Ram 2500 too big for Oregon

[justin81]

The family and I are moving from Austin TX to Portland Oregon area. I tried real hard to get them to move me to Boise or Pocatello ID but they need me in Oregon.

Long story short I want to get out into the public lands for hunting, fishing, camping, and just to get away from people and the city. I want to take the family on outdoor adventures every chance we get. I was a little bummed out when I was told my Ram 2500 would be too big and heavy for most of the trails. Any truth to this?

Would it be better to trade it in on something smaller and lighters like a 4runner or a jeep? I'm not looking to go wheeling whatsoever, but would like to get as far back into public lands as possible and the truck seems to be capable. Lots of room, lots of storage. Plus trading it in would be a hit to the pocket book but if it must be done then that's what i got to do.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Spud]

Depends on the roads but honestly most the stuff out here has been full size friendly that I've done. Where you could run into trouble is some of the roads are over grown, got plenty of pin stripes on my Nissan Frontier from brush and branches. I'd wait, give it a try, and see what you think before downsizing.

 

[Luinil Explorations]

If you are not wheeling you should be fine in allmost all areas. State and national forest service roads abound. The main ones are all big rig friendly. As stated above the less used ones can be overgrown. The west side of the cascades has lots of national forest roads and dispersed camping is allowed. The west side is a mix of forest in the north and high desert with sagebrush in the south. Many of the people I camp with have full size rigs and family’s. All the hunters I know have full size trucks. It seems like the hiking crowd use the smaller rigs. Keep the Ram. Your u will need the space as your family grows up.

 

[David C Gibbs]

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, be ready for the culture shock. Greater Portland leans heavily to the Left. The more head East the more Conservative the State gets. There are 1000's of miles of trails, fire roads, OHV areas that your 2500 will be fine on. Going West to the Coast, you'll be fine. There are lots of things to see, visit, camp within 2 hours of greater Portland. There is lots of Forest, Mountains, lakes, rivers to keep you busy, when not working. Area's to explore: The Sisters, greater Bend, the Strawberry Mtns, the Wallowa's, the Steen's, the Alvord Desert, etc... And when you get bored with Oregon, there's Washington, Idaho, Nevada and California within a days drive. Enjoy the Pacific Northwest!
David -in Boise...

 

[Chris Arnesen]

My F250 SD Supercab with 8 foot bed seems to keep up pretty well! As it was said before, as long as you aren't expecting to do "wheeling" you'll be fine. Also, as long as you can wear your pinstripes with pride, you'll fit on pretty much any of the tracks.

 

[justin81]

Thanks for the info guys. I will keep the Ram. I'm excited to get out and explore the west.

I'm hoping the year we have spent in Austin has prepared us for Portland area. Coming from the DFW area into Austin was a shock. I used to visit Austin when I was a kid 15 years ago. It used to be a fun place, now it's just bananas.

 

[472HemiGTX]

Welcome to Oregon. Portlandia "proper" can be a little much but having lived in both the western and eastern parts of the state there are plenty of good people and good trails everywhere. In over 30 years of wheeling and enjoying our back country, I have never had anything but a full size rig. You will be just fine as long as you're not worried about a scratch or two.

 

[justin81]

Scratches don't bother me a bit