Oregon Ooze Fest

For 1 day, 80 acres of cattle grazing land becomes a mud-slingin’ paradise

- Bruce W. Smith

FINDING MUD TO GO WHEELIN’ IN IS EASY IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. Take any dirt side road that’s west of the Cascade Mountains from October through June and the chances of having to drop into four-wheel drive are great. Finding a location where you and hundreds of like-minded four-wheelers can converge to fling mud with unbridled enthusiasm isn’t nearly as easy.

That’s why when 1,800 tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster for Mud Fest, an annual daylong play-day put on by Oregon’s Santiam Four Wheel Drive Association (SFWDA), they are sold out within the hour.

Mud Fest, which is typically held in early March on private property, draws four-wheel-drive enthusiasts and their families from northern California to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and all points in between. The attraction is mud. Lots of mud. Thick mud. Thin mud. Deep mud. Sloppy mud. Brown and gooey mud.

The other attraction of SFWDA’s event is that it’s a very organized, family friendly, fun-loving gathering with a list of rules designed to keep it that way, including no 2WDs, alcohol, drugs, weapons, littering, disorderly conduct, or reckless driving. Mud Fest’s end-game: Have fun, be safe. And everyone does!

Mud Fest 2016, held on a big cattle farm just south of Sweet Home, Oregon, saw 800 vehicles roll through the ranch gates before sunrise, many sleeping in their rigs along Highway 228 waiting for the official 7 a.m. opening. We were there at 6 a.m., rubber boots on and all.