Zero Declination's Ten Days to The Big Thing: Dug Bar, Hat Point, and the Lolo Motorway

Overland Expo PNW wrapped up in Redmond, Oregon on June 28. The Big Thing opened near Three Forks, Montana on July 9. For KP and the crew at Zero Declination, that left two options. Drive home to Reno and go back to work, or point the trucks east and take the long way. They took the long way.

Zero Declination is an adventure truck upfitter and OEV dealer in Reno, Nevada, and KP owns the shop. Their video, Ten Days to The Big Thing, follows a small convoy of OEV campers from Redmond to the XOVERLAND Ranch over about ten days, by way of the Painted Hills, Wallowa Lake, Dug Bar, Hat Point, and the Lolo Motorway. KP's GMC carries a Hudson Bay, a Back Country rides on another truck, and a couple of Zero Declination customers joined at the last minute. Here's the route, the moments worth watching for, and what to know if you want to drive any of it yourself.

Watch the Trip

The Route at a Glance

• Start: Redmond, Oregon, right after Overland Expo PNW
• Oregon: the Painted Hills, Wallowa Lake, Dug Bar, and Hat Point
• Idaho: the Clearwater River and the Lolo Motorway
• Montana: Lolo, then Anaconda
• Finish: The Big Thing at the XOVERLAND Ranch near Three Forks

In Zero Declination's words, they spent most of their time on backroads and byways.

Why Take the Long Way

The original plan was the sensible one. "We'd originally had me on the schedule to go back and work after Expo Pacific Northwest before heading out to the Big Thing in Montana," KP says at the top of the video. Then came a look at the calendar: "No, no, we're not doing that. Let's do this the fun way."

So the plan became Redmond straight to Montana, slowly. A couple of customers signed on at the last minute, and the Hot Visuals crew came along to film. KP's verdict, looking back: "definitely the way to do it and way better than going back to work."

About a minute in, from inside the camper, there's a line we like hearing: "Everything holds up really well, and not just in theory. Everything holds up really well in practice."

That gap between theory and practice is why trips like this one matter. A spec sheet says what a camper should do. Ten days of backroads shows what it does.

The Painted Hills and the Wallowas

The first leg crosses Oregon's high desert to the Painted Hills. Somewhere in that stretch, one of the crew admits what most of us do close to home: "When you live somewhere you never go see the tourist stuff. You just drive past it."

Then the country changes. With the Wallowas in view, one voice in the cab says "the mountain range is so different," and another answers, "there's nothing else like it in Oregon." The plan for the next few days gets laid out in one breath: "We got this high desert stuff," and after that, "that's high country. That's like alpine country."

Not everything goes to plan. One campground they were counting on turned out to be closed, which led to the most honest trip-planning moment in the video. KP, phone in hand: "Now I'm currently looking for flat spots on Google Earth. Which is how you usually do this."

Then came Wallowa Lake. The crew pulled in to "the armada" of "canoes and kayaks and some sort of pontoon situation and stand up paddle boards" heading out on the water.

Dug Bar Road and Hat Point

From the Wallowas, the Zero Declination convoy dropped into Hells Canyon.

Dug Bar sits at the end of the road on the Snake River. The Forest Service directions start in Imnaha, Oregon. Take the Lower Imnaha River Road north for 6.5 miles, where it becomes Forest Road 4260, the Dug Bar Road. From there it's 24 miles to the river. The Forest Service describes it as a steep, single-lane dirt road that gets slippery when wet or frozen. High clearance vehicles are strongly recommended, trailers are not, and there's a vault toilet but no drinking water at the bottom. It's also the only drivable site that reaches the northern end of the Snake River on the Oregon side of Hells Canyon.

On the way down, the talk in the cab is about beating another vehicle to camp. As one of the crew puts it, "technically at the bottom there's only one campsite, but there's apparently tons of places to camp all along." We also learn that one of the trucks is named Bessie, "because it was so much nicer than our old truck."

The camp they got is the photo at the top of this post. Three OEV pop-ups in the grass with the canyon walls behind them.

Camp at Dug Bar comes with a good story. Expedition Overland once asked followers for their most memorable camp spot, and KP's answer was a hammock strung up in an abandoned building in Patagonia. "It's still one of my favorites, actually," KP says. "But I'm going to remember this one, too."

Hat Point was next, pointed out as the road that "goes up above the canyon." The Forest Service page for Hat Point Overlook puts it about 21 miles from Imnaha on the Hat Point Road, which it calls very steep and narrow. Low clearance vehicles, RVs, and anything pulling a trailer are advised to use caution on the lower sections. At the top, a fire lookout tower gives wider views of the canyon and the Snake River.

The Clearwater River and the Lolo Motorway

Idaho opens with a camp on the Clearwater River and a report from KP inside the camper: "We're in Idaho next to the Clearwater River right now. And I can see it out of three sides of this thing, which is awesome."

Then someone asks the question that turns a drive into a story. "You guys want to try this Lolo Motorway?" The pitch: "It's like 100 miles. It would be pretty epic." And the part that should make any overlander smile: "I think it's just a gravel road."

Here's what the Lolo Motorway is. According to the National Park Service, it's Forest Road 500, 119 miles long between Kamiah in the west and Powell in the east, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. It follows the traditional route of the Nez Perce more closely than Highway 12 does. The Park Service describes a single-lane, narrow, winding, primitive road that dips into saddles and climbs back onto ridgetops.

