Suggestions for off-road driving?

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I’ll be going to Southern California this weekend, to the Overland Expo down in Costa Mesa. I posted the info here, and for other Overland Expos in 2025.

I recently went back to Hollister Hills and was very surprised by what the Outback was able to do (technically it is an OBW, the Outback Wilderness Edition, with some slight modifications making it a little more off-road capable than the standard Outback).

The OBW successfully climbed 2 black diamond hills, Fremontia Drive, and Truck Hill! And it also made it up to the very top of the park, to Hector Heights. I was extremely amazed! Very much so.

For Fremontia Drive (DD coordinates ◆ Fremontia Drive ▲ 36.75, -121.415) I’d been up it before in the Jeep a few times. But the Jeep had the 4-lo transfer which is a great advantage. The OBW doesn’t have that. The OBW struggled at times and I had to use the 2-foot technique a couple of times to continue up the steep hill, but it eventually made it. I was pleasantly surprised when the OBW got up it. Wow!

This is actually very steep right here, even though it doesn’t look it.

Partway up I stopped to take these shots.

This is looking downhill from where I’d come. Yes, the OBW just made it up that.

At the top. Made it!!

After that climb I continued up to the very top of the park, to Hector Heights, where I enjoyed a nice picnic lunch enjoying the view. After lunch and on my way down, even though there are other routes that aren’t as severe I decided to take Fremontia Drive on the way down.

It was a good test of the HDC system, hill descent control. HDC is great because it applies brakes to individual wheels depending on which wheel has grip. You have much more control of your rig that way than with the brake pedal. There are few feelings worse than sliding downhill with Isaac Newton in control and you’re gingerly applying the brake pedal but the wheels have no grip, and you’re just sliding (skidding, really). Anyway HDC performed really nicely and my descent down the steep hill covered in loose dirt was undramatic.

Descending Fremontia Drive, testing HDC

I was pretty much done for the day after that and was starting to head home, but for some reason as I was leaving the park I veered over to look at Truck Hill. Seriously, I was just going to look at it. Or so I was telling myself.

Looking up Truck Hill:

Truck Hill is an imposing, very steep, straight-up dirt hill that is so steep that with my modest off-roading skills I had never even tried it before, not even in my Jeep which I had for ten years. It’s the kind of hill where if you start to lose traction and get a little sideways, you can easily rollover down the hill (rollover and over and over again, many times). Major damage, both to the vehicle and likely to my own body too. And my cars are my daily drivers, they’re not toys dedicated for trails. So if I were to eff it up, I’m without a car for a long time.

I never tried it before because I often have my wife with me, and I wouldn’t want to harm her or scare her. And for the times I was alone I didn’t try it because I was just too scared.

But this time I was all alone. Anyway, sitting there looking up at it, for some reason I decided to give it a try. I took a couple of pictures before trying the climb.

I lined up the OBW to point straight up that hill, and then I punched the accelerator and kept it floored the whole way. Gravity slowed me down significantly but the OBW kept its forward momentum, and about ⅞ of the way up the hill I realized I was actually going to make it!

Video of my climb up Truck Hill

https://i.imgur.com/i4pa3ii.mp4

When I topped out, I was truly incredulous. I couldn’t believe we had made it!! Wow, just wow.

Descending Truck Hill, another test of HDC which performed flawlessly

https://i.imgur.com/npUOycQ.mp4
(Partway down I corrected the focus)

For a humble little station wagon, the OBW is nicely capable!

Three good hills tackled by OBW on 2025-05-14; DD coordinates provided:
◆ Fremontia Drive ▲ 36.75, -121.415
■ Hector Heights ▲ 36.7445, -121.4191
◆ Truck Hill ▲ 36.7515, -121.4076

Here are all my pictures and other comments

What a cool travelogue!

Thanks! I am very pleased at what the OBW can do. It is now my expedition rig and my wife and I’ll continue to explore in it. I’ve had it for 1½ year and I am bonding with it nicely.

It was, I think, Crystal River RD out of Marble Colorado. Short bed Chevy. Barely made it. One of my front seat passengers started crying, got out and walked.

This is it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1-Tpg0MmAc

I can’t watch it. I remember. And it gives me chills. It was insane.

This was 1979 or so. Back when I was invincible. I have since learned I’m not. No pictures for that trip.

Also in '79 my high school buddies and I took a two week jeep and camping trip in Colorado (we all lived in Denver at the time). Same '76 Chevy and a '73 FJ 40. The FJ had a 327 in it.

I have others that are on my other machine. Moving is… odd.

Oh that’s right, you used to live up in the mountains in Colorado and were moving (have already moved?). Moving… it can really suck.

Colorado has many beautiful passes like that and I’ve marked several on my map. California has some here in the Sierra Nevada. I should locate some of those since they are nearer to me.

Nice video. Yes, definitely some picker factor on that trail. I have a petrifying fear of heights but I think I can handle that trail.

When they got to the Crystal Mill I recognized it, and I actually already have it marked on my map. Its DD coordinates are ▲ 39.0589, -107.1045. It’s a place I’d like to visit when I’m near there next.

I marked it on my map because I saw it on a Facebook post, so I saved the post link, looked up the places, got their DD coordinates, and marked them on my map for future reference.

