Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Trip recommendations, current conditions, and other trail related Q&A
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Pick-a-Pika
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Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by Pick-a-Pika » June 17th, 2017, 2:06 pm

What's your take on the road up to Marble Pass trailhead? Would a Subaru AWD Outback Wagon make it? Descriptions seem awful and call for possibly higher clearance than my Subaru might offer. We're planning a trip to do Elkhorn Crest later this summer.

Thanks,

Pika

Aimless
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by Aimless » June 17th, 2017, 4:14 pm

If you approach the Elkhorn Crest trail from the Anthony Lakes (north) end the road is paved right up to the trailhead (as I recall it). I've only ever done the hike from that end as an out-and-back, but I can assure you it was enjoyable that way. The road to Marble Pass sounds wretched. But it is your car, not mine. ;)

Schrauf
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by Schrauf » June 18th, 2018, 7:26 pm

This post is a year old but I'm wondering the same thing - can a Subaru Outback make it to the trailhead? Rough roads seem to be greatly exaggerated in Oregon - I've been up the somewhat infamous roads to Breitenbush Lake, south of Broken Top and Silver Star with no concerns, and people often complain about those.

The trailhead info page on this website shows a vehicle that should not be there based on the descriptions I've read. So I'm guessing an Outback can do it - slowly...

https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guid ... _Trailhead

Aimless
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by Aimless » June 18th, 2018, 8:48 pm

Let us know how it went for you.

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bobcat
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by bobcat » June 23rd, 2018, 9:06 am

That's my Honda CR-V in the picture. I was the only one in it with not a lot of other weight. I angled it carefully over the water bars, and I did it coming and going, scraping sometimes but without a major hitch. If you have more people in the car, they may have to get out at some of the ditches to give it a little more lift. Also, that was a few years ago now; no idea what current conditions are.

Schrauf
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by Schrauf » June 23rd, 2018, 1:56 pm

bobcat wrote:
June 23rd, 2018, 9:06 am
That's my Honda CR-V in the picture.
That's helpful! Depending on the vehicle years being compared, the Outback has about 0.5" to 1.5" more clearance, but also a 5" longer wheelbase that will count against it. Thanks for the info.

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bobcat
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by bobcat » June 24th, 2018, 11:03 am

Mine is a 2006 CR-V. A longer vehicle arrived later at the trailhead. It seemed to have a little more clearance but they also had six people inside it. They were complaining like crazy about scraping their guts out.

Schrauf
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by Schrauf » July 7th, 2018, 6:42 pm

Okay, did the 6510 road to Marble Pass this week in a 2015 Outback. Clearance was just fine, as long as one angles the vehicle as necessary to keep the wheels on high enough ground. Probably about five spots where this was important. More interesting was simply the general roughness of the road. Lots of babyhead-sized rocks and larger that make for some rough 1 MPH driving in a few sections. However, not so bad that I probably wouldn't do it again if necessary for a good hike. The rougher section of road begins near the quarry and continues for 3.5 miles to the pass. It relents a number of times and most of it is not bad at all compared to the worst sections. The 3.5 miles took about 30 minutes.

Great hike in to Twin Lakes on the Elkhorn Crest Trail to use as a base camp for two nights. Summit Rock Creek Butte for great views if you have the chance.

12XU
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by 12XU » July 29th, 2022, 1:29 pm

Thanks @schrauf, very helpful info!!

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adamschneider
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Re: Road to Marble Pass TH in Elkhorns

Post by adamschneider » July 29th, 2022, 6:59 pm

Helpful but 4 years old. You might want to call the local rangers and ask whether it's gotten worse recently. A friend of mine scoped it out last year and said it looked awful. (We hiked up the Twin Lakes Trail.)

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