Quick Facts:
- Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest closures: 5 active fire orders; every ranger district except Naches carries one
- Verified: September 14, 2026
- Headline order: 06-17-03-2026-36, Cle Elum Ranger District, for the Three Queens, King and Goat Fires
- Effective dates: August 24 through October 31, 2026
- What is closed: 4WD Trails 301, 302 and 304, 31 forest roads, 22 developed sites, and the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass to Deception Pass
- Fire restriction stage: Stage 1 forest-wide, order 06-17-00-2026-16, through October 15, 2026
- Campfire rule: legal again in Forest Service rings at designated campgrounds, banned on DNR and WDFW land
- Penalty: up to $5,000 for an individual and six months in jail
- Still open nearby: Little Naches and FR 1900, plus the Taneum and Manastash south of I-90
12 min read
The fast rule near Snoqualmie Pass has not changed since August. North or east of Interstate 90 between the pass and Cle Elum, the closure applies. South of the freeway it does not. Use the rule on any road the order leaves unnamed.
In This Guide
- What the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Closures Cover
- Okanogan-Wenatchee Closure Orders at a Glance
- What the Three Queens Order Shuts for 4WD
- Stage 1 Fire Restrictions Replaced Stage 2 Across the Forest
- Boundary Logic and How to Check Your Road
- Where to Drive Around the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Closures
- Two October Plans Compared
- Final Verdict on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Closures
- Frequently Asked Questions
What the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Closures Cover
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest closures still shut the Cle Elum River drainage, upper Kachess and the Teanaway, and they hold through October 31. They also close 4WD Trails 301, 302 and 304. Order 06-17-03-2026-36 took effect on August 24 and has not moved since its August 25 update. Little Naches, the Taneum and the Manastash stay open, and five alternatives sit below.
One rule did change, and it is the change most drivers will miss. On September 11 the forest stepped restrictions back down from Stage 2 to Stage 1. Campfires are legal again in Forest Service rings at designated campgrounds. Anyone still working from an August trip plan is carrying the wrong fire rules.
Three fires drive the Cle Elum order. At 9,527 acres and 20 percent containment in the national situation report for September 14, Three Queens is the largest of them. Meanwhile King held at 3,278 acres and zero containment, while Goat reached 816 acres at 22 percent. Acreage moves daily, so date every figure you read, including these.
Farther north, the Little Giant Fire runs far larger at 172,695 acres and 81 percent containment. Sinlahekin sits close behind at 166,026 acres, and Ptarmigan has reached 25,166 acres. Together with the Sisi Fire, they explain why every ranger district except Naches carries a closure order this fall. For the wider picture, see our roundup of other Western forest closures.
Okanogan-Wenatchee Closure Orders at a Glance
Five fire orders govern eastern Washington national forest land this fall, and two of them were reissued this month. Before you lose cell service, screenshot the row for your destination.
| Order number | Area | Roads and trails affected | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06-17-03-2026-36 | Three Queens, King, Goat Fires; Cle Elum RD | 4WD Trails 301, 302 and 304; 31 roads from 128 to 4948; PCT 2000, Snoqualmie Pass to Deception Pass; Esmeralda Basin 1394 | Aug 24 to Oct 31, 2026 |
| 06-17-07-2026-40 | Little Giant Fire; Wenatchee River, Entiat, Chelan RDs | Chiwawa River Road 6200, Phelps Creek Road 6211, Entiat River Road 5100, Shady Pass 5900, Lower Chiwawa OHV 1548, Minnow Ridge ORV 1524 | Sept 3 to Oct 31, 2026 |
| 06-17-02-2026-35 | Sisi Fire; Chelan RD | PCT 2000 in the Chelan RD; Agnes Gorge 1281, Agnes Creek 1272, Company Creek 1243, Devore Creek 1244, Swamp Creek 1242 | Aug 22 to Dec 31, 2026 |
| 06-17-04-26-39 | Ptarmigan Fire; Methow Valley RD, Pasayten | 20 Pasayten trails including Monument 83 #454, Hidden Lakes #477 and Boundary #533; the PCT stays open to the Canadian border | Sept 9 to Oct 31, 2026 |
| 06-17-04-26-31 | Sinlahekin Fire; Tonasket, Methow Valley RDs | Roads, trails and campgrounds north of Loomis, including Salmon Meadows, Long Swamp and Tiffany Springs | Aug 13 to Oct 31, 2026 |
RD means Ranger District. The Little Giant closure took its current number on September 3. Ptarmigan followed on September 9 with a reduced perimeter, so any list built in August is out of date. Methow Valley orders also carry a two-digit year in the Forest Service’s own numbering, so 06-17-04-26-39 is not a typo. An older Three Queens number, 06-17-03-2026-32, still circulates online as well, so ignore it. A sixth order covering north Lake Chelan, 06-17-02-2026-29, has come down entirely.
