Rock Crawling - Please Help Me Understand the Appeal

[amccue90]

A couple years ago my newly wed wife and I rented a four seater 4x4 utv thing in colorado. Decided I was macho enough to skip over the easy trail (having no experience). Those two butt clenching hours on those rocks, getting to see this awesome crashed military plane that I would've been too exhausted to hike to, changed my view on climbing with vehicles. An absolutely blast that I would be more than willing to take someone else's vehicle up again.

Back down mighta been more exciting.

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[Nobody]

What do you consider rock crawling?

Somewhere along the line "four wheeling" has turned into "rock crawling". They really are two totally different things.

Places like the Rubicon and Moab are really just four wheeling. Sure they have rocky obstacles, but thats just the same old four wheeling of yesterday.

Now true rock crawling is extreme rock obstacles either natural or man made, often competition based. Often in designated parks. Generally not for full bodied vehicles, especially something the likes of the Bronco.

The exploration, adventures, challenges, and memories of four wheeling are endless. If you like the outdoors, there is something for you, guaranteed.

If you enjoy designing, building, breaking, fixing, competing, and mastering your 4x4 on extreme obstacles, then rock crawling may be of interest to you.

It's not a cut an dry line between the two, plenty of crossover nowadays.

that's my .02, keep the change.

 

[Apples]

A couple years ago my newly wed wife and I rented a four seater 4x4 utv thing in colorado. Decided I was macho enough to skip over the easy trail (having no experience). Those two butt clenching hours on those rocks, getting to see this awesome crashed military plane that I would've been too exhausted to hike to, changed my view on climbing with vehicles. An absolutely blast that I would be more than willing to take someone else's vehicle up again.

Back down mighta been more exciting.

You don't happen to be talking about T33 Plane crash outside Nederland, are you? Fun trail but definitely not newbie friendly.

 

[Apples]

What do you consider rock crawling?

Somewhere along the line "four wheeling" has turned into "rock crawling". They really are two totally different things.

Places like the Rubicon and Moab are really just four wheeling. Sure they have rocky obstacles, but thats just the same old four wheeling of yesterday.

Now true rock crawling is extreme rock obstacles either natural or man made, often competition based. Often in designated parks. Generally not for full bodied vehicles, especially something the likes of the Bronco.

The exploration, adventures, challenges, and memories of four wheeling are endless. If you like the outdoors, there is something for you, guaranteed.

If you enjoy designing, building, breaking, fixing, competing, and mastering your 4x4 on extreme obstacles, then rock crawling may be of interest to you.

It's not a cut an dry line between the two, plenty of crossover nowadays.

that's my .02, keep the change.

Four wheeling is an umbrella term. It just means using a 4x4 vehicle off pavement. You can fit rock crawling and overlanding under it as a general term.

 

[amccue90]

You don't happen to be talking about T33 Plane crash outside Nederland, are you? Fun trail but definitely not newbie friendly.

That exact trail. My first rocks in something with wheels. The call of adventure was too much for this mall crawler

 

[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

No different than when I take the wife & dogs dispersed camping. The more challenging it is to get to that spot, means better chance to be away from everyone else, and the more epic view. It’s all about the journey, whether that be in the wife’s 4dr BL or my truck.

 

[mkennedy009]

Same reason people buy mountain bikes. A road bike just ain't made go beyond the city streets.

 

[PSUTE]

Same reason people buy mountain bikes. A road bike just ain't made go beyond the city streets.

Yep... If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch...

 

[Go_Galt]

A big part of the appeal is the fact that you, and most other people, won't do it.

 

[rgwinn]

People rock crawl for the same reason that people track their zippy street cars.

because it's fucking FUN.

I've never been rock crawling, and yet, I can't wait to get myself stuck somewhere and have to science the shit out of it to get out.

It’s amazing what you can do with some duct tape, bailing wire and a rock as a hammer.

 

[rgwinn]

This was my buddies Blazer, after learning our lesson in that TJ, we both built up Trail rigs, he ended up working support for the Jeep Jamboree on the Rubicon.

Rock crawling is a lot like skiing, you don’t have to take the double black Diamond runs to have fun. But, if you do, you may get banged up.

 

[PSUTE]

Some folks will never understand. Doing extreme things with a vehicle involves engaging a whole different part of the brain. Not only do you have to know what you can personally do, you also have to know what the vehicle can do and monitor what it's doing by using your senses. When something goes "Clang" and you get that "oh fuck" moment... When you live through it and live to post again, that's a plus...

 

[MaverickMan]

This is not meant to belittle anyone’s love of this type of off-roading, instead it is a genuine question. As someone who is new to off-roading I just don’t understand why someone would want to put their $50k ride in jeopardy from driving up big rocks. I can see the appeal of everything else, especially driving sand/beach but just want someone to tell me why you like it so much.

I dont get rock crawling either, unless you are the type of person thats never had too little money for stuff. It is slow, to me that isnt very exciting. And its really clean, also not really appealing to me. I cut my teeth in floodplains, open fields(after harvest), riverbanks, and hilly wooded trails. I really love throwing some mud around, getting stuck in wet holes(who doesnt). Everyone is gonna be telling you about the technical challenges rock crawling obstacles make and how hard it is. Im not saying it isnt but flying up a wet horse trail with a foot deep mud to get out of a gorge or climbing up a 10 ft tall 60 degree river bank full of sloppy silt can be just as hard and fun. If not more so. I see you are from Wisconsin, I havent ever wheeled there but visiting my wife family there a couple years ago I saw a whole lot of trailheads and saw that you have a alot of the same wheeling as we had down in Ohio. So I say go find yourself a patch of land near a creek or river that borders some state land and a unused farm field andyou will find some trails with challenges that will put your Bronco to the test just as much as anyone out west. Not that there isnt fun out there, but I feel that every state has some where to wheel that will find the limits of just about any vehicle. Go out have fun and have someone take pictures so people can see how awesome your kind of wheeling is.

Got this one stuck one day because I got bored going through the ruts so I figured I would cross it instead to make it harder. It was lol.

Its hard to tell but this hill was as steep as it was long with plenty of straight staircase drops.

Recovering freinds.

If your Bronco gets this dirty, then you are officially a hardcore offroader.

 

[ramblinwreck]

The reality is very few of these Broncos will ever be rock crawled by their owners, at least the extreme kind. No different from Jeep’s, the vast majority never see anything extreme. People just like to pretend their $50k rig can do it if they want.

 

[Erock]

@MaverickMan this is the shit right here. My kind of off road stuff in my younger years... and the kind I wanna get back to. Granted I’ll have better gear this time around... kinda sucks walking out 3 miles to get help because you didn’t at least have a come along.

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