- First Name
- Paul
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2020
- Threads
- 9
- Messages
- 381
- Reaction score
- 981
- Location
- Tallahassee, FL
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Badlands Sasquatch
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
- Thread starter
- #1
Southwest of Tallahassee is the Apalachicola National Forest. I'll post about adventures there as I explore it, learn things, and hit the highs and lows in my 2021 Badlands Sasquatch.
August 4th, 2021
My first little journey. What a thrill to get out there among the trees and start making use of this vehicle's capability. Trail turn assist makes some uncomfortable noises, but it was a blast to try out several different modes and such.
August 8th, 2021
On this trip I took a few friends with me. With their help navigating and spotting, we dove deeper into the forest and found ourselves crossing through some tights spots and decent water. From my novice point of view, this trip was pretty intense. The Bronco, however, was unimpressed as it happily and casually chugged on through everything. One of the most fun things was squeezing through a narrow passage while crawling over a downed tree in 4L. Great adventure and lots of good learning time behind the wheel. Next time I'd like to get some video.
August 23rd, 2021
I've been dying to check out one of the beachy blue holes in the forest, and I squeezed that adventure into an extended lunch today. What a ridiculously fun place to drive around and really dig in to the Bronco. With all the sand there, I was able to employ trail turn assist to its greatest potential. Used it to squeeze through a super tight tree spot and also to do some mini donuts. The entry trail was oddly blocked by cut down trees, but there was another (trickier) entrypoint right next to it. I'm not sure what the story is there, but the way in was no tougher than the way out. One of the water holes on the way in was a little scary, but it turned out fine and there are ones just as bad or worse on the way out.
Only took a couple photos during a pause, but this is the kind of spot that deserves video next time. The Bronco blasts through all of this and makes an otherwise average Monday lunch break into a joyous, raucous adventure. I felt like a happy kid on a playground.
August 24th, 2021
Well I left the office just to go get tacos, but the woods were calling me so I headed on back in for another round. It turns out where I went yesterday is supposed to be ATV only, and I felt compelled to redeem myself by paying better attention to the Motor Vehicle Use Map. I found myself in some pretty tough terrain on 360-A due to the amount of water, and I eventually decided to give up and turn around. According to locals I talked to afterwards, that was the right call. That last water hole gets pretty deep. I've now got what sounds like a squeaky belt, but I'm hoping it dries out and quiets down. Otherwise, the Bronco remains seemingly unscathed. (But I haven't checked for scratches yet.)
September 3rd, 2021
I recently made friends with a cool Jeeper, and we finally got out there together. He's got a winch, so we were able to push things a little further than I have so far. We both found ourselves stuck once each, which was honestly pretty freaky for me. First time getting the Bronco stuck, and it was in deep enough water that a lot of it came on in around the doors and pooled on the floorboards. As a novice, the feeling of my sandaled feet being submerged in water while in the vehicle was foreign and disconcerting.
Everything turned out completely fine, though, since the water wasn't nearly high enough to reach the air intake. The wash out interior did its job really well. Ended up very easy to clean using a combination of a wet rag and vacuum. The only unintentional moisture collection I could find a day or so later was a slightly damp padding under the rubber flooring just behind the driver's side floor air vent cut out. I felt around as best I could and didn't find any pooled water under the flooring, so I think that's all well and good. Ready to rock on out there again soon. I've got a few pictures taken by both of us, and Jeep friend put together a little video including a couple neat drone clips of the Bronco doing some water crossing. I might follow up at some point with an edited version of the same footage since there's a little moment where it hangs and since I'd pick music other than the Nutcracker Suite. But to each his own of course.
September 4th, 2021
Took a couple friends and my son with me on some of the same trails that Jeep friend and I hit the day before as well as some new and lovely ones. We got a decent little video clip where I hopped over a mound then used trail turn assist to hit a specific line back up and park for our lunch break. Also got a neat pic of the front cam when a big ol' spider was hanging on for a ride.
September 5th, 2021
Cleaning day! Here are some pics to show the dirty floorboards after taking on forest water. Interesting to note that the air splitters pop right out and back in easily, which may be handy for thorough cleaning. The passenger side floorboard in my particular Bronco seems a little tighter and better aligned/cut than the driver's side. I'll include a couple pics to show that, but I'm hoping that the drainage system makes it a non-issue. Popped off the two front doors for the first time to make it easier to clean, and I ended up leaving them off for a while. Fuuuuuun to drive like that.
