Let’s get one thing straight: I didn’t want to go.
As the weeks and days counted down to my trip to Las Vegas, I dreaded every minute. My concerns had less to do with the flashing lights and kitsch of the strip than with what I had planned for myself and my husband. As a combined Christmas/Valentine’s/birthday gift, I bought a half-day off-road adventure for a guy who had rocked the West dozens of times.
The idea of giving an experience, a memory together seemed like the best gift of all.
But I realized I hadn’t thought my plan through. Like the terror part.
Who knew your life could pass before your eyes at 3 miles per hour? True fact.
To be really clear, I have never been off road. Driving through the Michigan woods doesn’t count. I had written about the passion of these adventurous people for six years as a Ford reporter for the Detroit Free Press.
My idea of an adventure is a grueling mountain hike. Listening to birds. Watching for snakes. No bikes. No cars.
Yet for years I listened to my husband talk about the Jeep life. An athlete who played football, baseball and hockey, then turned his attention to running the Chicago Marathon, the man never met a challenge he couldn’t overcome. What he really enjoyed, after all these years, were the memories of driving, as they say, a Jeep when he was younger.
Jeep vs. Ford Challenge
I was curious to see how the Ford Bronco held up against the Jeep. I married into a Jeep family. My husband was traveling the rocks, desert, and highlands of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah long before he met me. And, frankly, he’s the best driver I know. He has navigated hurricane rescue trucks as a master electrician working for rapid response during massive power outages.
The man is fearless. I? Not so much.
I’m the silent scream type. And this adventure turned out to be no different.
So, we signed up for a half-day Bronco Off-Roadeo adventure in the Potosi Mountains, about 30 miles southwest of our hotel. This half-day opportunity, featuring a new Bronco and a guidebook, was only available to non-Bronco owners. A full day program is offered free to Bronco owners as part of their purchase. Ford said last year that it decided to expand the unique program because some attendees who attended often bought a Bronco afterward.
When I asked our guide if they had many non-Bronco visitors, he said that interest seemed to pick up after a story appeared in USA Today. (Well, that was my story, which took place in November.) The programs, intended to be a crash course in design, technology and nature, are now available at Mount Potosi near Las Vegas; Red Cliffs Lodge in Moab, Utah; Gray Wolf Ranch in Horseshoe Bay, Texas; and Gunstock Mountain in Guilford, New Hampshire.
On this cool Monday in mid-April, we pulled up to a former Boy Scout camp with a breathtaking panoramic view in the middle of the desert and saw a caravan of Ford Broncos zip by. We knew we were in the right place. This was not part of any Las Vegas trip I had ever taken. And it left me speechless.
The first thing I did: I parked the Jeep Cherokee rental next to the Audi, Jeep, Toyota, and BMW cars in the Bronco lot.
More ▼:I swore I would never drive a Jeep Wrangler again. I want to buy now
And then we were driven to the staging area where all the Broncos were lined up.
You are over rocks, through the desert
My husband got behind the wheel (as I asked him to do) and I got in the passenger seat. I had no desire to control the knobs and the steering and the power and the drama. I wanted to watch and learn from a seasoned expert. Our guide Trevor, who could easily evacuate humanity during Armageddon, led us for hours on routes I could not have imagined.
We communicated via walkie-talkies.
Living in that beautiful white Bronco made me see technology and engineering, nature and physics in a way I never could have imagined. Hearing is one thing. His experience is completely different and it made me see the world in a different way.
A free Bronco or Bronco Sport is provided to all visitors. Guides ride with some drivers to inspire fearlessness and help teach all the proper light tread techniques for Bronco off-road activity. They can travel up to three passengers. But that day it was just the two of us.
While many people probably won’t use their Bronco or Bronco Sport to drive off-road through woods, mud, sand, or mountainous terrain, Bronco owners are learning things about the vehicle they never imagined.
Avoiding expensive noises
Broncos start at around $40,000 and can go up to $90,000 for the Bronco Raptor. Different versions include different features and levels of handling, such as 35-inch tires for better ground clearance and improved shock absorbers.
