Entiat River Road to Mad River Trail

The Entiat River Road dead-ends 38 miles into Washington’s Cascade wilderness, but the real adventure starts where the pavement quits at Cottonwood Campground. The rough 4WD track continues another 8 miles up the Mad River drainage, following traces of a 1930s mining road that once hauled ore from the Holden Mine. Granite boulders the size of pickup trucks litter the creek bottom, while remnants of wooden flumes cling to canyon walls above the rushing whitewater.

This is expert-level technical driving through loose rock fields and water crossings that change with every spring runoff. Stock vehicles stop at Cottonwood — beyond that point requires lockers, armor, and serious recovery gear. The payoff reaches pristine alpine country where old-growth larch and Glacier Peak views make the beating worthwhile. Best window runs late July through September when snowmelt subsides and creek levels drop to manageable crossings.