If you have read Jp magazine for any length of time, areas such as Moab and the Rubicon are likely to be familiar names to you. There are, however, excellent wheeling locations to be found all over the country. No, really! Take for example Clayton, Oklahoma. We recently headed to Clayton to spend the weekend with the friendly folks from the Jeeps of East Texas.inline_mediumwraptextright26948902/eventcoverage/154_0911_wheeling_in_clayton_oklahoma154_0911_01+jeep_trails_in_clayton_oklahoma+water_fall.jpgTrue

It's hard to believe I'm in my fifth year here in magazine-land. It is also hard to believe that it took me this long to agree to go to Four Wheeler magazine's Top Truck Challenge in Hollister, California. Every year Cappa tells me I should crash it with him, and every year it's always something-I'm out of the country, I have four Jeeps and none of them are capable of making the trip, or whatever. Well this year, the stars aligned and I went. I gotta say that I'm a dumbass for not going sooner.

You might think that your Jeep works pretty good in the sand. "I just air down the tires and keep the transfer case in High range" is what you are likely saying to yourself. And, to be honest, this scenario is a lot of fun in the dunes. However, it is the equivalent of taking a stock Wrangler into the rocks: there is the potential for a whole lot more. The good folks at the National Sand Drag Association (NSDA) have been having fun in the sand since the early 1960s. The full series of events throughout Southern California and Nevada are extremely well-organized and also well attended. There are classes for everything from kids' quads to full-blown alcohol Funny Cars at these family-friendly events, but we were more interested in the Jeeps that dominated the Sportsman and Pro Mod classes.inline_mediumwraptextright26554696/eventcoverage/154_0910_jeep_sand_drag_racing154_0910_01_z+jeep_drab_racing+photo.jpgTrue

The Chile Challenge doesn't take place in some South American country, it's held every year in the rockcrawling mecca of Las Cruces, New Mexico. The event name comes from the famous chili peppers that are grown and roasted in southern New Mexico. The trails continue the theme, with names like Habanero Falls and Rocotillo Rapids. The hotter the chile the harder the trail. The Chile Challenge is not a Jeep-specific function per se, but like most major 4WD events it is dominated by Jeeps with sticky tires, locking differentials, and flexible suspensions. The event is hosted by the Las Cruces 4WD Club and doubles as the Winter Quarterly Meeting for the Southwest 4WD Association.

Of course, we like going to Moab, Utah, during Easter Jeep Safari for the awesome wheeling and to see all the cool Jeeps. The other side of the Easter Jeep Safari is the vendor show held at the Spanish Trail Arena at the end of the week. Since this show is huge, there are often products so new that the paint is still drying and they haven't been seen by anyone but the people who made them.

When we got the invite for Jeeptoberfest in Strum, Wisconsin, we were on the fence.

We've been to a lot of off-road parks across this great country. It is, after all, what we do for a living. Over all those wheeling miles, we just seem to have the most fun out in the Badlands in Attica, Indiana.

"Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler for sale, $850 or best offer or trade for a set of 33 or 35-inch LTBs, TSLs, or SXs, a Warn 8274, a Lear Jet, an Aircraft carrier, or an F4U4 Corsair but would settle for a P51 Mustang." So read the online ad for my first Scrambler. Sure, I wasn't sitting on an aircraft carrier or a Corsair, but I did happen to have a Warn 8274 winch that came with a $500 CJ-5 I got years ago and had since sold off for parts.

Getting run over is not a fun way to start a trail run, but that's just what Trasborg did. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the trail ride in Wellsville, Ohio, only went uphill from there.

As magazine guys, we hear it all the time, Twirling Lilies or Devil's Tap Shoes or is the hardest trail in the country. Telling us that is a sure-fire way to get us interested enough to check it out. We like carnage, like pushing the envelope, and just flat-out enjoy a good day wheeling. The problem is we often find that "Mashed Potato" often isn't the hardest trail we've ever been down.

