Both coasts offer beautiful views, but completely different types of enviroments and off-roading experiences.
You can drive a Jeep Wrangler pretty much anywhere you want to. Want to cross a stream while you’re off-roading? Throttle on and get to the other side. Feel like driving above the tree line to get a view of the countryside around you? Throw it into 4LO and make the climb. The Wrangler can do it.
If you want to know what it’s like going off-road on the East Coast or the West Coast, pay attention to the video above. In it, Ryan from the ExtremeTerrain.com Youtube channel goes to both ends of the country to find out what they offer in terms of views and terrain, and what to look out for in both places.
He starts at the Rausch Creek Off-Road Park in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. To get through the recreational area, he saddles up a two-door JK with a 3.5-inch lift and 35-inch tires. That extra clearance (and a snorkel) helps when he charges through a couple of iced-over mud pits. The park’s clay-like soil and small, slick rocks have the potential to make getting through the trails a slick and slippery trip.
Out west on the John Bull Trail in Big Bear City, California, Ryan uses a JK Unlimited. It’s equipped with front and rear lockers, a four-inch lift, and 35s. Water is not an issue, but the loose sand can create traction problems. The combination of a generous lift, rock sliders, aired-down tires, and disconnected sway bars comes in handy when Ryan tackles a particularly gnarly stretch of rocks. Then again, those things are always helpful – no matter which part of the country you happen to go off-roading in.
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Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
