Printable View
Heading to the Dolls House next week. Anyone know the condition of the Flint Trail and road into the Dolls House? Was there a looong time ago... Driving a stock Tundra. Take the running boards off? edit: Forgot to add I have Michellin Defender LTX M+S tires. edit again: read a report somewhere making me think a Tundra dbl cab with 6' bed and M+S tires would be bad on the section between Teapot and The Wall. I really should read up more before I post... Still would appreciate any info.
Only way to find out current conditions is call the ranger station. That area has been pounded this year by rains, even as recently as this week. Let me know what you find out I’m hoping to do the Flint trail in the spring.
In March I talked to a ranger at the station there and he said the Flint Trail was going to have some of the hard parts fixed. He couldn’t guarantee it was gonna happen though and laughed.
Mineral Bottom Road washed out this past week. Obviously different location but gives you some idea of the rain they have received.
We drove into the Maze on the 17th, and yeah, it's a thing getting in there. A few 2-4 point turns, some big rock step ups and downs where stacking rocks to ease the angle was key, plenty of tricky spots where having spotters was nice. It took 7 hours to drive from Hans Flat ranger station to the Doll's House. I jumped in my buddy's F150 double cab with a 5' bed because I don't like hard four-wheeling, and my truck is pretty long for those roads. His truck did great, but still took some pretty good hits to the frame, bumpers and hitch. That is as big of a truck as I would want to take there, but we saw everything from 2 door Rubicons to full size GMC's. It's an incredible area, with great camping and hiking. If you've got the vehicle for it and like that kind of driving, it's totally worth the effort.
Nice! I was wondering how it went for you. I'm hoping to go down Flint Trail in a 25' long vehicle this spring then going to an 'easy' to get to campground. I don't plan on doing Doll's House or any hard driving after FLint. What condition was the Flint trail in?
The Flint Trail was ok- a little loose and rocky, but not bad as long as we took it slow in 4 low. There are some steep sections that are really intimidating, but go ok because they are pretty rampy, without large rocks or ruts. The main thing with the Flint Trail is the narrowness and very tight switchbacks. I'm not sure how a 25' long vehicle would do, but for reference, we were in a F150 double cab with a 5' bed. We were able to make the switchbacks but 3 of them required some backing up/multi point turns. There is an overlook you can stop at to look down and see if anyone is coming up- highly recommended. We sat there and looked for a few minutes to be sure there was no one coming.Quote:
Originally Posted by muted reborn
I’d been wondering about the Doll House road in a stock Tacoma. I think the F150 and the Tacoma have the same ground clearance but the Tacoma’s wheelbase is about 20 inches shorter. Maybe less frame hits?
Sent from my iPad using TGR Forums
We saw some stock Tacomas, including what looked from a distance like a stock Taco full size cab with a long bed, and a hitch rack :eek: that was pulling out of the Dolls House camp sites. They could have come in from Hite and avoided Flint Trail, but would still have done all the hard stuff from where the road from Hite comes into the road to Dolls House. Saw a stock 4-Runner barely make it up and over the biggest step up on the section between Teapot and The Wall, which is all over UTube. We almost got wedged on that part on the way out. I'm sure we've all had the experience of being surprised what vehicles we see in certain places, but I saw some rigs on on Flint and Dolls House roads that looked like they would be really hard to deal with. I guess it comes down to driver skill/willingness to beat on your vehicle. I think a stock Taco would be fine with the shorter wheel base.Quote:
Originally Posted by zion zig zag