So driving a higher-end version of the Sasquatch designed for maximum adventure definitely requires the purchase of the insurance package. This was all about me. No media trip. No media rotation. Just the girl, her pen and notebook. Watching and learning.
It’s made me a better reporter and more appreciative of Bronco Chief Engineer Jolanta Coffey. Because what you see in the Off-Roadeo experience is not a concept, but an execution.
Every minute in the Bronco is about spatial awareness. It’s about understanding how braking affects the Bronco’s angle while balancing on rocks, and how to avoid turning turtle or ending up like a beached whale. I have never considered the yaw angle of a vehicle, how it comes off a rock and if it is too fast or too aggressive it will lose ground clearance and smash the underside of the vehicle.
More ▼:I drove the Ford Mustang Mach-E for 10 days — and it was amazing
Special markers on the hood, called rudder sights, help the driver align the tires to avoid scraping on bushes or rocks. It’s important to understand tire clearance and size and why letting air out of tires can really help traction.
It’s an amazing concept, setting the cruise control at 4.5 mph, but we did it. Using single-pedal drive helped avoid burning the brakes on those slow, steep descents through cactus while watching deer, elk, fox, and bobcats.
I continued to pull on my belt. I have praised baby Jesus more than once for the grab handles. And I will never in this life get used to balancing on three tires. It’s all a matter of control and distribution of power and gravity.
Paying attention to the ground below and potential surprises dictates what happens. Rocking back and forth, I burst out laughing because all I could think about was Will Ferrell’s NASCAR character in the classic 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby yelling, “Shake and bake, baby! “
More ▼:Ford Bronco gains ground on Jeep Wrangler with 25% sales jump
First of all: Avoid making expensive noises.
Crucial to rock crawling is understanding vehicle height and how to carefully navigate obstacles. This means taking your time. This can involve dangling three tires as they grip rocks and boulders during the climb. A controlled descent is a physical experience that changes everything. It’s like riding your own roller coaster. Slowly.
We used cruise control which kept us at 4 mph on the descent. He kept up the speed. Riding these routes, I held my breath. Controlled descent mode allows the Bronco to slowly descend rocks and boulders. Slow speed and balance allow the car to descend carefully and in a controlled manner. We drove in places where water flows after a rain storm. And rock gardens.
The trail turn assist button allowed us to make a turn on the edge of a cliff. We turned right and the rear right wheel locked up. This allowed the Bronco to fully pivot and make a tight sharp turn. If I hadn’t witnessed the technique of the driver in the Bronco in front of us, I would have feared for my life. But the Bronco turned on a dime.
More ▼:I bought an old BMW and my husband apologized to family members
Looking down, I learned about the “hero” buttons on the Bronco’s dash that do wonders. The buttons look like piano keys and do a lot of things that can add more options depending on the situation. For example, with the push of a button, a driver can lock the front and rear wheels together to provide more traction in slippery conditions.
We balanced on three wheels more than once, tipping over so much that I was afraid to go all the way.
The scoreboard showed pitch and roll, what angles were held and when we could hang on for dear life.
More ▼:I drove a 2022 Ford Maverick pickup for a week — and thought the gas meter was broken
Mad skill
A man named Adam from western Michigan made me promise on a cruise trip (when he learned I wrote about Ford) that I would one day try Off-Roadeo. He said it changed the way he looked at being in a vehicle in nature, having fun and adventure, but respecting the land and the creatures on it.
The fact is that the Jeep is smaller and potentially easier to navigate in some tight spots. But this experience taught me that I would definitely buy a Bronco and know that going over rocks doesn’t hurt and going around obstacles can cause trail creep. It can be destructive. These Nevada guides, whose days are spent in the mountains and in the desert, spend much of their time surveying the landscape and tending the trails of hundreds of acres.
Ford does not own the property I visited; rents it out.
And now my husband and I are two of more than 45,000 people who have done Off-Roadeo. I truly know what it means to tread lightly and leave no trace. I got out of the Bronco exhausted and exhilarated, and I still don’t consider myself an adventure seeker. But I think of myself as someone who now understands those who are.
Reporter Phoebe Wall Howard periodically writes reviews that focus on everyday life with a vehicle. Contact her at 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more about Ford and subscribe to our automotive newsletter.
