5500 miles over 38 nights towing an Encore ROG 12RK w/ my '24 392

My wife and I have been planning a ~40 day trip to the PNW and back due to the fact that we dread living in central AR and really miss living in Redding, CA. We are about to move to NOVA, so I cashed in all my leave and we planned this out.

Installed Air Lift 1000 air bags, an Air Lift WirelessOne Bluetooth compressor/controller, a Hellwig rear sway bar, and the OEM trailer brake controller so I don't look like every 3rd gen Tacoma owner towing this thing. Additionally, running AAL M.A.S.S., cargo shelf, full-width slider, and XG Gamma bags.

We are very familiar with the true NorCal (north of Sacramento) and the Oregon coast, but we don't want to miss anything, so any recommendations for places, things, and gear are appreciated. We are camping everywhere except for Twin Falls, Medford, Reno, and Moab.

Starting May 8:
KC to Denver
Grand Lake, CO
Grand Teton NP
Yellowstone NP
Butte, MT
Glacier NP
Sandpoint, ID
North Cascades NP
Klahowya CG (Forks-ish, WA)
all down the WA/OR coast on 101
Redwood NP
Medford, OR
Mount Shasta, CA
Reno, NV
Great Basin, NP
Moab, UT
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Leadville, CO
Ending back to KC on June 14th

I am no help with your plans, but that looks like a great setup. I was looking at the ROG 12RK and 12BH recently. I don’t have any dealers close by to check out in person. How do you like it? Build quality? I am sure it’s nice to pull with the 392, I have a V6 Sahara on 35s with stock gears which definitely will not be enough if I decide to pull with it.

Nice rig. Safe travels.

Looks like it will be an amazing trip! A couple things not to miss on the Washington peninsula.
Sol Duc Falls, it’s an easy 1 mile hike in beautiful rainforest. And not too far from that the Cape Flattery trailhead. It’s boardwalk through the forest to the cliffs over the ocean.

All I want to know is your mpg average

Sgt Pickles said:

I am no help with your plans, but that looks like a great setup. I was looking at the ROG 12RK and 12BH recently. I don’t have any dealers close by to check out in person. How do you like it? Build quality? I am sure it’s nice to pull with the 392, I have a V6 Sahara on 35s with stock gears which definitely will not be enough if I decide to pull with it.

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I have seen this in person and can say the build quality is solid. If I was in the market to buy one, this is my first choice.

Sounds like fun. Keep the updates coming on your trip. The wife and I are headed back out to Utah in September.

Have an awesome time.. I love to travel the way you are. Take a bunch of pictures and post up so we can see what you see and live vicariously through your travels.

Sgt Pickles said:

I am no help with your plans, but that looks like a great setup. I was looking at the ROG 12RK and 12BH recently. I don’t have any dealers close by to check out in person. How do you like it? Build quality? I am sure it’s nice to pull with the 392, I have a V6 Sahara on 35s with stock gears which definitely will not be enough if I decide to pull with it.

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We love ours. The founder of the company is extremely engaged with the owner community and every time I have worked with the company on mods, they are extremely helpful. They are actually sending us a ton of their parts in the next week to use on the trip and provide long term, real use feedback…but that happened by chance and 9 months after we bought our trailer in July 2023, so no bias in my feedback!

Kayakjoe said:

Looks like it will be an amazing trip! A couple things not to miss on the Washington peninsula.
Sol Duc Falls, it’s an easy 1 mile hike in beautiful rainforest. And not too far from that the Cape Flattery trailhead. It’s boardwalk through the forest to the cliffs over the ocean.

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Klahowya campground has a ton of incredible sites that back up right on to the Sol Duc river. It is the most amazing cg we have ever stayed at. Highly recommend it and will be checking out those falls!

Bzinsky said:

All I want to know is your mpg average

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I will post it here. I am guessing 12-13 based off our towing in AR. We will rarely be above 60mph once we get out of Twin Falls.

skiddymo said:

I have seen this in person and can say the build quality is solid. If I was in the market to buy one, this is my first choice.

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thanks buddy!

wibornz said:

Have an awesome time.. I love to travel the way you are. Take a bunch of pictures and post up so we can see what you see and live vicariously through your travels.

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thanks man and will do! The quantity of adventure photos you dropped on that dbag arguing with you about your expertise running 40s and the related memories actually inspired me to make this thread and share our adventure

Great rig and sounds like a wonderful trip. However, I can't imagine anyone saying they miss living in California!!

G. ?

Astoria (you can spend at least a day checking stuff out and then hitting up Fort George Brewing) and Cannon Beach (Kind of boujie) are always cool. The closest camping will be Fort Steven's State Park, which is usually sold out.....

We lived in Rockaway Beach and Tillamook for almost 10 years if you have any Tillamook County-specific questions.

cseaman said:

thanks man and will do! The quantity of adventure photos you dropped on that dbag arguing with you about your expertise running 40s and the related memories actually inspired me to make this thread and share our adventure

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Thanks man. I will be heading out one day before you to Alaska. We plan to be on the road for three or four months.

@cseaman Y’all will really enjoy it, we’ve done several similiar trips with our setup.

Didn’t see it in your pictures, but I recommend carrying some spare fuel.

There are only two Jeep Badge of Honor trails in the PNW (not counting Montana) and both are not far out of Portland in the Tillamook Forest. These two really represent NW trails which are so different from running in the desert. Cedar Tree is the easier and shorter of the two.

cseaman said:

My wife and I have been planning a ~40 day trip to the PNW and back due to the fact that we dread living in central AR and really miss living in Redding, CA. We are about to move to NOVA, so I cashed in all my leave and we planned this out.

Installed Air Lift 1000 air bags, an Air Lift WirelessOne Bluetooth compressor/controller, a Hellwig rear sway bar, and the OEM trailer brake controller so I don't look like every 3rd gen Tacoma owner towing this thing. Additionally, running AAL M.A.S.S., cargo shelf, full-width slider, and XG Gamma bags.

We are very familiar with the true NorCal (north of Sacramento) and the Oregon coast, but we don't want to miss anything, so any recommendations for places, things, and gear are appreciated. We are camping everywhere except for Twin Falls, Medford, Reno, and Moab.

Starting May 8:
KC to Grand Lake, CO
Grand Teton NP
Twin Falls, ID
Timber Gulch, OR
Burns, OR (Crane Hot Springs)
Bend, OR (Tumalo SP)
Silver Falls SP
Klahowya CG (Forks-ish, WA)
all down the WA/OR coast on 101
Redwood NP
Medford, OR
Mount Shasta, CA
Reno, NV
Great Basin, NP
Moab, UT
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Leadville, CO
Ending back to KC on June

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I just finished a 5250 mile trip from the PNW to central AR for the solar eclipse. We had to do it in 15days with a 7y and two 4y kids. It was a bit longer days than I prefer, but lots of miles and not a ton of time. Worth it. Was 103hr 43min of driving. I’d think your trip will be more than 5500 miles.

In twin falls, there is a thing just west of town called Balanced Rock. Cool rock and a decent place to camp for the night. Lots of short hills and tracks from people playing there. Free camping.

on WA west coast the Kalaloch camping area is nice (pay to camp) and the Tree of Life is a cool thing. The beach is really nice for WA.

On Highway 1, near Big Sur, there is an amazing restaurant to have a late dinner at sunset at. Nepenthe looks over the cliffs into the ocean. Great food and amazing location. Very expensive, wife and I had a honeymoon dinner there and haven’t spent that much on a meal since. The experience and food/wine was worth the $200 IMO; probably 50% more now.