What the Three Queens Order Shuts for 4WD
The order names the 4WD trails first, then the road list, then 22 developed sites. Most coverage of the Three Queens Fire skips the motorized side entirely.
4WD Trails 301, 302 and 304
Order 06-17-03-2026-36 names 4WD Trail 301, 4WD Trail 302 and 4WD Trail 304 individually. Entering any of them violates 36 CFR 261.55(a). Penalties reach $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a corporation, plus up to six months in jail. Manastash Ridge ORV Trail 4W306 appears nowhere in the order, although a standing 1995 order governs motorized use there, so call Cle Elum at 509-852-1100 first.
Cell service disappears well before most of these roads do, so carry offline navigation and backup power. Because the order holds through October 31, pack for the season instead of one weekend. Carry a satellite messenger or GMRS radio too, since the nearest ranger station sits an hour of gravel away.
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The Closed Road List, 128 Through 4948
Drivers navigate by road number, so here is the order’s full list. All 31 segments sit inside the boundary.
- 100 and 4300 series: 128, 4300, 4300-126, 4308, 4312, 4315, 4316, 4316-111, 4330
- 4600 series: 4600, 4613, 4616, 4616-113, 4617, 4618
- 4800 series: 4818, 4822, 4824, 4824-115, 4826, 4828, 4832, 4832-114, 4832-136, 4832-142, 4832-146
- 4900 series: 4900, 4930, 4934, 4936, 4948
The Teanaway Arm and Esmeralda Basin
The August 24 expansion pushed the boundary east into the Teanaway and up toward Ingalls. Esmeralda Basin Trail 1394, Longs Pass 1229 and Ingalls Way 1390 all sit inside the closure, along with the Esmeralda Trailhead. Paddy Go Easy 1595.1, Scatter Creek 1328 and the County Line Trail 1226 fall inside as well. Because most trail lists predate the expansion, they skip this arm.
Twenty-two developed sites close with the roads. Kachess, Owhi, Red Mountain, Salmon la Sac, Cle Elum River, Cayuse, Fish Lake and Wish Poosh campgrounds are all shut. Speelyi Beach, the East Kachess Group Site, the Owhi boat launch and eleven trailheads close alongside them.
Stage 1 Fire Restrictions Replaced Stage 2 Across the Forest
This is the update most trip plans need. The forest reinstated Stage 1 restrictions under order 06-17-00-2026-16 on September 11, and the order runs through October 15. Stage 2 is over. Fire danger now reads High in the Methow and Upper Yakima areas. Chelan and Valley both read Moderate, well below the ratings posted in late August. Our breakdown of how Stage 2 restrictions differ explains what you no longer have to plan around.
What Stage 1 Allows and Still Bans on the Okanogan-Wenatchee
Campfires are legal again inside established Forest Service rings at designated campgrounds, though only at the sites named in Exhibit A, which the forest corrected on September 11. Wood fires are also legal below 5,000 feet in the Alpine Lakes, Glacier Peak, Henry M. Jackson, Pasayten, Lake Chelan-Sawtooth, Goat Rocks, Norse Peak and William O. Douglas Wilderness Areas, with exceptions listed in Exhibit B. Recreational shooting is allowed except where otherwise prohibited. Propane and other pressurized fuel stoves stay legal anywhere, provided you clear three feet around and above them and the valve shuts off cleanly.
Two prohibitions still apply. First, dispersed campfires remain illegal: a ring you built yourself on a spur road does not qualify, however tidy it looks. Second, motor vehicle use off Forest Service roads and trails is prohibited, with one narrow exception for minimum travel over bare mineral soil to reach a dispersed site. Anything past the minimum, or any travel over vegetation, is citable at up to $5,000. If you are unsure which spurs count as system roads, learn to read the forest MVUM before you go.
Where Campfires Stay Banned on State Land
Here is the split nobody else has written down, and it catches Washington drivers every October. The Forest Service eased. State agencies did not.
| Land manager | Campfires | Runs through |
|---|---|---|
| Okanogan-Wenatchee NF, Stage 1 | Legal in Forest Service rings at designated campgrounds, and in Wilderness below 5,000 feet | October 15, 2026 |
| Washington DNR, Northeast and Southeast Regions | Banned outright, fire ring or not; propane with a shut-off valve only | Until further notice, since July 17 |
| Statewide burn ban, Governor’s order | Banned outside established structures such as fire rings | September 30, 2026 |
| WDFW eastern Washington lands | Banned, including inside fire rings; off-road travel also banned | Until further notice, since June 15 |
Read the second row twice. DNR’s eastern Washington ban carries no end date, so the Governor’s September 30 expiry changes nothing on Ahtanum or any other DNR forest. WDFW goes further still and limits parking to within 10 feet of a roadway on unvegetated ground. For the national picture, see our guide to where restrictions have lifted.