Each and every vehicle entered in the 2009 King of the Hammers race was required to go though Tech Inspection. Held the day before the race, after the LCQ, this is where all vehicles were equipped with a satellite tracker, each driver given the opportunity to sign up for contingencies, and each rig given the once over to be sure it was safe for competition.

It is hard to believe, but 2008 marked the 25th anniversary of the Jeep that changed the face of the auto industry. In 1983, as a '84 model, Jeep introduced the unibody-framed four-door, four-wheel-drive utility vehicle. We are talking about the XJ Cherokee of course, and as soon as it was introduced it was a hit. Shift-on-the-fly 4WD, affordable price, seating for four and decent mileage numbers made it a favorite for young and budding families everywhere.

For many years people have loaded up their show Jeeps, beater Jeeps, clean Jeeps, and dirty Jeeps and headed for York, Pennsylvania. Some attendees traveled hundreds of miles to the event so many have viewed as a "must see". Some hoping to bring home a trophy while others are out to show off just how many dents, crushed fenders, broken windows, and ample-used skid plates they have earned. For whatever the reason, they all had a common goal and that was to have a great time. Summer 2008 was no exception, and July 19 & 20 proved the 13th Annual All Breeds Jeep Show is still a Jeeping good time.

Official Scoring Results of the 2009 KOH

Thursday, February 26th 2009, 38 drivers and rigs from all across the nation lined up at the starting line to take on the grueling 2-mile King of the Hammers Last Chance Qualifier loop that included high speed desert whoops and gnarly rock crawling up the famous Back Door trail. The top 14 competitors to finish the LCQ earned a spot in the 2009 King of the Hammers Race.

Yeah, we've already brought you a story from the Rubicon Trail in Northern California this year. But what would you do if you had one of the most famous trails virtually in your back yard and a paid vacation, er, work trip was only eight hours away? That's right; you'd load your flattie onto the trailer, hit the road, and polish some Sierra granite with your aired down tires. At least that's what this author did when he got the invite to the first (and possibly annual) EarlyCJ5.com Vintage Iron, Vintage Trail Rubicon trip.

As winter was setting in, many of our favorite trails were getting too cold or wet to traverse. New Mexico experienced an unusually warm autumn, though, so we met up with members of the New Mexico Virtual Jeep Club for some trail action. Our destination was a trail called Jaws of Death. The history is just as colorful as the name, which comes from two distinct obstacles that are barely wide enough for a Jeep and stick up like shark's teeth from the ground.

We've all heard of Jeepers Jamborees and the Rubicon Trail. Sometimes at the same time, sometimes separately, but they are always being referred to as something that a Jeep person wants to go do.

Pushed forward on the calendar because of the threat of fire closure, Forest Fest VIII took place in the mountains of Big Bear, California, above the smog-filled skies of San Bernardino and Los Angeles. The Big Bear mountains could not have been better. The bright sun and blue skies covered the hills perfectly.

The Chile Challenge is put on by the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club and the Southwest Four Wheel Drive Association every February and is held in the hills just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

This spring we got a chance to run Billings Canyon Jeep Trail. It is located near Grand Junction, Colorado, and has been adopted by the Grand Mesa Jeep Club.

Over the past decade or so we've brought you smatterings of Glamis coverage. But wh at was once a Romanesque bacchanal of topless college chicks and keg stands has given way to something more akin to the roots of the Glamis movement. It seems it's once again a family fun spot. Or at least that's the vibe we got from our latest visit on New Year's Eve 2007.

You don't usually find us hobnobbing it up at any of the fancy automotive-manufacturer shows. As far as we're concerned, a suit and tie are about as useful as teeth on a chicken. But this year we'd been hearing the dreaded words "hybrid" and "fuel economy"

Of All the places you might wish to be in winter, Michigan is not likely to be anywhere near the top of the list. Unless, of course, you're looking for a warm vacation from your home of Antarctica or Pluto.

Every year, it seems like we end up in Big Bear, california, at the same time the inland empire 4 Wheelers (IE4W) are holding their annual Forest Fest. This year was no exception, and we got to wondering just what it is that makes us come back to this run instead of many others year after year.