Originally Posted by
cyccommute
If the roads are well maintained or are railtrails, a road touring bike can do the job.
This
is easy for most road touring bikes but you might want to a bit wider tires.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
But if things turn nasty (nasty on a loaded bike is a line that is very easy to cross), I prefer a mountain bike with at least a front suspension. A suspended mountain bike also opens up new territory. My preferred off-road touring bike is this one, a Moots YBB
The fire roads (in the east certainly) are really mountain bike territory (not even easy mountain bike territory). (You could certainly use an mountain bike / off-road tourer on the roads but it isn't going to work very well the other way).