Oregon Dunes DBLCB LB Fun

Ouch! Nice rig, wait, you blew it up going up a slope?

 

Yep, it blew as soon as the front passenger tire dropped to full droop while going over the top.

.

This is what was left.



Its my favorite place to go in the sand.
I have been there two more times since that happened.

 

Nice! Did you have a spare with ya?

 

I'd like to come up in another few months, maybe we could organize a meet in the spring and show them thar jeep guys how to have some fun. Would've liked to get more pics of the truck in action, but it's a no-go when you're the only one there.

 

looks like you found the Achilles Boot...er Heel of your FJ!

 

That blows bud. I think someone needs to invent a dummy CV so you can just throw something in the holes, to hold everything together and drive home, that way you don't have to jack her up and take the hub out.

 

No, but I always carry one now. This is a yearly event for us in Florence.
Paul has a nice write up on it here.

http://www.lastgreatroadtrip.com/trail-runs/day-1-on-the-dunes/
and here
http://www.lastgreatroadtrip.com/trail-runs/day-2-morning-in-the-dunes/
and here
http://www.lastgreatroadtrip.com/trail-runs/day-2-tonight-we-bowl/

Again, I cant wait until next year.............If anyone wants to do any kind of a weekend trip let me know. Oh, and I do carry a spare axle too.

 

Looks like fun guys, yeah the ripped up parts of the trails sucked, i was trying not to bounce all over the place. It was so bad my rear-view mirror on the windshield popped off twice. To add to the woes, the stupid ABS kept the truck going in this crap, time for the ABS disable mod fer sure. I imagine your FJ's are better suited with the shorter wheelbase rather than my bid DBLCB. There are ALOT of Toyotas up that way, I'm sure an awesome event could be had. I heard the beach at Spinreel is longer than South Jetty.
Oh Yeah! Some of the folks up that way said the state is slowly trying to close off areas to OHV! Best that all of us who enjoy these places better do some follow up online.
Also, if you are ever in Florence proper, Wed thru Sunday, there is a BBQ truck downtown across from the antique store, best damn burgers in town (the fries are some of the best I've ever had). Try the Viking, Burger, bacon, Cheddar, pulled pork and brisket, friggin deadly. It's my buddy's business, Catering by Craig, and his wife, whom i have known since the 7th grade, works at the local hospital where they take very good care of all of the wounded weekend warriors who find the "OH SHIT!!!" dunes out there, lots of broken collar bones she tells me.
Florence is a cool little town, i get to stay at my friend's house a chow down on great food while I'm up there. I usually get up before dawn and have my coffee on the beach everyday I am there. I keep asking myself why I come back to Cali, one of these damn days....I won't.

Love to meet up with you guys in the spring.

 

Well this thread is 6 years old but figure itd be a good place to ask some questions about dune access.

Im headed to florence in September and am looking for the best beach access. In previous years I've entered the beach by the south jetty of the Siuslaw but it looks like that area is going to be closed until October.
Looking at GPS and closure Maps I think I found a spot where the south jetty road turns north but figured I'd run it by some locals.



Comparing the closure map with the satellite map it appears there some access here but its hard to tell if there are any massive dunes blocking the area?

Im well equipped for recovery but prefer to play it safe on the beach.

 

I'm 99% sure I went in through that access point once. Keep us posted!

 

Ill definatley let ya know. Ive been doing a little more looking and am 99 percent certain there should be some easy beach access here by the driftwood 2 campground just a couple more minutes south on the 101.

Ill definatley be spending some time at the crab dock by the south jetty so ill check that too.

 

I've ridden ATVs on the South jetty - Siltcoos dunes a lot. I've also spent some time out there with my 460 powered Ford. You are correct in getting to the beach from South jetty rd. When you turn off 101 onto South jetty rd. And go just a little ways, there's the pay station for parking. It's $5 per day. A little ways farther on the left is the day use parking/ staging area. This is where the cool people hang out. You can see ATVs hill racing from the parking lot. If you keep going on South jetty road, there's goosepasture parking/ staging area. When you keep going on the road, if you go straight just before the road goes north, you go to the beach. The sand is a bit soft right there. Make sure your tires are aired down. From what I've seen a front wheel drive Kia Spectra with a girl driving and her girlfriend riding shotgun, won't make it through there. Once you get over that and onto the beach, the sand is pretty hard. You can't go any farther north on the beach than that.

OBEY THE SPEED LIMIT ON THE BEACH.

If you enter the dunes from the south end at Driftwood II, there's the long whoops road that is hard sand. Then it opens up to the flats. You can go as fast as is safe on the flats. From the flats, there are several sand roads that go to the beach. Out in the dunes, there are drop offs and soft sand areas. Be careful.

