New Hampshire Bronco Off-Rodeo Report

[LARELL]

Hey! I have been looking into this a lot. I think if it were me, I'd stay in the preferred hotel so you have a shuttle. As far as airport, Boston is "2 hours" but you could be screwed with traffic. Manchester, NH is an hour and not too much more expensive for me.

Hope this helps!

Just wanted to add that Worcester is starting to add more flights so flying into Worcester could be another option if Manchester doesn't work for you.

My husband and I are signed up for October 16th, im super excited. Hopefully the trails won't be too difficult for us, we haven't done any off roading before only driving on cape beaches once or twice.

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[JR007]

Well, we went from Pittsburgh to the New Hampshire Off Rodeo and all I can say is (and I’m sure this applies to any Bronco Off Rodeo) YOU HAVE TO GO! I’m serious. Book it and go, you won’t be disappointed.

Luckily I had some extra airline and car rental points so my son and I made the trip and boy was it worth it. As background, I’ve taken my Jeep and wheeled in Colorado, Moab and did the Rubicon Trail and my expectations for this were actually kinda low and those expectations were exceeded. I was like “it will just be some dirt roads and Bronco sales pitch”. I was wrong. If you even remotely get the chance to go to any off rodeo, go. Whether your an experienced off roader or a newbie go because you will love it.

So, my thoughts and takeaways:

The Broncos. They are simply amazing! So great to see them live in every color and trim, they had like 30 or so there. Some MIC but mostly soft tops. Almost all trims represented. Almost all Sasquatch but a few BL on 33s and a few 2 doors. All of us attending were blown away by the capabilities. The best part is they show you how to use everything and you actually get to use everything - front and rear lockers, front lockers on their own without the rears (looking at you Jeep), trail control (loved this, it’s kinda like cheating), 1 pedal, trail turn assist, 4 high, 4 low, cameras, you name it. And this is not just ‘use trail turn assist here on this one solitary spot’, you have many chances all day long (7 hours of wheeling, yes that’s right) to use it whenever you want. Now having gone to off Roadeo, I am sure most people who get a Bronco will not go to one and therefore are way less likely to use this stuff/tech because they haven’t tried it off road and ‘played with it in different scenarios’.

The Trails. Wow. I was expecting some basic dirt trails but we did everything! Steep hill climbs and descents, granite slabs, rock gardens, tight forest trails, mud holes, and pucker factor level off camber. Great views as well (but you are in the trees a lot as this is east coast wheeling). The one call out for New Hampshire I picked up on is weather. We did some pretty tough obstacles but if it was wet or raining, the guides would not have taken us on these hard obstacles and they have other (read easier) trails they take you on. A few occasions I heard the guides say “we wouldn’t have done that if it was raining” Remember, this is on a granite mountain, with a lot of rocks and trees right on the edge of the trail. So if you slide even a bit, you’re likely gonna hit something. But luckily for us, today was a great day weather-wise, a;though it sprinkled once around 5:30pm (yes, and we were still wheeling at 5:30pm).

The People. The guides and staff were amazing. Knowledgeable, down to earth, helpful and patient with those newer to off roading. The attendees were also amazing. In our group we had experienced off roaders and new people and everyone was great. I think the realization we are part of a lucky group of folks who will have a Bronco brings everyone together. Plus they sheer giddiness of everyone who is now more excited as they are loving it all day long.

The Agenda. Again, wow. I do not expect this much time wheeling. We got there at 9am for our scheduled 9:30 start. My son and I left there at 7pm (so that’s 10 hours for those of you bad at math). Out of those 10 hours, we were ON TRAIL about for a solid 6 and 1/2 to 7 hours. We did 2 and 1/2 plus in the am, had a quick lunch and then 4 hours after lunch. Just blown away. And with all that time we got to try everything the Bronco had on all kinds of terrain.

The 12 inch screen. Sorry mid peeps but I am so glad I got this on my order. In the morning we wheeled a BL with mid and the afternoon we choose and OBX with high (as I wanted to wheel with the big screen and no sway bar disconnect as I have a WT on order). Why is the screen so important? Because the Bronco hood is really big. And that means it’s hard to see what’s right in front of you and the screen helps a ton. And, the screen just looks great and makes the dash seem even more amazing. I was the only 1 in our group to choose a Bronco with a 12 inch screen for the afternoon and everyone wanted to see it and was jealous (although most had it on their order). Also, I connected my phone and it worked amazingly well.

The sta bar disconnect. It’s super nice to push a button and get a little extra droop. Having wheeled both today (a BL w Sas and a OBX w Sas) it’s great to have it but I’m totally comfortable without it on my WT (but I do plan to get quick disconnects so I get the max articulation possible, even though it may be 2 pins to pull and not a button). As mentioned above, we did some pretty gnarly trails and every single non BL got through every single obstacle the BLs did. This is a credit to how good and capable the Bronco is with front and rear lockers (and good spotters).

