My wife and I are planning a trip to Silver Lake soon. We are planning to pull the quads on a two place trailer.

I'm somewhat familiar with the voucher system, regarding the parking lot (for the weekends). I talked to a park official, she said that I can't pull the trailer into the dunes (i.e., dune pass). Would it be better to put the quads on end in the back of my truck and leave the trailer behind? Then can I just park and unload in the dunes, and skip parking in the lot?

Finally, if we do this, how easy is it to get stuck out there? I drive a 4x4 dodge dakota. I'm not quite sure, since I've seen a few pictures posted where 4x4 trucks are pretty stuck in the sand. I'm not sure if they're just screwing around though.

Any help would be appreciated,

thanks, ogre

 

its pretty easy to get stuck, espescialy if you have never drivin on the sand before. it is a good idea though, just to bypass the parking voucher system. just make sure if you try it to air your tires WAY down, like 12lbs. stay away from any hills, and stay on the gas! I would go park down at the beach where its nice and flat. you got to think about this though too, now you need a flag, and an ORV for your truck. is it worth it?

I try to avoid the holiday weekends, most of the other weekends are fine. they are now letting you make reservations for the vouchers. just call the same number that you use to make your camping (state park) reservations. you give them your licence plate number and your voucher will be waiting there for you when you arrive.

 

ogre

If you plan on going on a during the week or on a Friday, I would take the trailer. The voucher system benefits those that are there on Friday to get a voucher for Saturday morning. You can get vouchers on Friday night at 6:00 pm - midnight for the next day. The weekend we were there (5/11-512), there were vouchers available all day on Saturday, i.e. no one was denied admission. As for taking your truck out onto the dunes, you should not have any trouble getting it out there. Most of the trucks you see that are stuck were trying to climb the hills. You will have to have a flag on your truck to take it out on the dunes, so have a bracket attached prior to getting there. Hope this helps.

 

skull - thanks so much for the info.
Unfortunately, I called Silver Lake State Park (231-873-3083) and they said the reservations for vouchers wouldn't be in effect til next year.

ogre

 

yea, that stinks that its not in effect till next year. I was planning on doing that when I go up in a couple weeks.

anyway, just do what magnum says. if you get there on friday the vouchers for saturday will be avalible at 6pm. I'm pretty sure you can get sundays voucher too, while your there.

the voucher thing sounds like a pain, but so far I've been very impressed. it has worked out great for me. I usually get there saturday morning, and have never had a problem getting in (knock on wood).

 

hey ogre,
there is a good conversation in the dunes forum about silver lake. you might want to check it out. its titled "flags for the dunes" or something like that.

 

Hi all...Being a Wisconsinite I haven't had the pleasoure of going duning, but I would definately like to! As you can see I have a stock Yamaha Kodiak. It has push button 4WD so I wouldn't think I would need sand tires, but i would like a second opinion.

I am going to get a 250ex (because that's what I can afford) before I go this Summer. Since it is 2WD should I get some sand tires? What else would you recomend...I DON'T WANT ANY CRAP LIKE "GET A DIFFERENT BIKE...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH".