Washington Backcountry Discovery Route - Section 4

Total Miles 52.7
Technical Rating
3 Easy
Best Time Spring, Summer, Fall
Trail Type Full-Width Road
Accessible By
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Trail Overview

The Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR) is a trail that runs from Canada to Oregon, initially designed for adventure, dual-sport motorcycles, and 4X4 vehicles. This trail covers most of section 4. Unfortunately, the tail end of section 4 was still snowed in at this particular time and was deemed not passable. This section covers terrain from Wenatchee to Lake Chelan when completely passable. Section 4 heading North up Nahahum (pronounces nah-hum) Canyon from Cashmere brings drivers to a 360-degree view atop Chumstick Peak at approximately 5,810 feet of elevation. The route winds up Roaring Ridge in the Entiat Mountains before reaching descending steep switchbacks to the one-store town of Ardenvoir, which has basic rations, gas, and a small cafe. The cafe was closed at this time.

Photos of Washington Backcountry Discovery Route - Section 4

Difficulty

I rated this trail a level three at this point in time because of snow conditions, particularly those on tight ledges. However if there had been no snow, the rating for this trail may be slightly less.

Technical Rating

3

Status Reports

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Shaun Murray
Jun 08, 2026
Open
Rough road with lots of pointy rocks on the chelan side. Not terribly difficult to navigate.
Tristan Piliaris
May 19, 2026
Open
End of BDR Section 4 (5801000) where it intersects with Tillicum Rd (5800) is obstructed by a large amount of logs and forestry machinery at this time. Unable to go around/over, had to turn around and use Forest Road 290 as a bypass.
Derek C
Sep 02, 2025
Open
Dave P
Jun 13, 2025
Open
I just went as far as the Chumstick Mtn area. After you turn from FS 7400 onto FS 5200 I definitely used 4x4 low range and would not have taken a full sized truck past that point. My mid sized truck was fine.
Zach Wickliffe
May 25, 2025
Open
Tool the trail all the way up to the Chumstick mountain summit and kept going until the FS7531-400 split. Conditions were excellent, only a tiny bit of snow at the summit of Chumstick in the shady spots. Not too much traffic on the trails considering the holiday weekend and temps were perfect in the 70s during the day and around 50 at night.
Joanie Walbert
May 22, 2025
Open
This trail report is actually from April 27, but I’m unable to correctly add that date to this post. Coming from Entiat we hit some patches of snow and downed trees that were passable until elevation 4400 where we hit snow about 12”-18” deep that made us turn around.
Peter Dillinger
May 03, 2025
Open
Great conditions from Cashmere (aside from dry ruts and fist size rocks) until 5480 feet elevation where there's a chute to the top of Chumstick for dirt bikes. The snow beyond there appeared impassible for most vehicles but will likely clear in coming weeks. We then hiked to the mountain top up the chute. That's as far as we intended to go.
Jon Valdes
May 02, 2025
Open
roads great until you get to the back side of chumstick mnt. there is still about two and a half feet on the road.
Daniel Benitez
Jul 20, 2024
Open
I only did half of this trail. I went to the top of Chumstick mountain and slept up there! Really nice view. It was an easy trip up there but once you are up there the trail get narrow, with a lot of bushes. It’s rough with a wide truck. I got a lot of love marks.
Philip Roell
Jun 19, 2024
Open
Dusty, first part of trail entering Swakane was smooth from previous logging in Fall 2023. Only went up the trail about 10mi but was clear of obstacles.
Yi Huang
May 31, 2024
Open
Dirt roads. Not possible to reach lake Chelan ( road closed)
Whiskey Victor
May 27, 2024
Open
Daniel Nistor
Nov 14, 2023
Open
Preston B
Jul 08, 2023
Open
Mark Spromberg
Jul 06, 2023
Open

Washington Backcountry Discovery Route - Section 4 Trail can be accessed by the following ride types:

  • Single Track
  • 50 Inch
  • 60 Inch
  • High Clearance
  • Full Width

Washington Backcountry Discovery Route - Section 4 Map

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