Liberty Creek area or the Manatash area, which is better

Hey i'm organizing a trip from Walla Walla with a bunch of my college buddies. I know there is some cool spots but we really only have one day to explore so I'm wondering which area would be better to go to for some solid wheeling. What are the conditions right now, how far away is the moon/funny rocks area I keep hearing about. We are going out in roughly two weeks and are camping on a friday night than wheeling on saturday. I have maps for the whole Cle Elum area and Liberty is a bit closer and has what looks to be a good amount of trails and Manatash dosen't look to bad either. So whats the pro's and con's of each place or is there some other place in that general area that is better than both of those areas. Also any suggestions for campgrounds would be appreciated. Thanks for the help.

Are you looking for technical trails, beautiful scenery or a place to practice your rock crawling technique?

What is the experience and capability of the group (lift, tires, lockers, etc).

Kaner Flats is this groups favorite campground, but there are tons of others and more remote if you prefer that. But Kaner Flats has running water and out houses and is easily accesable from 410.

If I had a day trip from Kaner Flats I would go up the Kaner Flats trail (difficult up hill technical trail, extremely difficult as there is more rain lately). Then cross the Manastash ridge and the Shoestring trail down to the Moon Rocks and Funny Rocks. This way you get a little bit of everything. Very doable in a day with the right group of people and no major breakage.

Give us a little more detail and we can help you locate the areas on your maps.

Michael

Hey thanks for the reply. We were hoping to do something a little more technical because all we have out here are muddy fireroads. The group consists of jeeps and toyotas with the smallest being a cherokee with 3inchs of lift and 31' mud terrains. The rest of the vehicles have more lift and larger tires but most everyone isn't locked up. So that would make muddy steep hillclimbs a little tough. Only one winch in the group but most everyone has tow points. Everyone either has mudterrains or bfg all terrains. The majority of the groups experience is pretty good, most of us have been on trips before to moab and tsf as well as virtue flats and local snow wheelin.

Is the Kaner flats campground on the eastern side of 410, close to Clifdell on the Yakima side? Or is it farther away. I'm trying not to get super far away because big jeeps and gas prices mixed with college student income makes every mile hurt ha.

The maps I have are from the Cle Elum Ranger District website, I couldn't find Kaner Flats on there and it dosen't have names for trails only the trail #. I do see campgrounds like little naches, sawmill flat, indian flat, and the whole manastash managment area.

Thanks again for all the help and info.

You need to talk to the Naches Ranger District. That is where most of my maps are from. Kaner Flats is just North West of Clifdell. Very close to Sawmill Flats, Halfway Flats, and many many other campgrounds.

By the sounds of your rigs it would probably be best to try some slightly less difficult trails up to the Moon Rocks Funny Rocks area. Kaner Flats trail (Trail #676) will most likely be pretty rough this time of year. The shoestring is probably slightly easier but still can be very difficult (Trail 1600A and B) very close to shoestring lake. But if you like rocks (good traction, playground for everyone from stock to wild) then eventually you want to make it up to the Moon Rocks Funny Rocks area (Where Trails 644 and 694A and 695 converge).

There are a ton of trails that you can use to get up to that area from 410 (some east of clifdell some west of clifdell) most of them are logging roads that are easily passable, some can provide more challenging sections. You can also get there from the Cle Elum side, but that would be a longer drive for your group.

Michael

Sounds good, thanks for all the info. I'll let you know how it goes, maybe even post up a few pics.

Absolutely!!

That area changes daily at the moment due to weather and it is always nice to know what the conditions are currently.

Post the pic's when you get back.

Let us know if there is anything else we can help with before hand.

Have Fun,
Michael

Look at the "ready for oct 15" thread 3 those are pics of that area as of last sat oct 15.
Both areas are my favorites .This time of the year there will be challenges at either place.

i'm not terribly experienced in that area, but i think i could get you through without getting you lost...it's about 45 minutes to an hour from my house to the trailhead. i'd like to go if i can garner an invite???

Jeepstah said:

Hey i'm organizing a trip from Walla Walla with a bunch of my college buddies. I know there is some cool spots but we really only have one day to explore so I'm wondering which area would be better to go to for some solid wheeling. What are the conditions right now, how far away is the moon/funny rocks area I keep hearing about. We are going out in roughly two weeks and are camping on a friday night than wheeling on saturday. I have maps for the whole Cle Elum area and Liberty is a bit closer and has what looks to be a good amount of trails and Manatash dosen't look to bad either. So whats the pro's and con's of each place or is there some other place in that general area that is better than both of those areas. Also any suggestions for campgrounds would be appreciated. Thanks for the help.

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Yeah definetely, if anyone wants to show up thats cool. Right now we have 5 rigs coming. We will be coming out friday afternoon/night of next week, camping somewhere, and than exploring all day Saturday. Thats another thing, what the best cheap campground for a group of 5 rigs, I know you guys stay at Kaner Flats but we don't need something that big and from what I saw it costs around $60 a night. I saw on my map all the campgrounds farther up 410, does anyone have any experience with those, like for prices and sizes of the campground.

Kaner Flat is $10 per site and $5per extra Vehicle per night per site.But across the river is free.