Parking at the Gathering & The Hike In!

I received a call yesterday from a friend on site with some good advice about arriving at the Gathering.

The directions to the Gathering will land you on Forest Service Road 119 taking you to Parking on FS 552.

Most parking is along the side of the road. The Parking Crew (and the Forest Service) is asking all vehicles (who do not park in a lot) to park on the west side of the road, which is the LEFT side of the road as you drive in. Yes, this will involve crossing over the center line and parking on the opposite side of the road, going in the wrong direction.

ADVISORY!!! It is strongly advised, before parking, that you get out of your vehicle and check the softness of the side of the road. make sure the ground where you wish to park is HARD. There have been a lot of people who pull over the proper distance off the road, everything looks great, they park and walk away, and return a couple hours later to find two wheels have sunk into the ground, requiring chains and a bigger vehicle to pull the car out. The issue is NOT so much mud, but just soft, spongy ground. However, more rains may exacerbate this problem.

Please make sure your vehicle is legal, remove all hanging things from your rear-view mirror (the latest reason to pull you over) and that your tags are current and your brake lights and turn signals work. Please drive the speed limit for everyone's safety!

Supply is located on FS209, and people are being asked not to drive on this road unless they are a kitchen bringing in their equipment. Kitchen vehicles may park at the closest spot above their kitchen and hike stuff down through the trees. The same issues with soft shoulders apply here. I've also been told that no large vehicles should attempt to drive up FS 209 to the supply camp, as they'll get stuck.

The hike in from the parking area is a "long but refreshingly easy" walk in.