The food. The dinner was amazing. Dinner is in the Off Rodeo base facility (which is just for Off Roadeo and not a shared part of the base lodge). I’m not a crazy foodie but I like decent food and dinner was awesome. Also, everyone enjoys dinner as your recapping the day, sharing stories and excitement and the guides join you, who are now your friends but the end of the day. Lunch was a plain box lunch (meh) but the great part of lunch is you take the ski lift to top of Gunstock Mountain and eat on a deck overlooking the Lake Winnipesaukee and the NH maintains. Not the same view as Moab but pretty darn nice for east coast. They give you great snacks and water, as much as you want.

The tops. The soft top flipping up is nice and easy. Putting it all the way back is easy too but does block entire rear view mirror. The rear windows are all wavy, this is for real. The hard tops we saw were good but the 2 I looked at closely did have some small sections where I think water would intrude and start to separate the layers. I’m pissed about the MIC delay but I’m glad they are correcting this.

The pics:

Yes, you hit the nail on the head! It was great fun, and the Bronco is a very capable vehicle. It is going to make the wait that much harder.

BTW, it was nice meeting you and your son. I hope we meet on the trail some day.

 

[Winni Made]

Great summary. I attended yesterday and was blown away by the difficulty of the terrain they took us on. loose jagged rock, tight trees, etc. I expected fluff. I would definitely take the insurance or make sure you are covered! I rode a non-sas BL (since this is what I ordered) but would have taken something with the sas if I had to do it again. That 1" of additional clearance made a big difference on several of the trails.

 

[mcashin1]

I'll be there same day with the fam, same deal looking for the manual. You take one we'll take the other one haha

My wife and I will be there the 18th as well and are also waiting on a manual (4dr Badlands). Sounds like there's a morning and afternoon session, so maybe we can take turns!

 

[Abramsman1]

Omg I can't wait! Going this weekend September 4th! Unfortunately I'll be missing Penn States 1st game of the year but I suppose it's a decent trade off to drive the bronco all day! Who else is going this weekend?

 

[Rubisquatch]

So question I have is, we’re all the Broncos either Sasquatch’d or a Badlands? None with the standard suspension and tire/wheels combo. Would like to know how capable the stock non-sas models are.

i think you might be correct. I only saw Sasqautch or non Sas BL here.

 

[Rubisquatch]

So what's the rule on attending multiple off-roadeos?

Can you attend multiple, you just have to pay full price?

Good question. Not sure as I’d love to go to Moab or Nevada.

 

[bcd]

Does this look fun with a spouse or young kids (9 / 6)? I assume maybe on spouse depending on their level of interest, and probably too much for kids? But curious for thoughts for those who have been there

 

[Rubisquatch]

Where did you fly into? Where did you stay? Trying to work logistics on my end for a trip up there. Coming from Maryland.

We flew into Manchester, NH (I have American airline points and they fly there and it’s the closest airport too), maybe 50 minutes away. We stayed at a small lodge on Lake Winnipesaukee (Misty Harbor Beach Resort) but there are many places to stay. Used my Enterprise points for the car so that was a savings too. We stayed 3 nights so we toured NH and went up Mt Washington and hiked a lot too. You can also fly into Boston or Portland, Maine as both are viable airports too.

 

[Rubisquatch]

Do you think this trip would be possible to do in a weekend?

Sure. We flew up on a Friday, did it Saturday and could have flown home Sunday but we stayed til late Monday and toured, hiked, went up Mt Washington and saw the sights.

 

[Rubisquatch]

I see at least one Badlands w/o sasquatch in the group picture.

I went to the Off-Roadeo in TX and they had every configuration you could want - Manual, auto, 2.3L, 2.7L, 2dr./4dr., sasquatch and non-sasquatch. All had upgraded wheels and m/t tires though. I wholeheartedly agree - if you can go you have to. It was a blast!

Also, there were BD, OB, BL and WT models available to drive...

All trims were there but I only saw Sas. Meaning they had base, OBX, BD, etc but they were Sas. The only non Sas were BLs.

 

[Rubisquatch]

Yes, you hit the nail on the head! It was great fun, and the Bronco is a very capable vehicle. It is going to make the wait that much harder.

BTW, it was nice meeting you and your son. I hope we meet on the trail some day.

Thanks John! We had a great group and we enjoyed meeting you and spending the day. Hope to catch you in the trails also.

 

[Rubisquatch]

My wife and I will be there the 18th as well and are also waiting on a manual (4dr Badlands). Sounds like there's a morning and afternoon session, so maybe we can take turns!

Yes you can take turns. My son and I traded driving a number of times. To be clear, There’s only 1 day long session but you go out in the morning for training on trail (ORX) then a trail ride, have lunch then go out again and do 4-5 more trails.

 

[TonyWonder]

I am going on Thursday! I am a little worried about the weather as it looks like a rainy day. Glad you had a good time. Great write up!

 

[clearedhot]

Did you take out the extra insurance?

I did the Austin Off Roadeo a couple of weeks ago. I don't know about NH but I would highly recommend splurging for the insurance if it's anything like Texas. Some of this stuff is pretty challenging and I wouldn't be surprised to see someone bend something. I can only imagine what repairs would cost.

There were lots of couples at the event I attended. There were only 3 of us that were singles. Now the wife wants us to do NH so she can drive. I'd do it in a heartbeat if Ford lets us book it.

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