Does the idea of living out of your 4×4 for a week sound appealing? Does ‘wheeling some of the hardest trails in the country and laying down a thousand or more on-road miles between them without a trailer sound like fun? Does living on manifold burritos and sleeping in an open field during a rainstorm seem glamorous? Do you like hanging out and wrenching on your rig in random parking lots? Then read on.
The Basics
Unreal Adventure is a 7-day on- and off-road trip that takes place in a different part of the country every year. Not to be mistaken with a competition, UA is instead an endurance event where you, a co-driver, and your 4×4 spend a full week tackling some of the hardest off-road trails in the country and also drive anywhere from 900 to 1400 miles in between them. Yep, you have to drive your rig. There is a strict no-trailer rule for Unreal Adventure: you can trailer to the start and trailer from the end, but during the event itself you have to rely on you and your 4×4 to get you to the next destination. Yes, hardcore trails are hard on equipment. Yes, breakdowns happen ALL THE TIME. Yes, this IS a lot of work. No, we’re not kidding. And yeppers, it’s absolutely the trip of a lifetime. Oh, and one more thing: you’ll know where you’re going to start the trip, and you’ll know where the end is, but in the middle you will have no idea where you’re going, what destinations you’ll be visiting, or what on earth is around the next bend until you see it. But that’s part of the adventure!
This trip is not entirely about four-wheeling and road-tripping, although that’s a big part of it. We always try to incorporate unique and interesting stops along the way, from unique and often out-of-the-way points of interest in whatever region we happen to be visiting to monumental bucket-list must-sees. Past stops have been things like unusual museums, super-cool junkyards, humongous Army surplus stores, national parks, memorials, historic buildings, mines (working and abandoned), and much more. Recent year stops have included, among other things, a historic prison, a former lunatic asylum, a maple syrup farm, an Indian ruin, the most remote point in the continental USA, and more.
Now, that’s not to say you’re going to be by yourself. Each year the group comprises 20-25 vehicle teams of like-minded off-roaders all doing the same thing. These consist of invited guests, event sponsors, staff, and the cronies. The cronies are all experienced ‘wheelers and familiar with the event. Their purpose is to lend a hand, keep the cats herded, and generally keep things moving. While you are required to be self-sufficient (we are not responsible for you), everyone is quick to lend a helping hand or tool, and we will never leave anyone behind. If you make it to the end of this 7-day adventure, we have a victory dinner where your sleep-deprived self can get a good meal followed by parking lot festivities at a random hotel, usually in the middle of or adjacent to nowhere you’d otherwise think of going, and solidify friendships can that last a lifetime. And if that’s not the case, you were probably doing it wrong the whole time.
If you’re curious to learn more about UA, then check out the history page.