Boundary Logic and How to Check Your Road
The Three Queens closure boundary runs generally north and east of Interstate 90. It starts at the PCT junction with the freeway and climbs east through the Teanaway. Then it follows FSR 4330 to the Deception Pass Trailhead before returning south along the forest boundary.
Watch road 4330 in particular, because two districts share the number and only the Cle Elum segment falls under 06-17-03-2026-36. North or east of the line, the order takes Salmon la Sac, the Cle Elum River road, Kachess and Owhi. South of it, FR 3300, FR 3100 and connectors 3104, 3111, 3120, 3330 and 3350 remain open.
Checking the Okanogan-Wenatchee Conditions Table
Washington forest road closures shift weekly, so verify your route the morning you leave rather than the week before. The forest’s own conditions page now dates its Cle Elum section to September 8, which is a real improvement on the June table it carried in August. Even so, a closure order always outranks a conditions table, and it outranks your mapping app too, because no app ingests a signed order the day it lands.
Safety note: The King Fire burns at zero containment inside the closure, and smoke settles into the Kachess and Cle Elum valleys on still nights. Turn around if visibility falls under a mile, and never park a hot exhaust over dry grass.
Three sources settle any road question. The forest’s interactive closure map layers every active order. Its alerts page carries every live order in full text. District offices answer the phone. Cle Elum is 509-852-1100, Naches 509-653-1401, Wenatchee River 509-548-2550, Chelan 509-682-4900, Methow Valley 509-996-4000 and Tonasket 509-486-2186. The Entiat office is closed for staffing, so Entiat questions route to Chelan on the same number.
Where to Drive Around the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Closures
Forest Service staff ask visitors to plan alternate destinations, then name none. Here are five, checked against every live order on September 14, with approximate drive times from Seattle. Two sit on national forest land where campfires are legal again at designated campgrounds. Three sit on state land where they are not, so the fuel you pack depends on which agency owns the dirt. For more options, see our guide to free dispersed camping in Washington.
Two Forest Service Options Still Open
- Little Naches and Naches Pass: Naches Ranger District, 509-653-1401. Access via SR-410 to FR 1900, roughly 2.5 hours from Seattle. Naches Pass Trail 4W684 runs 6.4 miles. Campfires legal in designated campgrounds.
- Taneum and Manastash, south of I-90: Cle Elum Ranger District, 509-852-1100. Access via I-90 Exit 93 to FR 3300, or Manastash Road to FR 3100, roughly 1.5 hours out. Upper Yakima fire danger reads High.
No fire closure order touches the Naches Ranger District, and FR 1900 reads open until snowmobile season starts. Expect company, since every displaced Cle Elum plan lands here. FR 1914-787 stays closed for storm damage.
The Taneum and Manastash roads both read open as of September 8, and they sit south of the boundary line. Ask Cle Elum specifically about ORV Trail 4W306 before you tow. Standing order 06-17-03-95-296 has closed the Manastash area to motorized use except on green-diamond routes since 1995. The exhibits naming those routes are not published online.
Three State Land Options With Tighter Fire Rules
- Ahtanum State Forest: DNR Southeast Region. Access via Ahtanum Road to Tampico, then A-2000 Middle Fork Road 9.5 miles to Ahtanum Camp, roughly 3.5 hours out. Green Dot road system, Discover Pass required, propane only.
- Colockum Wildlife Area: WDFW, manager 509-663-6260, 88,296 acres. Access from Malaga on Tarpiscan and Colockum roads, or from Kittitas on Colockum Pass Road, roughly 3 hours out. Green Dot and county roads only, Discover Pass required, no fires, no cell service.
- Elbe Hills ORV Area: DNR South Puget Sound, 360-825-1631. Access off SR-7 near Elbe, roughly 1.5 hours out, 13 miles of motorized trail. Reservations required by email to elberecreation@dnr.wa.gov, three days’ minimum notice.
Ahtanum carries several catches this month. Prescribed burning runs from September 14 through October 15, and DNR warns operations limit access and dispersed camping while crews work. Eagle’s Nest Vista stays closed for hazard tree work. Ahtanum Campground has no potable water after a broken water line, and the Grey Rock trail is closed to ATVs and UTVs.
Colockum demands a capable rig. WDFW calls the roads extremely primitive and recommends high clearance, while Tarpiscan Road stays impassable south of headquarters. Note the marking systems differ by agency: WDFW uses Green Dot roads, while the Manastash order uses green diamonds. Elbe Hills takes reservations on three days’ notice outside state holiday weekends, although the second weekend of every month from April through October belongs to trail volunteers. DNR posts no campfires on its land statewide. A seasonal gate closure on the DNR 5 Road near Elbe also runs from September 1 through March 15, so confirm your access road before you load.
