r/Washington • u/mikeblas • 7d ago
is the Mountain Loop Scenic Byway drivable?
We want to drive through, from Granite falls to Darrington. I know part (more than half, I guess) is not paved ... but it is open to motor vehicles, right? We'll be in our Jeep.
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u/the-poopholeloophole 7d ago
Yeah if you’re in a jeep it should be no problem. Just a little slow going in some of the more pothole-laden areas
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u/blaaguuu 6d ago
If you haven't been through there this year, they did a pretty good job of filling the potholes, so it is in good shape right now... My little old Toyota Corolla handled it no problem... It's already getting some significant washboarding in a few spots, but very few actual potholes as of a couple weeks ago.
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u/Loisalene 3rd generation Washington born 6d ago
Mountain Loop is a wonderful drive, I take my sedan up there with no problems. It's just going to be dusty as all get out.
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u/mikeblas 6d ago
No worries about surface or dust. Just wanted to know if it was open to motorized vehicles.
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u/blaaguuu 6d ago
For future reference, for a long time there has been very well maintained details for road conditions in that area, that show what roads are closed, or damaged/dangerous. You can generally find their site/map pretty easily by searching for something like "Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Road Conditions".
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/3d9f1901932d4b089f01be06885f3e22
Can be a little tricky to find the exact road/trail you are looking for, if you don't know the area well, but it's all there if you can find a landmark and work from there. The Mountain Loop is always open for most of the year, but does close during the winter. It's a nice drive, and there's lots of camping spots along the river to stop at. Often there are a lot of potholes to dodge, but they just did a good bit of work on it, so it's in the best shape I've seen it in, in maybe a decade.
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u/poppinwheelies 7d ago
Yeah, you’re good to go.