On camera, the road gets rockier, a downed tree hangs across the route, and the Land Cruiser in the group ends up with its hood open and three people leaning into the engine bay. The line of the trip follows: "Now we're overlanding. This is overlanding. Breaking down in beautiful places. Is this a beautiful place, boys?"

Zero Declination's own write-up of the trip mentions patching up the Land Cruiser. The route map picks back up in Lolo, Montana.

Rolling Into The Big Thing

Before the ranch, there's a car wash stop. "These things do look good clean."

From there the road fills up. As one of the crew tells it, it felt like "every single person on this stretch of the road" and at every gas station was headed to the same place.

That place is the XOVERLAND Ranch near Three Forks, where The Big Thing 2026 ran July 9 to 12. KP's description of the event is one of the better ones we've heard: "It kind of feels like a combination of a really primo international overland camp with just a really good state fair. It's much more about just getting out there and doing stuff with your truck. And with your friends and with your community."

And the review: "It's definitely my favorite event of the year, and we're going to keep going back."

The OEV team was at the ranch too, with a camping area where OEV owners and customers camped together. Our recap of The Big Thing 2026 covers the event itself, from the trail rides to the donuts.

About Zero Declination

Zero Declination is KP's shop in Reno, Nevada, and it has been an OEV dealer since 2020. The team calls itself an adventure truck upfitter, run by people who travel the same way their customers do. This video is a fair sample of that.

Here's where to go on their site:

• OEV campers. Zero Declination's OEV page covers the Hudson Bay, the Back Country, and the Aluma Tray flatbed. For OEV's own specs and pricing, see the Hudson Bay 6.75'.
• Power systems. As they say in the video, "we're also known for our Victron and lithium battery based" expedition grade power systems. The Zero Declination install shop handles lithium power, solar, inverters, DC-to-DC charging, and flatbed installs.
• Campers on the lot. Check available units at Zero Declination to see what's ready now.
• The people. Read the Zero Declination story, or get in touch with the shop for a free consultation. The phone number is 775-204-1180.

The video closes with a promise: "10 days. One trip. More stories to come." Zero Declination says they shot a new series of videos along the way, so subscribe to their YouTube channel to catch the rest.

Next Year, Roll In Together

Zero Declination's trip gave us an idea, and we said so in our recap. For The Big Thing 2027, we want OEV owners to meet up a night or two before the show and roll in together as a group, from wherever they're coming from.

The Big Thing 2027 runs July 7 to 11. OEV has twenty reserved sites for owners in the OEV camping area at the ranch, and event tickets are purchased separately from The Big Thing. The details are on our events page.

Built to Conquer. Built to Last.

Ten days, three states, one closed campground, one trail repair, and a crew that came out the far side saying everything holds up "in practice." Thanks to KP, the Zero Declination team, and Hot Visuals for a trip worth watching.

If this is the kind of travel you want to do, talk to Zero Declination about your build. To see every camper we make, start with the full OEV truck camper lineup.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Zero Declination?

Zero Declination is an adventure truck upfitter and OEV dealer in Reno, Nevada, owned by KP. The shop sells and installs OEV campers, including the Hudson Bay and the Back Country, and its install shop focuses on lithium power and Victron components. Zero Declination made the Ten Days to The Big Thing video, filmed by Hot Visuals. Their website is zerodeclination.com and the shop phone is 775-204-1180.

What route did Zero Declination take from Overland Expo PNW to The Big Thing?

Zero Declination drove from Redmond, Oregon to the XOVERLAND Ranch near Three Forks, Montana over about ten days. The route in their video runs through the Painted Hills, Wallowa Lake, Dug Bar, and Hat Point in Oregon, the Clearwater River and the Lolo Motorway in Idaho, then Lolo and Anaconda in Montana.

What is the Lolo Motorway?

The Lolo Motorway is Forest Road 500 in Idaho. The National Park Service lists it at 119 miles between Kamiah in the west and Powell in the east, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. It is a single-lane, narrow, winding, primitive road that dips into saddles and climbs back onto ridgetops.

Can you drive a truck camper on the Lolo Motorway?

The National Park Service says the Lolo Motorway is suitable only for high clearance vehicles, and RVs and trailers are not recommended. Zero Declination's convoy took OEV pop-up truck campers on full-size trucks onto it in the days before The Big Thing opened on July 9, 2026. The road is generally free of ice and snow by mid-July and usually accessible into October, so check current conditions with the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest before going.

How do you get to Dug Bar in Hells Canyon?

From Imnaha, Oregon, the Forest Service directions follow the Lower Imnaha River Road north for 6.5 miles, where it becomes Forest Road 4260, the Dug Bar Road. From there it is 24 miles to the end of the road at the Snake River. The Forest Service calls it a steep, single-lane dirt road, strongly recommends high clearance vehicles, and does not recommend trailers.

How do you get to Hat Point Overlook?

Hat Point Overlook is at the end of the Hat Point Road, about 21 miles from Imnaha, Oregon according to the Forest Service. The road is very steep and narrow, and the Forest Service advises caution for low clearance vehicles, RVs, and vehicles pulling trailers on the lower sections. A fire lookout tower at the top gives wider views of Hells Canyon and the Snake River.