Washington

Contrary to what you might have heard on the news about Washington state and the new Wilderness areas, the state is open for snowmobiling and offers plenty of sledding opportunities statewide.

Washington is known for its extensive groomed trail systems which cover many of the state's mountainous areas that aren't locked up in Wilderness and most slices of backcountry riding are generally located near those groomed trails.

In fact, some of Washington's most exciting backcountry riding is accessed by groomed trails, as is the case in most western states. Our past riding experience in Washington has shown us that while some of those backcountry hotspots are definitely popular among the state's sledders, you can find some solitude if you know where to go and are willing to explore a bit.

For example, there is some excellent hillclimbing off the Salmon La Sac trail system back in near Huckleberry Mountain as well as Hawkins Mountain. Across the valley from the Salmon La Sac area is Manastash Ridge and some superb backcountry riding. If you were to look at a trail map of this area, it might look like groomed snowmobile trails pretty much cover the entire region. But we've found some off-the-beaten path spots where we never saw another sledder or tracks.

There are also several sweet riding spots in Okanogan County where riders can get away from the groomed trail system and ride in the trees and access huge mountain bowls and cross country riding. A couple of our favorites are near Sweetgrass Butte and farther east near Little Tiffany Lake.

Some of the most awesome riding in the state is near Mt. Baker. We were able to get fairly close to Mt. Baker itself and see the steam venting from the mountain.

During one past ride in Washington state, we went off trail and, from our vantage point, we were able to see Mt. Rainier (14,411 feet), Mt. Adams (12,276), Mt. St. Helens (8,366) and Old Snowy Mtn. (7,930 feet). We could also see Mt. Hood (11,239) in Oregon.

A pretty good source of information for riding in Washington state is on the state's parks website www.parks.wa.gov/winter. Navigate to the sno-parks section where you'll find trail maps. Nearby are ample backcountry rides.