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Skip Evans Creek Entirely
WSDOT permanently closed the Fairfax Bridge on SR-165 at milepost 11.5 in April 2025, which cut off the Evans Creek trailhead and campground along with 40 miles of trail. In January 2026 WSDOT moved two alternatives, replacement or permanent removal, into design and environmental review, and it named no construction date. Treat the route as gone instead of delayed.
Two October Plans Compared
Both plans below sit on national forest land, so both carry identical fire rules. Plan A buys the better-known trail and accepts company. Choose Plan B for a shorter drive and more room.
| Plan A: Little Naches | Plan B: Taneum and Manastash | |
|---|---|---|
| Drive from Seattle | About 2.5 hours, I-90 and SR-410 | About 1.5 hours, I-90 to Exit 93 |
| Signature route | Naches Pass Trail 4W684, 6.4 miles | FR 3300 and FR 3100 with green-diamond spurs |
| Crowding | Heavy, the default reroute | Moderate, heavier once rifle season opens |
| Campfires | Designated campgrounds only, propane elsewhere | Designated campgrounds only, propane elsewhere |
| Managing office | Naches RD, 509-653-1401 | Cle Elum RD, 509-852-1100 |
Either way, arrive Thursday night through October. Hunting rigs fill the good pullouts on FR 1900 and along the Taneum before Friday dark, and late arrivals end up parked on the road.
Final Verdict on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Closures
Treat the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest closures as a season, not a weekend. Order 06-17-03-2026-36 holds through October 31, while Stage 1 expires on October 15, sixteen days earlier. Nothing published yet says what governs those last sixteen days, so check the alerts page again in mid-October before you plan a fire. Anything north or east of I-90 between Snoqualmie Pass and Cle Elum is off, along with the upper Lake Chelan shoreline and a wide block north of Loomis.
The restrictions, rather than the closure, will catch most people this fall. Drivers who understand the boundary perfectly still assume the August campfire ban is running, so they pack propane for a designated campground where a wood fire is now legal. Others make the opposite error and light a ring on DNR ground where nothing has eased since July.
Little Naches, the Taneum, the Manastash, Ahtanum and Colockum all remain open, and Elbe Hills books again on three days’ notice. Washington had burned more than 886,000 acres this season by the Washington State Standard’s September 4 count, so a sixth order before November would surprise nobody.
Save the forest alerts page and the closure map to your phone, because Washington forest road closures turn over faster than any trip plan survives. Then rebuild your route the morning you leave. A two-week-old plan is how drivers end up at a gate with a trailer behind them and nowhere to turn around.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest closed in October 2026?
No. The forest as a whole stays open, although five fire closure orders remove large blocks through October 31 and, for the Sisi order, December 31. Cle Elum, Wenatchee River, Entiat, Chelan and Methow Valley Ranger Districts all lose ground, and only Naches escapes entirely. The Sinlahekin order also reaches the Tonasket Ranger District.
Are 4WD Trails 301, 302 and 304 closed by the Three Queens Fire?
Yes. Order 06-17-03-2026-36 names all three, effective August 24 through October 31, 2026. Entering them risks a fine of up to $5,000 and six months in jail. Manastash Ridge ORV Trail 4W306 is not named in the order, although a 1995 area closure governs motorized use there. Call Cle Elum at 509-852-1100 first.
Which Okanogan-Wenatchee roads near Cle Elum and Salmon la Sac are closed right now?
The list runs from 128 through 4948, 31 segments in all. It includes 4300, 4308, 4312, 4315, 4316 and 4330, then 4600, 4613, 4616 to 4618, the whole 4800 series and 4900 through 4948. South of I-90, FR 3300 and FR 3100 remain open.
Is there a burn ban in Washington state right now?
Yes on state land, and no longer on this national forest. Washington DNR bans campfires on its Northeast and Southeast Region land until further notice, and WDFW bans them on eastern Washington land. Meanwhile the Okanogan-Wenatchee allows campfires again in Forest Service rings at designated campgrounds under Stage 1.
Is dispersed camping allowed in Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest?
Yes, outside closure areas. However, Stage 1 prohibits campfires at dispersed sites, so bring propane. Stage 1 also limits off-road travel to the minimum distance over bare mineral soil needed to reach the site, and travel over vegetation is citable.
Are Little Naches and the Naches Pass Trail still open for 4×4 travel?
Yes. FR 1900 and Naches Pass Trail 4W684 lie in the Naches Ranger District, which no fire closure order names. Stage 1 still applies, so campfires stay inside designated campgrounds and off-road travel stays at the minimum needed to reach a dispersed site.