around the Kent, Covington, Auburn area with a few member such as myself a bit further north up in the Seattle / Kenmore / Bothel / Woodinville area (but not many).

As for wheel'n areas. Welcome. Lots of trails. NWJeepn.com has a great trail list of WA trails with lots of maps and info about individual trails. You can also download some trail maps from my website, here. I don't have all the trails up quite yet but most are there. Most maps are designed to be printed out on 11x17 so you might need to take them into Kinkos or Office Depot.

Summer and fall are great for the trails of eastern WA when there is no snow. Snow starts accumulating later October / early November and makes trail travel very very challenging. By winter these trails are largely socked in. Usually its quiet on the trails during winter with the exeption of western puget sound lowland / foothill trails that are under the snowline.

Around the Seattle / Everett area you have:

Walker Valley
About 1 hr north of Seattle and east of the town of Mt. Vernon. Good selection of hilly forest trails with some slick muddy trails. It'll keep you interested for about 3/4 of a day or so. Parking / staging area and vault toilets at the trailhead. No camping.

Reiter Trails
45 minutes from Seattle, and about the same distance from Everett. Closed until further notice until the DNR wraps up some stream repair work. Not a huge area but close by. Some gnarly rock gardens in the forest with a mix of some easy and some real nasty trails. Trials run through evergreen forests and there is the "sand hill" under the powerlines.

Evan's Creek
1 hr 15 min south of Seattle just outside the most NW corner of Mt. Rainier National Park. Trails run up and down the mountain sides among dense evergreen treens. Trails tend to be slick, wet, and muddy during the wet season (spring and fall), dry-ish but not dusty in summer, and under 3-8 ft of snow in winter. Elevation of trails range from 3700 - 4800 ft. And there is a spectacular view point of Mt. Rainier on the 311 trail. Staging area, picnic shelter, toilets, and camping.

Elbe Hills
Near the town of Elbe which is about 2 hrs from Seattle. Tight and twisty and muddy. Be very cautious about body damage on the tighter sections. Not as extensive as Evan's creek but I think there might be some camping, toilets, staging area, and a picnick shelter.

Tahuya
Near the town of Belfair, WA about 1.5 - 2 hrs from Seattle. Used to be real easy trails but the local clubs and the DNR teamed up to add a new loop trail and it looks real challenging. Still, very limited trail milage and it might be good for a few hours. Still not sure if it's worth the drive.

North Cle Elum
1.5 - 2 hrs from Seattle. North of the town of Cle Elum, Roslyn, and Salmon La Sac are some old mining trails that top out at 6,000 ft of elevation in the heart of the Cascades. Trails are open from mid-Jun to mid-October. Great camping all over the place. And Fortune Creek trail tops out right next to the tiny but beautiful Gallagher Head Lake. Nothing is challenging but it's a beautiful place for an easy day of wheel'n.

Liberty / Table Mountain
2hrs from Seattle. Near the town of Liberty and about 15-20 min NE of Cle Elum this trail network has trails on either side of Hwy 97. Pine forest on the edge of the Cascade range offer some beautiful outlooks and view spots. In the dry the trails can be easy(er) but at a hint of moisure the clay soil becomes slick as snot. Plenty of camping all over the place with an actual camp ground near the mouth of the road from Liberty to Hwy 97.

Naches Trail
1.5 hrs from Seattle. Unlike other "trail networks" around the state, this is a single trail. It follows the route of the 1853 Longmire wagon train and is the only 4x4 trail in the state to cross the Cascade Mountain range. Pick up the trail outside of the town of Greenwater and take it over to the edge of the Manastash Ridge ORV area. Lots of camping along the route with a neat log cabin at Government Meadows where the Naches trail crosses the Pacific Crest hiking trail that stretches from Canada to Mexico.

Manastash Ridge
2 hrs from Seattle. This is a HUGE 115 sq mile territory criss-crossed by ATV, motorbike, and 4x4 trails. You can actually access this from both I-90 to the north and Hwy 410 from the south. The Naches Trail also accesses this area and makes for a great intro to a fun weekend. High ridge lines topping out at 5000-6000 ft of elevation. Some rock crawling. Dry evergreen and larch forests. Hidden lakes. Incredible view. You definitely feel you're in the middle of nowhere.

Rimrock
3.5 hrs from Seattle near the town of Rimrock, WA and south of Rimrock Lake on Hwy 12. Another big area with nearly 100 miles of 4x4 trails running up and down some very tall, very steep ridges. About 4000+ ft of elevation gain with the top point at 7,000 ft stairing right at Mt. Rainier with views of 3 other major peaks in the Cascades.

TONS of camping and lake recreation sports available. Make sure your brakes and cooling system are in top notch condition. And bring some spare gas to leave at your camp site as the nearest gas station is a 90 mile round trip away.

I have too many good pictures to post up of all the areas but go:

HERE

and

HERE

To see a lot of photos I've taken over the years. I will leave these few here for you to consider: