The closure order does not mention where on 63 it is closed, so who knows.  Looking at the fire boundaries it looks like the fire only touched the very northernmost tip of 63, right at Riverford campground, so in theory there should be no reason it should be closed at all except a short distance from 46 - but who knows:

It would have been REALLY nice if they could have opened up that very short section of 46 to 63 - that would make the long way around a lot less long.  That is just over a mile of road that would need to be cleared and would allow you to head up 63 without miles and miles of gravel road driving.

(Again, move to trip reports if it makes more sense...)

"4670 to 6350, not yet"

Okay, Last Thursday (6/3) afternoon I went back up 26 and down 42 to 46. I was on a mission to see if I could get over Graham Pass and into the Collawash valley...  and, of course,  I had to make a few stops along the way...

Once down the hill, I went upriver and paused at the 46's last crossing over the Clackamas. Looking south from the bridge I could see burnt areas across Cub Creek up on the hillside.

Down the road a little ways I could see where the fire had just barely crossed the road. It didn't go very far past the road fortunately.

The Cub Creek side of 46 got pretty toasted, but is was only for a short stretch (about a quarter of a mile perhaps). I could see that it was burnt as far as I could see to the west.

I continued south on 46 to where the road up to Olallie intersected. The forest was healthy and happy here. Here's the gated closure. 

Up 4690 I went. Squirrel creek was flowing happily, but the road to where it came from (4691 to Fish Lake shortcut) was closed with cement blocks. Looks like no plan of work up there maybe...

Last week I had been up this road at the gated 4220 to Olallie, so there was no plans of going up this week. I expect I will be fishing Olallie sometime in July, so that will be another trip.

Back to the original plan. I went back down 46 to 4670 and went up, noting that they had recently completed some of the culvert work that was started last fall. I made it up past the Lowe Quarry to Granite Peaks road Yay, it was open! Looking down it, I saw that it was in its usual spring shape with lots of rocks strewn across it. It was open!

A few hundred feet down I saw what I had expected. Snow that was deep enough that I didn't want to goof with it. Although I have a Honda Pilot (AWD), I usually know when to say when. I walked down, and sure enough, it got worse at the corner.

Okay, now to the real destination: 4670 to Graham.

A short ways past Granite Peaks, I went over a small pile of snow, and turned back at the next one after putting my tires into it. Nope, maybe an hour with my shovel, but not this afternoon...  I would guess that there are a few more of these gems tucked away on the corners ahead...

Okay, back down the hill a little ways...  Plan "B" was a night at the Rho Creek trail 4672 crossing, so down to 4672 I went. The road was fine for about three miles until yet another snow barrier. I could see that somebody had recently got stuck here. There were logs cut for under the back wheels, and spots where the front wheels had rested on a high center. The mud thrown out from the rear wheels told the story well. A 2WD truck had high centered. I turned back. I still knew a way to the campsite, 4671.

Soooo, I went down to 4671. I went to where it merged with 4672 at the Hunter Creek Camp, and kept going. I was curious about how far I could go. I had read that the area below Hawk Mountain had been burnt up a bit...

Right before the 2 roads split apart again, I encountered a new type of closure. No gates or barricades. but rather just a sign saying "Do Not Enter...". Uphill at this junction is 4671, and downhill is 4672. I am thinking that the sign might be implying both roads are a "no go" by it's placement. I would never cross these boundaries, but I would bet that the area a little bit past this sign is burnt pretty bad, especially on the downhill side.

Okay, so I am not getting to Graham Pass via the south side any time soon. Right. Back to 4672, up the road a few miles and I was at "home" for the night at the Rho Creek 4672 trailhead camp. It was a very peaceful night. I slept late the next morning. After making breakfast and breaking camp, I decided to check out Fadeaway Springs. I remember that late last August it was surprisingly full. With how full the creek was I expected it to be overflowing. Much to my surprise it was empty. The bottom of it has some moisture, so I dug a little and a few inches of water quickly appeared in the pool I scooped...   Hmmm...   Maybe named Fadeaway because unpredictable? I remember something about this...

I went down the hill and tracked a little ways down the trail. I added some ribbon marking the tough section where it crosses the creek with no name, and went down to where this creek meets Rho Creek. The trail condition was great. I could see signs of recent maintenance (2 yrs?). 

I went back up the hill to where I camped, and decided to call it a day. Before I got to 46, I again filled my water bottles at the usual spot. Life is good. Sure, there was a fire, a lot of nice places got cooked, but it didn't all get burnt. There's lotsa nice country still just as it was. Maybe this next week the snow will have melted off 4670 enough to make it to Graham Pass...  Pansy Lake here I come!   (Ted)

Does anyone know if this area is still accessible or did the road closures increase in this area since last fall?

thanks.

Unless something has changed, it is still inaccessible.  It was accessible for a while going around the back way (over 26 to 42 and then down to 46), but 46 was closed last fall for the Bull Complex fire.  As far as I know it was never reopened.  Olallie is partially open (the resort - but anything past the resort is closed).

Without access to 46, none of this area is accessible.  About 10 miles or so of 46 was opened last spring, from 4690 to just past Austin Hot Springs (the edge of the fire), which allowed access to this area.  It was an extremely long drive, but you could get to a lot of the stuff on the east side, including BOTW.  All of that area is now totally inaccessible due to the closure.

There are a large number of trails that were totally unaffected by any of the fires that are inaccessible due to all the closures.

Rob Williams said
Unless something has changed, it is still inaccessible.  It was accessible for a while going around the back way (over 26 to 42 and then down to 46), but 46 was closed last fall for the Bull Complex fire.  As far as I know it was never reopened.  Olallie is partially open (the resort - but anything past the resort is closed).

Yup...

I suspect that getting into Olallie is not an option this time of year unless you have some type of Snow Machine or crazy extreme 4WD gear. My guess is that the 42 road to Timothy Lake now has that big snow bank they usually plow into place at the top after the early snows.  Back in the "old days" I would try to get in to Olallie about Memorial day. Before then the snow was always too crazy...

They closed the access from 4690 to 46 about 8/16 due the Bull Complex fire, and it was not reopened when I was up in late September. The Rd 42 access to 46 was closed at Last creek for bridge replacement and never reopened...  

Ted

p.s. The area past the resort at Olallie got pretty cooked in some places. It looked especially awful up the hill from Olallie Lake to Red Lake...