Ferocious winds ripped across the undulating plains of the Mojave Desert, battering our brave little overland convoy. We had been battling scorching heat, freezing mountain air, and 60-mph gusts for the past 150 miles—all of which we’d attacked off-road. With my 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon assaulted by this insistent blast for hours on end, I had long since passed the point of exhaustion.
Ahead of us, a sea of greens, blues, and yellows emerged from the bland desert scrub, welcoming our weary eyes. The Mojave River, fed by record winter rains, flowed mightily. On the other side, the end. Pavement. A warm hotel bed.
I pulled up to the water’s lapping edge, said a prayer, and started inching my trusty Jeep forward.
Forward into the Past
About 30 hours prior, filled with gas station burritos and optimism, we were ready to pit the Gladiator, 2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 AEV Bison, and 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro against one of the most spectacular Overlanding trails in America: the Mojave Road.
The Mojave Road is the closest we’ll get to a time machine in our lifetimes. The “road” Barstowis essentially an old footpath that linked the Mojave tribe’s homeland near modern Fort Mohave, Arizona, to the Serrano, Cahuilla, and Tongva tribes in California’s San Bernardino Valley, just outside Los Angeles. To distill hundreds of years of history into a sentence, with Mojave assistance, the trail later allowed Spaniards, Mexicans, and others to explore and migrate across the Southwest.
Today, the road’s 150-ish miles of rock, sand dunes, mountain passes, and salt flats still look much like what our forebears would have experienced hundreds of years ago. That’s what makes it one of the best overlanding trails in the country.
Denne historien er fra November 2019-utgaven av Motor Trend.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November 2019-utgaven av Motor Trend.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
2023 GMC Canyon
MC, the luxe-truck division of General Motors, has long struggled to differentiate its products from mechanically similar Chevrolets.
2023 Ford F-Series Super Duty
The heavy-duty truck world moves more slowly than other pickup classes, and progress comes in spurts. Take the Ford F-Series Super Duty, whose recent refresh included softer-edged styling, a new entry-level gas-fed V-8, a new high-output 6.7-liter turbodiesel V-8, and myriad small improvements like new bedside steps. Is it still basically the same truck as before? Absolutely, but it’s also a better Super Duty, however incrementally.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD
When Chevrolet unveiled its all-new 2020 Silverado HD lineup, it set the truck world ablaze, and not in a good way.
THE CHEVROLET COLORADO IS THE 2024 MOTORTREND TRUCK OF THE YEAR
A BROAD LINEUP DELIVERS AN IMPRESSIVE RANGE OF OFF-ROAD CAPABILITY WITHOUT COMPROMISE TO EVERYDAY LIVABILITY
HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE THE 80?!
THE FIRST-GENERATION NISSAN PATHFINDER IS AN SUV THROWBACK TO A TOTALLY RAD TIME, FOR SURE
BAVARIAN ECONS 2002te
THIS ELECTRIC BMW RESTOMOD LOSES ITS ENGINE BUT NOT ITS SOUL
2023 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS FIRST TEST
PORSCHE'S MOST FOCUSED 911 OF ALL TIME MUST BE EXPERIENCED AT ITS LIMITS TO BE UNDERSTOOD
2024 TRUCK OF THE YEAR MADE IN MICHIGAN
AFTER DECADES IN THE WEST, TRUCK OF THE YEAR MOVES TO MICHIGAN
YOUR ICON OF ICONS: CHEVROLET CORVETTE
Was there ever any doubt? MotorTrend readers are largely American, and as much as we love Jeeps, Mustangs, and F-150s in this country, the Corvette has been “America’s sports car” for nearly as long as this publication has existed. That’s why you chose it via our online vote as the most iconic car of the past 75 years.
MOTORTREND CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
The 10 Most Iconic Vehicles of Our Time and Much More