September 6th, 2021
All doors and windows off for a little Labor Day drive down to Shell Point beach. Super fun. Our 4 year old son loved it, and so did we!
August 4th, 2021
My first little journey. What a thrill to get out there among the trees and start making use of this vehicle's capability. Trail turn assist makes some uncomfortable noises, but it was a blast to try out several different modes and such.
August 8th, 2021
On this trip I took a few friends with me. With their help navigating and spotting, we dove deeper into the forest and found ourselves crossing through some tights spots and decent water. From my novice point of view, this trip was pretty intense. The Bronco, however, was unimpressed as it happily and casually chugged on through everything. One of the most fun things was squeezing through a narrow passage while crawling over a downed tree in 4L. Great adventure and lots of good learning time behind the wheel. Next time I'd like to get some video.
August 23rd, 2021
I've been dying to check out one of the beachy blue holes in the forest, and I squeezed that adventure into an extended lunch today. What a ridiculously fun place to drive around and really dig in to the Bronco. With all the sand there, I was able to employ trail turn assist to its greatest potential. Used it to squeeze through a super tight tree spot and also to do some mini donuts. The entry trail was oddly blocked by cut down trees, but there was another (trickier) entrypoint right next to it. I'm not sure what the story is there, but the way in was no tougher than the way out. One of the water holes on the way in was a little scary, but it turned out fine and there are ones just as bad or worse on the way out.
Only took a couple photos during a pause, but this is the kind of spot that deserves video next time. The Bronco blasts through all of this and makes an otherwise average Monday lunch break into a joyous, raucous adventure. I felt like a happy kid on a playground.
August 24th, 2021
Well I left the office just to go get tacos, but the woods were calling me so I headed on back in for another round. It turns out where I went yesterday is supposed to be ATV only, and I felt compelled to redeem myself by paying better attention to the Motor Vehicle Use Map. I found myself in some pretty tough terrain on 360-A due to the amount of water, and I eventually decided to give up and turn around. According to locals I talked to afterwards, that was the right call. That last water hole gets pretty deep. I've now got what sounds like a squeaky belt, but I'm hoping it dries out and quiets down. Otherwise, the Bronco remains seemingly unscathed. (But I haven't checked for scratches yet.)
September 3rd, 2021
I recently made friends with a cool Jeeper, and we finally got out there together. He's got a winch, so we were able to push things a little further than I have so far. We both found ourselves stuck once each, which was honestly pretty freaky for me. First time getting the Bronco stuck, and it was in deep enough water that a lot of it came on in around the doors and pooled on the floorboards. As a novice, the feeling of my sandaled feet being submerged in water while in the vehicle was foreign and disconcerting.
Everything turned out completely fine, though, since the water wasn't nearly high enough to reach the air intake. The wash out interior did its job really well. Ended up very easy to clean using a combination of a wet rag and vacuum. The only unintentional moisture collection I could find a day or so later was a slightly damp padding under the rubber flooring just behind the driver's side floor air vent cut out. I felt around as best I could and didn't find any pooled water under the flooring, so I think that's all well and good. Ready to rock on out there again soon. I've got a few pictures taken by both of us, and Jeep friend put together a little video including a couple neat drone clips of the Bronco doing some water crossing. I might follow up at some point with an edited version of the same footage since there's a little moment where it hangs and since I'd pick music other than the Nutcracker Suite. But to each his own of course.
September 4th, 2021
Took a couple friends and my son with me on some of the same trails that Jeep friend and I hit the day before as well as some new and lovely ones. We got a decent little video clip where I hopped over a mound then used trail turn assist to hit a specific line back up and park for our lunch break. Also got a neat pic of the front cam when a big ol' spider was hanging on for a ride.
September 5th, 2021
Cleaning day! Here are some pics to show the dirty floorboards after taking on forest water. Interesting to note that the air splitters pop right out and back in easily, which may be handy for thorough cleaning. The passenger side floorboard in my particular Bronco seems a little tighter and better aligned/cut than the driver's side. I'll include a couple pics to show that, but I'm hoping that the drainage system makes it a non-issue. Popped off the two front doors for the first time to make it easier to clean, and I ended up leaving them off for a while. Fuuuuuun to drive like that.
September 6th, 2021
All doors and windows off for a little Labor Day drive down to Shell Point beach. Super fun. Our 4 year old son loved it, and so did we!
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or on ice 🧊!
