RealTruck Sponsors Ultimate Adventure 2023

This article is the first in a series of two 2023 Ultimate Adventure articles contributed by off-roading industry veteran, automotive enthusiast and journalist Verne Simons.

Brief history of Ultimate Adventure:

The Ultimate Adventure is the first weeklong hard-core off-road trip that has been around since 2000. The concept came from Cole Quinell, a former editor for Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road Magazine who wanted to emulate, with some changes, the essence of Hot Rod Magazine’s Power Tour, only for extreme 4-wheel drive enthusiasts. Since, the folks from Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road Magazine have put on the Ultimate Adventure, mostly in the US’s lower 48 states. The trip has spent time off-roading in 47 states in the lower 48 with Rhode Island being the one exception. In 2019 the Ultimate Adventure went to Alaska, for a unique and amazing experience making the 48th state. For 2023 Ultimate Adventure returned Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Also, in that time the Ultimate Adventure has only visited one off-road venue twice, California’s Rubicon Trail, the first time in 2001, and then again in 2016)

Ultimate Adventure 2023 started in Pennsylvania with off-road venues in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. We locked hubs for 8 different off-road venues, visited the Flight 93 Memorial, the Civil War era Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (not our terminology), and traveled over 950 miles.

• Start hotel: Blairsville, PA

Day 1:

• Rock Run Recreation Area

Day 2:

• Road Day from Blairsville to Good Evening Ranch in WV (Camping),

• Flight 93 Memorial

• Asylum

Day 3:

• Good Evening Ranch

Day 4:

• Road Day from Good Evening Ranch to Logan WV

• New River Gorge

• Ivy Branch of the Hatfield and McCoy OHV

Day 5:

• Bear Wallow of the Hatfield and McCoy, OHV to Cabwaylingo section of the Hatfield and McCoy OHV system for Camping

Day 6:

• Road Day, Cabwayingo to Campton, KY

• Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway

Day 7:

• Hollerwood Offroad Adventure Park

The rules are simple, participants must have specially equipped 4x4s with a transfer case, differential lockers, winches, tow-points, recovery equipment, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, tools and spare parts. Other requirements are 35-inch tires or larger, a 150mile fuel range, 65-75 MPH road capability, a functioning parking brake, and a functional roll-cage. The idea is to play follow the leader for seven days in a different area of the US while ready for just about anything that the trip leaders have planned. Participants must be capable, experienced, and self-sustaining for the duration without the help of trailers (you have to road drive your trail rigs). And while there are a few clues to the trips location each year, only a select few know the exact details of the adventures that each new day will bring. Some days are spent on the country’s toughest off-road trails (trail days) while the next day could be spent doing 65-75 down the highway for hundreds of miles (road days), and we may just stop at a museum, junkyard, natural feature, or hit an off-road venue to keep everyone on their toes. Camping is also a large aspect of Ultimate Adventure and participants are expected to be prepared for camping at any point regardless of the weather.

Drivers: 25 Vehicles in 4 Groups

The trip is made up of 20-28 vehicles, each with two occupants, the Driver and Codriver. Each selected driver is allowed to bring one vehicle and a Codriver of their choosing. All the people are made up of four basic groups, all of whom are vital to the event. One of the most important groups of people are the Invited Readers. These are people who have read the magazines, seen the Ultimate Adventure videos, and have the dedication to make off-roading a part of their lives. They do this by building a cool and qualified 4x4, using it to gain knowledge of its function and workings, and subsequently apply to be part of the trip. Three to five new invited readers are invited each year (selected by the magazine staff) with one returning reader invited from the past year’s trip (chosen by the Ultimate Adventure Cronies (see below).

Sponsors: RealTruck Leads the Way

The next very important group of people are the Sponsors, an assemblage of off-road manufacturers, retailers, and off-road shops, generally made up of true off-road enthusiasts who understand the desire for and value of such a trip and at the end of the day foot the bill for the entire trip. They pay so we can play and in exchange they get exposure within the magazine, videos, and more with stickers applied to magazine project vehicles, their own vehicles, and those of the readers and cronies. They also get first-hand experience watching their products get used and abused in a real-world off-road environment.

• Presenting Sponsor / OFFICIAL RETAILER - RealTruck

• Official Jeep Accessory - Rugged Ridge

• Official Sidesteps - NFab

• Official Spray On Protection - Bullet Liner

• Official Shock & Suspension - Skyjacker Suspension

• Official Synthetic Recovery Gear - Bubba Gear

• Official Mapping Tool - OnX Offroad

• Official IH Truck and Scout Parts - IH Parts America

• Official Custom Driveshaft - Quigley Driveshafts

• Official Tire - Milestar

• Official Transfer Case - Off-Road Designs

• Official Fabricator - Wood’s Offroad

Cronies: Helpers, Saftey & Experts

Next, we have the Cronies. This is a group of off-road enthusiasts from within the off-road industry, selected by the magazine staff to assist with the event. Their job is to keep everyone safe and help with extractions, repairs, and recovery. They volunteer their time and expertise to become the glue that keeps the group together and in line during the event. They will stay with any other participant if there is breakage or another failure and help with what they can. They are not a pit crew there to fix everyone else’s issues, but rather to assist the Driver and Codriver with any repairs that may (and probably will) arise, remember each participant is expected to be self-sufficient.

Staff: Organizing the Event

The last group are the Ultimate Adventure Staff made up of Magazine employees who organize and lead the trip, figuring out the area the trip will be in and selecting off-road venues and other adventures. There are also a crew of dedicated camera people who document the trip both with still photography and video, generally made up of off-road enthusiasts as well.