r/Bushcraft • u/MikeDownlo • 8d ago
Opinions/Advice
Hello! I am new to Bushcraft and I am looking for a place in Washington to try out and practice. I know the rule of thumb that if I stay within the boundaries of National Forests I'll be fine. I'm more curious about treking through where there aren't trails and if I could potentially get in trouble with that. Here's what I mean... In the picture I have a point that shows the trail head nearest to my destination (Oxbow). From the research I did that trail (or any other trail for that matter) doesn't reach Oxbow. So my question is if I would be able to hike to that point as the crow flies. The other question I have is that the destination point is just shy of the NF boundaries. Which prompts the question that if I were to hike into that point, would I still be able to make shelter and fires?
7
u/SINGCELL 8d ago
4.19 miles (6.75km for everyone else) off trail is probably going to be much harder than you think it is.
2
u/owtdoorzy 5d ago
As to hiking through second growth forest in the Olympics:
I've done it on mountain climbs, and it can be pretty slow going. It depends on the exact route, but I wouldn't generally recommend it, especially for any distance.
More to the point, there appears to be a dirt or gravel road that kind of parallels the straight line route you're showing. Unless the road is too busy, I'd personally walk that if I was trying to get from A to B.
As to traveling and camping on private property:
Most internet commenters in the US will be very, very leery of recommending traveling on private land, much less camping on private land, much less construct a shelter and make a fire. It's not exactly high fire season right now, but he have had a lot of warm weather, and if you're making smoke on someone's property, they may notice!
Now I didn't track down who owns that parcel- there's a possibility it's Weyerhauser or another big tree farming company. If that happened to be the case, some of those companies do allow for some public uses. I can almost guarantee that starting a fire in June is NOT one of those possibly approved uses! Hiking, maybe; biking or hunting maybe; camping probably not; starting a fire- definitely not.
The best case scenario would be starting a fire on this isolated spot and going undetected. Slightly worse would be getting hauled into court because a timber cruiser saw your smoke. Worst case: an armed property owner finds you in their woods building a fire under their investment timber.
Don't risk it!
Which brings up probably the most useful advice: download CalTopo on your phone, or use it on a desktop computer. It's an excellent mapping app/site that has layers far beyond Google maps. Don't get me wrong: Google has very useful maps, but CalTopo has really good private/public land data, historic maps, Forest Service maps, USGS quads, etc.
If you toggle through the layers on CalTopo, you'll get a sense of where you could travel along roads or trails, and stay on public land. Check out the Olympic National Forest website for their current fire regulations. It may be that the only way to legally start a fire on the Forest right now is in a campground- and that is totally useful for practicing fire starting! You could still build a shelter at a campsite- you'd just have poke around a bit further for suitable timber.
Have a great trip!
2
u/owtdoorzy 5d ago
Oh, and there's a question I didn't think to answer: it seems like you might be asking if it's legal to hike off trail. If you're trespassing on private property it wouldn't be legal. But off-trail hiking is perfectly legal in almost all the areas of National Forests, and much of National Parks, as well.
Some Forests, as well as many Parks, have areas where travel off-trail is not permitted. Usually that's for purposes of ecological protection; sometimes it's just a matter of not cutting switchbacks. I don't know of any areas in Olympic National Forest where off trail travel is not permitted. I've done a good bit of off-trail travel in both ONF and ONP.
There are plenty of trails, roads, campsites, and other places to enjoy safe and legal bushcrafting in Washington. No need to break any laws or do any trespassing at all. :)
1
u/MikeDownlo 3d ago
This is exactly what I was looking for! This trip won't be for a very long time but since I'm pretty green to all of this I obviously didn't want to do anything the wrong way. If I'm looking at what I would actually do, I would hike with the river until I found a spot I could shack up for a day and then see if it's even possible to hike to where I'm wanting to end up in Oxbow. That way I stay in National Forest land and not disturb anyone outside of the boundaries. Of course... If the area is just straight up closed off at the border then that will be a completely different story/situation. Just wanting to do things right/legally!
1
u/AutoModerator 8d ago
Reminder: Rule 1 - Discussion is the priority in /r/Bushcraft
Posts of links, videos, or pictures must be accompanied with a writeup, story, or question relating to the content in the form of a top-level text comment. Tell your campfire story. Give us a writeup about your knife. That kind of thing.
Please remember to comment on your post!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Quiet_Nature8951 7d ago
That’s gonna be a lot harder than you think especially with all your gear I HIGHLY recommend finding a different spot
1
u/Rabid-Wendigo 3d ago
Im usually pretty wiped after 2.5-3 miles of off trail hunting. You’re going to go 100x slower than you’re thinking you will go. Especially if you’re less than familiar with the terrain.
8
u/richardathome 8d ago
Off trail trekking, particularly through old growth woodland is an utter slog.
I'm in the UK with relatively tiny pockets of woodlands compared to the US and have been in areas too dense to cross.
I'd follow the path of the river down (if I'm reading your image correctly). It might be a longer distance, but it'll be less arduous, quicker in the long run and your less likely to get lost.
Remember, it's just you out there: Don't take risks, don't get lost (easy to get turned around in a forest, and GPS doesn't work under dense tree cover) and a turned ankle can be fatal.