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BLM please grade the County Road 18 on the way to the North Fruita Desert camping.

2K views 18 replies 15 participants last post by  BeanMan 
#1 ·
The Road 18 road is incredibly wash boarded. We lost the awning off our pop-up camper and we talked to someone that had their cabinet doors fall off. Next time no camper, just going to pop a tent.

Also, I know mountain bikers are not the type of people that take their trash out there to dump it but there are some areas in the overflow camping that were just trashed. We hauled some old computers and furniture out when we left but there is a lot more.

Awesome trip though, keep it coming Fruita/GJ! :D
 
#4 ·
1) If you wish to complain, complain to those responsible, not on an interwebz site

2) I believe 18rd is a county road, the BLM would have nothing to do with it's maintenance.

3) Fees collected for the camping area will be allocated for maintenance of that campground, not the road.

4) if the washboards are really bad, I'd recommend slowing down.
 
#5 ·
The last time I was out there when they were grading the road, it was only graded to a certain point. Therefore, I think there may be multiple road owners.
The washboards are really bad. The problem is that people haul ass down that road (of which I am guilty of) which accelerates the creation of the washboards. Paving would be nice, but may also be cost prohibitive.
Trash dumping in the desert is prevalent from Mt Garfield to 18 Rd. Crazy why people do that.
 
#12 ·
It's very unfortunate that many residents of Mesa County still have the impression that BLM land is a "free dump" for all their household junk. I even caught some jokers burning wire on some BLM land near our house. Wire (stolen of course) is burned to remove the insulation so that the remaining copper can be sold as scrap. I wasn't too comfortable riding past them, but they just waved and kept stoking the fire. FWIW, melted insulation leaves quite a mess as I discovered later.

Given that there's only one BLM Ranger for every six trillion acres of BLM land (maybe I exagerate a bit), chances of any of these stellar local residents getting caught is slim unless someone calls it in. But, you must call the BLM Ranger, not 911 or the Sheriff. License plate numbers help.
 
#13 ·
Question:

Is it driving too fast that causes washboards?

I've always assumed it was the opposite - and solid-axle trailers. The feedback loop of the suspension cycling exacerbates the wear.

I know my truck feels outta control when I'm going slow and mucho better when I'm going fast. Confirmed by Mythbusters:
Rough Road Driving
Myth statement: A car will achieve a smoother ride on a rough outback road by being driven faster.
Status: confirmed
A car will achieve a smoother ride on a rough outback road by being driven faster.As far as driving on non-washboard roads, there was no solid conclusion due to a conflict of data. However, when they tested a "washboard" road, the Build Team were able to confirm the theory that driving at a higher speed will indeed cause the body of the car to float over the ridges: the wheels of a car oscillated wildly, but the car suspension allowed for a relatively smoother ride at high speed.
 
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