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I’ve had my ‘23 Badlands for a little over a month now, so decided to take it out for some proper off-roading. Ray Rocks in MO is an old rock quarry, with some large open sandy areas as well as heavily wooded tree trails. Area is not too far from where I'm located in Kansas City and just kind of decided on a whim to make the trip out on a lazy Sunday with the family.
Started things off slow, just cruising around the sandy areas and then made our way down the main road into some more interesting terrain. The trails, especially in the wooded areas, seem to be more suited for side by sides or dedicated rock crawlers, but we went in nonetheless. Their trails here are rated 1-6, with 6 being the most difficult. After peeking into some of the medium trails rated at a 4, decided we best stick to the easy ones. Even the 4s that I saw were extremely steep with very large rocks, not something I wanted to take the Bronco down quite yet. I figured the trail ratings were more suited to side by sides as well considering how gnarly they looked.
First heavily wooded trail I made my way into was called 'The Wave', rated at a 2. Had a series of 3-4 sharp crests or waves, managed to scrape bottom on just about all of them, but no issue other than that. Trees were a little tight but nothing here had me worried about pin stripes. Once through the wave section ran into a few muddy spots, but these were easily passable.
A little beyond that though, things took a turn. Came to an intersection with large mud ruts to my left, talking ~3' deep, and close trees to the right. Decided to go right through the tight trees and ended up at another section with deep mud ruts, running about 3' deep and intermittent for roughly 100'. Made it through the mud a bit and was unable to get out of the ruts, but straight ahead were deep enough to have me worried. Really had no choice but to push onward so we tried out luck.... and got stuck. We were on our own so we were forced to forage for branches and jam these in front of the tires but we eventually made it out of the first major mud hole. Had to keep moving since we were still in muddy ruts and got stuck once again about 60' down. After another foraging trip, managed to escape once again.
Beyond that, came into a crossroads with the mud mess behind us, steep 6' drop offs to creek on on side, extremely steep rocky climbs to another, and finally a more mellow trail the last direction. Headed through the mellow trail and had to make a call to either continue through the trees and risk getting lost or stuck in more mud, or climb another steep incline but would take us straight to the main road. With the help of a friend who had since shown up, he guided me up the steep incline. I was borderline concerned that I would seriously not make it up this last hill, it seemed near vertical from my point of view at the bottom. With his guidance, lots of pucker, and all the tools the Bronco had to offer, I can say I safely made it up that hill. I saw at least 30° from the dash screen when going up that hill, but it sure felt like a lot more! I will say, if I happen to climb a hill like that again at more than 30°, I will be very surprised.
With the hill conquered, made our way back on the main road through a few more 'relaxing' trails and finally made our way out and back home. I will say, Ray Rocks has a lot to offer, but these trails are definitely more suited for smaller crawlers. They can be done in full sized vehicles, but trees can be tight, mud can be deep, and we were often wondering where the heck we were even at since the map didn't seem to show many of the trails we were actually seeing and many of the trails are not marked out in the field. Ended up with a few scrapes to the bash plates and a bit of pin striping on the passenger side, but all in all, it was surely a blast and we made some memories that day. Thankful for the very capable Bronco, patient wife, and friend who helped me navigate that last hill!
Cheers!
Started things off slow, just cruising around the sandy areas and then made our way down the main road into some more interesting terrain. The trails, especially in the wooded areas, seem to be more suited for side by sides or dedicated rock crawlers, but we went in nonetheless. Their trails here are rated 1-6, with 6 being the most difficult. After peeking into some of the medium trails rated at a 4, decided we best stick to the easy ones. Even the 4s that I saw were extremely steep with very large rocks, not something I wanted to take the Bronco down quite yet. I figured the trail ratings were more suited to side by sides as well considering how gnarly they looked.
First heavily wooded trail I made my way into was called 'The Wave', rated at a 2. Had a series of 3-4 sharp crests or waves, managed to scrape bottom on just about all of them, but no issue other than that. Trees were a little tight but nothing here had me worried about pin stripes. Once through the wave section ran into a few muddy spots, but these were easily passable.
A little beyond that though, things took a turn. Came to an intersection with large mud ruts to my left, talking ~3' deep, and close trees to the right. Decided to go right through the tight trees and ended up at another section with deep mud ruts, running about 3' deep and intermittent for roughly 100'. Made it through the mud a bit and was unable to get out of the ruts, but straight ahead were deep enough to have me worried. Really had no choice but to push onward so we tried out luck.... and got stuck. We were on our own so we were forced to forage for branches and jam these in front of the tires but we eventually made it out of the first major mud hole. Had to keep moving since we were still in muddy ruts and got stuck once again about 60' down. After another foraging trip, managed to escape once again.
Beyond that, came into a crossroads with the mud mess behind us, steep 6' drop offs to creek on on side, extremely steep rocky climbs to another, and finally a more mellow trail the last direction. Headed through the mellow trail and had to make a call to either continue through the trees and risk getting lost or stuck in more mud, or climb another steep incline but would take us straight to the main road. With the help of a friend who had since shown up, he guided me up the steep incline. I was borderline concerned that I would seriously not make it up this last hill, it seemed near vertical from my point of view at the bottom. With his guidance, lots of pucker, and all the tools the Bronco had to offer, I can say I safely made it up that hill. I saw at least 30° from the dash screen when going up that hill, but it sure felt like a lot more! I will say, if I happen to climb a hill like that again at more than 30°, I will be very surprised.
With the hill conquered, made our way back on the main road through a few more 'relaxing' trails and finally made our way out and back home. I will say, Ray Rocks has a lot to offer, but these trails are definitely more suited for smaller crawlers. They can be done in full sized vehicles, but trees can be tight, mud can be deep, and we were often wondering where the heck we were even at since the map didn't seem to show many of the trails we were actually seeing and many of the trails are not marked out in the field. Ended up with a few scrapes to the bash plates and a bit of pin striping on the passenger side, but all in all, it was surely a blast and we made some memories that day. Thankful for the very capable Bronco, patient wife, and friend who helped me navigate that last hill!
Cheers!
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