TX>NM>CO: First Road Trip and Dirt In the 6G

Just got back to Austin from a week on the road. Abiquiu, NM to Durango, CO to Silverton, CO. Did miles of off-road trails in the area and finally got to put the 6th gen to the test. I have to say I was blown away with how this mostly stock truck did. The off-road tech is impressive. We used crawl control and MTS in dirt, rock, mud, and sand and the truck never skipped a beat. We did some trails in Silverton that had me sweating, but it just cruised over everything. Having OnX on the screen was pretty sweet, and the trail cams were an absolute game changer. In my 5th gen I used to have to hop out to scout stuff all the time but only did that 2-3 times the whole trip.


I was a bit nervous about this trip with the Toyo Open Country AT3 265/7r18 SL (not the ones that come on the pro) but they absolutely passed the test. I was on some sharp chunky rocky sections and luckily made it out unscathed. I did not air down on the trails out of fear of sidewall drama but they killed it.

We ran into 2 6th gens in Silverton. A sport and a matching ORP.

2k miles and we averaged 19.9mpg on the dash. Lots of 85mph stretches.

Thanks so much for posting this! I've been wanting to take our ORP out but having never off-roaded before I didn't want to be a complete noob stranded somewhere because I didn't know what I was doing. This inspires some confidence to try a couple of trails slightly more involved than a fire road at least. And that's great to know about on-x, as it seems to make for a much easier point of entry into going off road.

Glad you had an amazing trip. Thanks for the inspiration!

ColoradoRoz said:

Thanks so much for posting this! I've been wanting to take our ORP out but having never off-roaded before I didn't want to be a complete noob stranded somewhere because I didn't know what I was doing. This inspires some confidence to try a couple of trails slightly more involved than a fire road at least. And that's great to know about on-x, as it seems to make for a much easier point of entry into going off road.

Glad you had an amazing trip. Thanks for the inspiration!

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The onX app is great. It tells you a lot of what the trail should look like. You will be fine in your ORP. If possible, have a bumper and winch installed and get some recovery gear. There won’t be many trails you won’t be able to navigate! All the best.

ColoradoRoz said:

Thanks so much for posting this! I've been wanting to take our ORP out but having never off-roaded before I didn't want to be a complete noob stranded somewhere because I didn't know what I was doing. This inspires some confidence to try a couple of trails slightly more involved than a fire road at least. And that's great to know about on-x, as it seems to make for a much easier point of entry into going off road.

Glad you had an amazing trip. Thanks for the inspiration!

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Glad you got something out of it!
OnX is great because you can get realtime(ish) trail reports that will let you know what to expect. You can do most trails up to level 3 probably pretty easily in a stock TRD Off-Road.

Assuming your username checks out, you live in the perfect state to get into off-roading!

Looks like an incredible trip!

DangItsDen said:

Glad you got something out of it!
OnX is great because you can get realtime(ish) trail reports that will let you know what to expect. You can do most trails up to level 3 probably pretty easily in a stock TRD Off-Road.

Assuming your username checks out, you live in the perfect state to get into off-roading!

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Thank you so much for mentioning about the levels. I love that on-x has that info but without any context I really wasn't sure how far you could go stock, especially when there have been some yt videos showing the stock version do what appears to be some tough stuff. At least now I'll cap out at a 3 on the first venture and not get greedy.

Once bought a new pair of hiking boots that were so cool looking I did not want to go hiking with them and get them all mucked up.
Eventually you will come to over to the dark side!

mikeduff said:

Once bought a new pair of hiking boots that were so cool looking I did not want to go hiking with them and get them all mucked up.
Eventually you will come to over to the dark side!

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I got that beat. After a hot shower and a good shave I don't leave my house for fear of getting dirty !

6th gen content: I think at this point in my life any off-roading I do is going to be limited to forest service roads and the occasional jeep trail in state forests here in PA to access some drive in campsites.

Lots of reasons for that I won't bore people here with, but having owned a 4th gen and a 5th gen I put through their paces in rougher environments, I will say that after that first muddy trip you just won't really mind all that much what happens and that the inevitable scratches and dings that will occur give a fair amount of character to the the vehicle.

OP, that looks like a great trip. I am pretty envious of you folks who live in the western states

Sweet Photos! It's gorgeous up there and having one of the best machines to take you up and back!

Besides the awesomeness of the new model, those pictures are spectacular! The road , Rt 550, from Durango to Silverton to Ouray and Montrose is an amazing ride in autumn. Jealous!

Very cool! I'll be doing the same thing at the end of October. Looking to cross from NM to CO offroad, pit stop in breck for two days then offroad back to Dallas (as much as possible).