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