10 | AUGUST 2019 4x
The world’s greatest 4x4 travel adventures caught on camera. This month,
the literal top of the motoring world...
Rubicon Trail
Is the Rubicon Trail the most famous off-road route in the world? Well, good luck
finding one that beats it©
The Rubicon is a 22-mile ‘road’ west of Lake Tahoe in Northern California,
surrounded by the absolutely sensational wilderbess scenery of the Eldorado
National Forest. This alone is reason not to rush things – not that you can, really.
Still, start early and you could do the whole thing in a day. All 22 miles of it,
don’t forget. And 10 of those are smooth gravel that takes no more than about
half and hour.
The rest is more or less non-stop rocks. There are vast axle-twisters, deep
V-gulleys, sharp side-slopes, rough climbs and hardness-hanging drops© much of
the time, you’ll be travelling at hours per mile, not the other way round.
The hills really are that steep, the rocks that severe. Few would venture here
without big tyres, lifted suspension and at least one diff-lock; there are more
extreme trails in America, but not a lot can touch the Rubicon for the blend it
offers of adventure, natural landscapes and tricky, technical driving.
The classic image of Rubicon driving would show a Jeep scaling a jagged rock
face with sun-dappled mountains in the background, and much of it is indeed like
that. But of course you can tackle it in (or on) any make of off-road vehicles, and
if you don’t mind feet-deep snow you could always try giving it a bash in winter.
0ess chance of getting wasted by a bear then, too©
8oT Peft: Lake (oris, by 8im Berger @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.
Left, bePo[ Peft: 8oyota8rYck6Ybicon, by 4aYP ;asneski
6Ybicon 8raiP, by 8Ycker ,ammerstrom @ flickr.com, CC BY2( 2.DESTINATIONS