Here is that post and the places.
https://www.facebook.com/feelthenature2023/videos/2245084065907251

  1. Mono Lake Tufa Towers, California ▲ 37.9423, -119.0287
  2. Crystal Mill, Colorado ▲ 39.0589, -107.1045
  3. Zebra Slot Canyon, Utah ▲ 37.6603, -111.4174
  4. Spotted Lake, British Columbia ▲ 49.077, -119.5623
  5. Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, San Juan County NM ▲ 36.167, -107.917

About Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, I love how landforms exist today that were created when the land was underwater. Many are mysteriously beautiful.

Well, we own two places at the moment. The one at 11,200 feet in elevation has become too much to handle I afraid. My O2 levels where bad as my blood pressure. Down here at 5000 feet, I don’t need my medications. BP and O2 looks great.

The 30 feet of snow a year contributed to this decision. I’m getting too long in the tooth to deal with THAT.

Got an offer on the mountain house, and we are taking it. We are set up well down in Berthoud. But, I don’t know where the hell anything is. Moving is like that, no matter how organized you try to do it, some things just end up in some box, somewhere.

But enough of that. I used to love 4-wheeling/Jeeping whatever ya call it. But age and the memories that come with that show your weaknesses. And often, your foolishness.

Was great fun, but not chancing my luck anymore.

Long before they got together, my Mom’s partner was involved in the 4-wheeling scene in California. Could have been any time from the 60s to the 80s. I have his rolling toolbox covered in old 4x4 stickers. California Association of 4WD Clubs Inc; Off Road Performance of Lynnwood, Ca; Advance Adapters; Edelbrock; Holley; and a bunch of pro-union ones.

Based on the bumper stickers, it looks like they used to go to Baja California.

I have some advice for new 4WD explorers – for about ten years I worked on maintaining and repairing designated 4WD roads in a Colorado state park. I’ve never gone 4wheeling for fun – but sometimes daily for work or for access to trailheads for my ideas on fun.
Places like my former park build 4WD roads that are mostly easy. It’s a good way to learn and practice building skills. For experienced drivers, they are too easy and not thrilling. My job was to minimize the erosion on the roads, control the runoff, and to keep them open. We had seasonal closures. We also had some trickier sections – Oil Pan Rock and i played around with each other for years. It didn’t look too hard to get over until the front wheels were on it, either climbing or descending.
The local clubs were a great source of advice and money for me on how to build something fun and sustainable – with yearly maintenance. Sometimes we hired companies or youth crews to do the work me and my Bobcat couldn’t handle. Either way I was in the woods all day and getting paid. Mostly I learned how to drive for minimum impact. That approach has gotten me where I wanted to go.

That’s similar to what I do: build my skills and practice in California state parks designed for that. They’re called SVRAs.
State Vehicular Recreation Areas

I build my skills so that when I go on long road trips I can also do some remote exploring and camping — overlanding — on remote forest roads and Jeep trails off the beaten path, like in that video shared by @enipla .

And I promote responsible off-roading so as to not tear up pristine countrysides.

We sound very similar, or at least with some consistent values.

That’s what we did, tent camping. The short bed 4x4 truck was a great platform for our gear.

After nearly 14 years in the Marines and sleeping on the ground in all kinds of weather, I’m done!** with sleeping on the ground. I’ve got a comfy setup in the bed of my vehicle.

The better pics of that are in my Jeep. Not yet in the OBW. It may look primitive but it is very comfortable! And I’m not on the ground.

And then one of my favorite pictures on the trail with my Jeep —

@Bullitt , Thanks for the great pictures/vids. IME, the pics never show just how precarious a road actually is, so that must have been quite an experience!

Since the thread is “Suggestions for off-road driving”, I want to add a few things I learned last month. I spend most of my off-road time in beach sand. I like to work my way away from civilization and enjoy solitude while I drone-fish. Below is one pic from a recent fishing trip. Not another soul in sight – just the way I like it.

Imgur

The beach itself is usually easy to drive on, but the route through the dunes and deep sand is pretty challenging. For those off-roading through deep sand, you might need to turn off all your traction and stability control functions. Apparently, this feature senses differences in wheel RPM and applies brakes to force them back in synch. This can interfere with travel in deep sand where wheel RPMs vary a lot.

I discovered this when churning through a section of deep sand and the truck began bucking and shaking as the control system tried to clamp down on individual wheels. Nearly got stuck before I figured this out.

I realize this may not apply to all vehicles, but thought I’d share my experience with folks here.

Thanks again for all the pics.

Definitely. Good point. Not only in deep sand, but also in mud, and on a trail covered with snow — these are situations where you want some excess wheel spin. Excess wheel spin in these conditions help keeps you moving forward. Wheel spin maintains your forward momentum.

However, on roads, when roads are slippery and you do not want to slip and slide, these controls are excellent and you want them active.

But in sand, mud, and snowy trails, excess wheel spin works to your advantage, so turn off those controls

A simple icy parking lot can be a problem with traction control. I drive in ice/snow a LOT. So what, one wheel spun a tiny bit, don’t lock the thing up. That can start screwing up everything.

Anti-lock breaks are part of this whole system of course. I not that fond of them either. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. I can stop a car quicker without anti-lock than with. You have to know the car thresholds of course and just how far you can push it before any tire skid. You don’t just mash the breaks and hope for the best.

Mosquito Pass is also a good one. It’s out of Alma CO. Highest motorized pass in Colorado - Jeep the USA

The trail to the top of Mt Bross is drivable. Not to bad really, but frightning none the less - See bristlecone Pines and drive above 14,000' - Jeep the USA