Road 20 from Burlington to twisp in North west Washington

rusty · June 14, 2024, 08:07:24 PM

Does anyone know this road? We come into Bellingham via I90 I405 and I5 to our Granddaughter graduation . Want to go to Grand Coulee to see. My uncle took me fishing there when I was 10 when I stayed with them for the summer as he was in a B52 as a tail gunner and flew out of Moses Lake. We are in our superC so power is not a problem. Does the road have to tight of turns?

Glennman · June 14, 2024, 11:07:05 PM

I did that road while on a 2 week trip back in the late '90s. That was when we had our '68 fishbowl GMC 40' x 8.5' converted bus. We had no jakes or retarder and a 2 speed Allison. I do recall the drive heading west was a bit hairy, as it felt like the brakes were getting hot. I was young and dumb then though and was probably going too fast. I would not be afraid of driving it today. The downhill drive is the only concern. I really don't remember how curvy it was, it was the downhill the made the most impression, but even then, it wasn't that bad.

Ed Hackenbruch · June 15, 2024, 04:11:12 AM

Hey Wayne, been a long time since i have done that drive, and not in the bus. I know that going eastbound just after Washington pass the road drops down into a fairly big curve/switchback. I would look up the description of it in my Mountain Directory West but i gave it to the guy that bought my bus.

I also just took a quick look at part of it on Google Earth to refresh my memory and nothing really jumped out at me. Only thing i would suggest is don't go on the weekend, probably a lot of bikers and traffic to contend with, and not a whole lot of passing areas if i recall right. Winthrop will be busy. During the week you will probably have the road pretty much to yourself.

luvrbus · June 15, 2024, 06:20:22 AM

Not bad we did it 3 years ago,just watch for bike riders nice to have power and good jakes ,our 600 hp Cummins didn't break a sweat up hill or down hill and the 45 length wasn't a problem .The were doing work in a few sections and we had some delays but that should be over by now

rusty · June 15, 2024, 07:43:43 AM

Thank you all for the repleys. We are going to Victoria to the gardens in Monday and start home on Wednesday. I will take 20 and report back latter in the week. Thank you again
Wayne

rusty · June 19, 2024, 02:37:18 PM

We took 20 from Burlington to Twisp today. The road is a good road. Some places the shoulders are lacking but they have pull offs. I would not take a bus with marginal power on this road. There are some good pulls. The ecu turned the fan on 3 or 4 timed and the outside temp was in the low 60 s. Traffic was lite but I could see it being heavy on the weekend as there is a lot of hiking trails and recreation sites. The scenery is exceptional.All in all a good trip. Thank you all for the replies.
Wayne

Wayne

epretot · June 20, 2024, 05:35:23 AM

I would love to take the "back roads" more than not.

I take mental reps while driving around. Basically asking if the bus could drive this road.

There are a few roads around where I live with signs reading "impassable for large trucks".

freds · June 20, 2024, 11:07:35 AM

Quote from: epretot on June 20, 2024, 05:35:23 AM
I would love to take the "back roads" more than not.

I take mental reps while driving around. Basically asking if the bus could drive this road.

There are a few roads around where I live with signs reading "impassable for large trucks".

Or a length restriction of 40ft when you are in a 40ft bus....