Sand Lake Recreation Area (Siuslaw National Forest) Oregon

Thanks! It was nice to be back out there and enjoy some sand again with my kiddo. This time I did not air down but was running at 27. I like to toy around with pressures when I go, lowest I’ve been was 15 and highest I’ve been was 30.

Interesting to see how the Jeep performs in certain sand obstacles with different pressures. Weird part for me is always do I leave the sway bar connected or disco?

On hillsides disco’d I feel extra tippy and I’m not sure if that’s beneficial or not. However on the mixed variable sand waves of the dunes being disco’d is beneficial.

Hard to say, I think an Antirock is really the best choice, since then you never have to disconnect. You have the best of both worlds (y)
 
  • Like
Reactions: EJD
Hard to say, I think an Antirock is really the best choice, since then you never have to disconnect. You have the best of both worlds (y)
I think I may find myself with an AR in the future! 😉

And some paddle tires...TJ would look pretty cool with 2 rear paddles for dedicated sand use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chris and Vasq
I think I may find myself with an AR in the future! 😉

And some paddle tires...TJ would look pretty cool with 2 rear paddles for dedicated sand use.

Yep, everything you just described sounds like an Antirock would solve it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EJD
The official reopening of Sand Lake today was a hit! First it looked real stormy then it switched to beautiful and sunny! Hit the sand at about 0800 and headed north to the border to start tracking a route I’m creating throughout the dunes since there are no designated trails or anything.

I rolled up on a few bald eagles picking apart a dead Sea Lion. Other than that the place was a riot, saw one JL and one CJ out there and the rest were your typical dune buggies, sand rails, and dirt bikes.

I was also playing around with my new Garmin Overlander and mapped out a rough route through the dunes for 4x4’s, even though you can go wherever you want. The round trip around sand lake was roughly 10 miles!

View attachment 172160View attachment 172142View attachment 172141View attachment 172144View attachment 172145View attachment 172146View attachment 172148View attachment 172150View attachment 172151View attachment 172153View attachment 172156View attachment 172149
View attachment 172161
View attachment 172162

And left it better than we found it! 😉
You always take such awesome pics! I need to get down there as well. Need to hurry up with my new tires 😜

And how are you liking the Garmin Overlander?! I've been eyeing it a little, but at the moment I'm leaning more towards a tablet and just running GAIA or something simular.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EJD
Wow! This place is pretty incredible. First time here and I did not see one other soul out on the sand the entire day. I'm sure during the summer months this place can get out of control.

But I have never been to a place this open to cross-country travel and had this kind of freedom to literally do whatever you want or go anywhere you want within its boundaries of course. There are miles of dramatic shoreline, significant hill climbs and dunes, sand pits everywhere, and tight squeeze forest trails lining the entire perimeter.

Seems like this would be a perfect place for an off-season meet up. Anyone up for it?

View attachment 125849


View attachment 125851
View attachment 125852
View attachment 125853
View attachment 125854
View attachment 125855
Hey! Do you think that Sand Lake is a good riding area for beginner off-roading? I've only gone once and love it but have yet to experience sand dunes. I have a JK Sahara unlimited 2013 (no mods). Would stock jeep tires be ok on the sand and other parts of the courses there?
 
Cool pic’s, I’ve always wanted to go there, usually when I head down to Oregon for the dunes I head down to Coos Bay. Dunes are some of the most fun I’ve had in 4Hi
How do you like Oregon Dunes near Coos Bay? this one is about 2hrs away from me but it looks like a great course from pictures. How was the trail there? (I'm asking as a beginner off-roader)
 
How do you like Oregon Dunes near Coos Bay? this one is about 2hrs away from me but it looks like a great course from pictures. How was the trail there? (I'm asking as a beginner off-roader)
Coos Bay is a lot bigger, the trails are full oh whoops, the dunes range in size but you can usually get around them if ya can’t pull the top.
 
That looks like a fun place!

I‘ve never heard a wave called a Sneaker Wave. LOL. Sneaky bastards. (y)
Don’t you love these government signs,no log rolling competitions,and don’t go looking for the roadrunner here,and lastly guys,don’t go touching wieners together😂

4F7412A9-4A6E-4197-AB68-280D8A7BDA26.png


55EF7803-6192-445A-AB41-2F922C719FAE.png
 
I think I may find myself with an AR in the future! 😉

And some paddle tires...TJ would look pretty cool with 2 rear paddles for dedicated sand use.
You’ll need more power than any stock motor that came on a TJ to make any use of paddle tires, they’ll do more harm than good. Get something wide and floaty. My old Iroks were awesome in the dunes. My friends MT/Rs worked great. Ya need to spin them and keep momentum, paddles on a 4L, no good. A decent MT, or AT tires and 4hi works great. Paddles will just dig down and smoke your clutch unless you have the power to get them to “lift” off the drop. If you have an auto, even worse, you’ll keep the tach ping’ed trying to move