Badger Lake, Mt. Hood Forest? Looking for a long weekend getaway.

My girl and I finally have some time off after months of OT. We were thinking of trying out Badger Lake for the first time this coming weekend (probably late Saturday or early Sunday?).
Has anybody been there recently? My truck is still stock, and I don't want to get stuck that far out.
I have heard the roads can be hit or miss on conditions.

 

It’s a shitty place to go. Tell everyone you know never to go there again.

 

So if I promise to tell everyone I know not to go there, can I still go? I'll even show them photos afterwards of a random landfill or something....

 

perfect. In all honesty you should have no issues in a stock truck. I’d advise to air down if you can. Also note that even though it’s only about 12-15 miles in depending on which route you go... it’s still over an hour after you turn off the road. Also it has gotten crowded in the last couple years so if you go Sunday expect people coming out and having to either try and make room for them or someone backing up in some spots.

 

Got it. Thank you for the info! Have you been up there recently? Also, what pressure do you run when you head up there?

 

recently no. What are you worried about?

15

 

I called the ranger district last week and they said "storms have washed the roads pretty bad. Honestly high clearance is necessary, not just advisable". Or maybe he just didn't want me at his fishing spot?

 

Well @TacoTim85 and @ST77 have been up there more recent then I have. Unless they were major storms I have seen regular cars make it down there

 

It’s not bad, worse than previous years. A stock tacoma won’t have issues, just be diligent.

 

Glad to hear! We primarily wanted to check it out because of its seclusion. Hopefully heading out sunday morning/early afternoon will mean most people are headed back to their respective cities.

 

I was down there a few weekends ago. Road was rough but passable. Airing down will help as mentioned above. Couple spots on Bennett Pass that may require backing up if oncoming trucks. The lake was kinda busy when I got there on a foggy/misty weekend. The few campsites were all taken.

 

Per the usual now... it’s crowded all the time...

 

I will definitely air down. I’m on stock sport wheels, so I don’t think I can crazy air down.
And Dang. We were hoping the campsites would be open. Considering it’s an hour trek off 35, are there any other spots up there that are good? Basically, we are trying to come up with alternates just in case.

 

If you go up Sunday looking to camp overnight you should be ok. But who knows with this covid shit

 

So we’re gonna head out tomorrow somewhere around 11am. I still have P rated tires so I can’t air down that much (or so I’ve heard). Hopefully by the time we get there anybody who was there is packing up to leave.

 

I spent some time around there on Friday. Didn't drive up to Badger Lake, but I did drive a similar path through Bonney Meadows, up to Bennett Pass and then finally Lookout Mountain. Not sure how similar the trails are. Definitely some wash out on my route, but nothing to worry about. Only scraped my mudflaps a couple times on some of the bigger rocks.

 

@WestCoastBestCoast how was badger??

 

@Toywoodsguy82 It was great! We just got back about an hour ago. Road was mostly fine up until the last mile and a half or two. Right at the entrance to the campground was the worst of it, honestly. Barely anybody up there, one group of like 4 people at the prime spot on the lake that you can drive up to. Weirdest part, when we were leaving we saw a newer Chevy Malibu make it to the campground......

As expected the water was lower, so it made the lake a little bit warmer! Which was great! I was an idiot and did not take my fishing poles.

 

Yeah I’ve seen regular cars make it down there like a Kia forte but they’re going real slow and making it real treacherously down there

 

Here are some shots from the mini-vacation. I'm not a huge photo taker, so these are about all I can ever manage. Gotta say, gonna go back for more camping as soon as possible.