Here's a few rules to go by.
Consuming alcohol on the sand is not allowed
You must have an off road sticker. Stickers are sold at motorcycle shops. You MIGHT be OK with an off road sticker from your state.
Make sure you have a whip and a flag.
There is a speed limit on the beach. I think it's 25mph.
No motorized vehicles on the sand at night.
The forest rangers WILL write you a ticket for all of the above.

As I mentioned above, be sure to air down your tires. 15PSI is safe. 12PSI is fairly safe. Just don't bitch at me if you're driving like a wild man and debead a tire.

 

Awesome, thanks for all the tips! Ive been looking over the rule book and have a flag that will work with my CB antenna (meets the 9' requirment) and will get a OHV tag when we get there. Also have on board air and Co2 so deflating wont be an issue. The beach always makes me a little nervous with the tides and such so will be bringing along the traction boards, shovel and deadman winch anchor jic. Hopefully I wont get too stupid in the bigger dunes since I need the truck to tow the camper home but Ill bring a can of starter fluid just incase I do loose a bead.

Im a pretty expierenced in the Glamis dunes but thats always been on yfz450 and RZR. I think ill be content for a leisurely beach cruise. Speaking of are small campfires allowed in that area? I believe they were near the south jetty the last time I was there.
Are the dunes closed at sunset? I thought i read 2200 but could be mistaken.

Thanks again all this info is super helpfull!

 

You can a get off road sticker at Florence Yamaha. They're open every day. As far as the beach, don't drive out in the surf or in the really wet sand right near it and you'll be fine. The slightly wet sand farther in is fine to drive on. There is a place where there's sort of a river that flows out to the ocean. It's really shallow. You shouldn't have any trouble crossing it. Just check it out first, and don't stop in the middle of it.

Most of the people I see stuck out in the dunes, did so because they dropped 1 tire over an edge and have open diffs. Also, watch out for areas where the only way out is up. In the sand, there's a huge difference between going uphill and going downhill.

I'm not sure what the rules are about fires on the beach. You'll need to check on that.

I'm pretty sure you're right about the 10:00PM time. For a long time, we've just gone over for day trips so we leave long before dark. In the good old days, you could ride all night long. That was a blast. The people that live near the dunes complained about the noise at night, so those days are over.

 

I remeber that wet sand from last october on the south jetty area. We were out there during that typhoon and found lots of sinkholes! Never got stuck but it was enough to encourage me to find some more easterly sand and invest in a set of traction boards for next time.
Thanks again! Extremely helpful info for helping me make plans!

I have no interest in driving my taco into any bowls . Thats paddle tire and horsepower territory!

 

Glad to help out and give you an idea of what the area is like. We don't have bowls like I've heard they have at Glamis, but there are some areas where it's a low spot in the dunes and you have to go up to get out. It doesn't take much of an uphill climb to severely limit your ability to procede. The main thing is watch for drop offs. I call them plateaus. The sand is flat on top and has a sharp edge that drops off almost vertical. Most of them are only about 3' but that's plenty enough to get you in trouble and the sand will be really soft right at the edge. There are a lot of them just East from the flats.

One more thing, the area between the North end of the flats and the Goosepasture parking lot can be a bit of a challenge to find the right path, if you're not familiar with the area. If you want to get from the flats to South jetty road, or vice versa, it would be better to take a sand road from the flats to the beach, then go north on the beach to South jetty road, or vice versa. You'll know when you get to South jetty road, because the sign on the beach will say something about no motorized vehicles North of this point.

If you venture out into the dunes and get lost, just follow the sun (Or a compass) and head west. From most areas of the dunes, you will eventually reach the flats. From there, you're home free. If it's dark and you don't have a compass, you will see the lights of Florence lighting up the sky to the North. Although, not being familiar with the dunes, you shouldn't be out there after dark in a truck. Probably not in an ATV either, but with an ATV, you have a much better chance of getting youself unstuck.

Also, there are restrooms at South jetty parking lot, goosepasture parking lot, and at Driftwood II.

 

So that access is definatley doable in a 4x4 taco as long as you're aired down. The first day on the sand there was a little rain and no other traffic out there so it was east to walk up and over that hill. The second day was weekend so the beachwall was a little more torn up and the sand had dried so I had to use some RPMs to get back over but still pretty easy. Heres me going up then coming back down.



If you don't want to go over that hill the siltcoos beach staging area has super easy access. An now that it's October I think the snowy plover mating season is over so you might have access at the south Jetty.

 

Cool! Looks like you had a good time.

 

Definatley!!! That area is pretty much my favorite place in the world! Dunes, crabs, salmon, clams, full sail brewery and .

 

@Lord Humongous Thanks for the follow-up! I'll be there this weekend.