Who We Are
What We Are
Ready to kick start your offroad adventure?
Well, unlike those seductive commercials that imply anyone driving an SUV can just jump behind the steering wheel and instantly challenge steep dirt ascents, ford streams, clamber over rocks, glide over sand dunes, and overcome whatever obstacles Mother Nature puts in your way — actual offroading requires training, good preparation, unique driving skills, and probably a few upgrades to your vehicle.
Our mission is to teach and nurture those who want to journey beyond the pavement.
This website is a labor of love. Our staff are volunteers. We are funded primarily out-of-pocket.
Many of us began as newbies when we started in this hobby. Except for a few, most of us weren’t mechanics or gear heads. Our Jeeps, Toyotas, and pickups were probably stock and used as our daily drivers. We didn’t know much, if anything, about “jeeping” or offroading other than it sounded like a lot of fun.
But how does someone interested in offroading get started and learn the fundamentals? Where to find good information that we could trust? How to find a reputable jeep/offroad club near us?
“Too bad that a website like this didn’t exist until now.”
What We Are Not
We are not the competition. We are not here to poach subscribers, followers, or members. Quite the contrary… we want to steer new people to other sites in the Offroading Community.
No sign-ups, no memberships, no fees. We won’t collect or sell your data.
There are no sales carts here. No one is trying to sell you anything.
Offroading.info is not a jeep or 4wd club. We don’t host trail runs (although our staff members are active members and Trail Leaders in local clubs).
We would not be described as a Facebook Group, Instagram, or discussion Forum. This is not the place to post pictures, memes, and comments.
Nor is our mission to function as consumer watchdogs; links to outside resources are provided as a convenience, but we cannot be responsible for their content. You interact with third parties at your own risk.
“Think of us as an online notebook full of useful information.”
-Fred G
Our backstory
Offroading.info was created as an educational resource for those thinking about joining or new to our offroading community.
Our staff includes a mix of “intermediate” as well as “hardcore” experienced offroaders representing a wide range of backgrounds & professions. The contributing writers have been chosen for their ability to explain and communicate in terms that novices can relate to and understand.
As the Executive Editor of this website, I remember what it was like – just a few years ago – when my wife and I first got started in jeeping. We were fortunate to have connected early on with a good jeep club (Desert Wranglers in Las Vegas), and quickly discovered that there was a world of stuff that we didn’t know.
I come from a professional and academic background. My primary career was as an award winning Production Sound Mixer (aka location dialogue recordist) in the Hollywood industry, which gradually transitioned into earning a paycheck as a university professor and consultant during my latter years. I had a knack for being able to explain complicated technology and mindset using non-technical concepts that my students and clients could understand.
We got into offroading after we retired in late 2021 and had moved from California to Nevada. Not only were we seeking out a leisure pursuit, but we wanted to meet some new friends. Our first realization was that, contrary to popular belief, the majority of fellow jeepers were middle aged or retirees. Purchasing and maintaining a Jeep or tricked out Toyota (aka ‘Toya’) is not a hobby for someone fresh out of school struggling to make rent payments!
No longer burdened by a forty hour workweek, we now had the time and motivation to immerse ourselves into our new hobby. Our goal was to learn as much as possible in as short a period of time as we could in order to feel confident on the trails.
We attended classes. We scoured the internet for articles, and watched hours of YouTube videos. We signed up for as many local club runs as we could. Participated in regional offroad events such as Winter 4x4 Jamboree and Hump N Bump. Our offroad education & training took a couple years, but we pushed ourselves and kept learning at every opportunity.
In the meantime, my administrative skills came into play when the local jeep dealership sponsoring our club decided to disband it (for corporate reasons). So I gathered together the (former) members in order to re-organize Desert Wranglers at the beginning of 2022 as a non-profit 501c3, and served two years as its founding president. We grew into one of the largest active clubs in Nevada. Desert Wranglers prides itself on welcoming new members and training beginners – but ours is a local Southern Nevada club, so not everyone can avail themselves of the training.
In 2025, I created this website to function as an educational tool on a national level to provide tutorials, articles, and links to resources for anyone, anywhere, who wants to get started in offroading. As mentioned before, this non-commercial site is not trying to sell you anything; nor are we trying to poach members, subscribers, or followers from other groups or entities. Just the opposite, in fact. We’re happy to promote your club or organization with our readers.
Use the contact form to add your links to our Directory, and to share your informative articles & videos.
Needless to say, our jeep evolved from a stock Sahara (pavement princess) daily driver into a decently modified rig. Steel bumpers, winch, 35 inch tires, lift, skid plates, diff covers… well, you know the drill. (Or maybe you don’t, and that’s why you are reading the stuff on this site.)
Some of our (non-Jeep) friends take pride in their sleek and powerful sportscars. Those sharp looking luxury toys are certainly pretty to look at, hug the road even at high speed curves, and accelerate fast as hell -- but realistically, these are fantasies that won’t be realized unless you live next to a racetrack or live in a region devoid of law enforcement and speed limits.
Before she got her Jeep, my wife owned a couple BMW Z4’s. Super capable, for sure. But we only risked accelerating this driving machine above 120 mph on one occasion, praying the whole time that the highway patrol was nowhere close by.
We love our Jeep because we can head out anytime we want and actually ENJOY its off-road capabilities. It is a driving pleasure that we can actually indulge in, at minor daily expense and very little outing preparation. You don’t need to dream about it; you can head out and DO IT.
True, eventually you will be tempted to upgrade your vehicle. Kinda like any hobby. But you can get started with just your stock SUV.
Recently, we sunk a chunk of cash from our retirement account into some Jeep upgrades. It was not cheap, and we could have gone on a week’s cruise for that amount of money. But a week’s cruise is only fun for a week!
Our moderately equipped Jeep provides excitement and wonderful memories EVERY week.
Words cannot describe some of the majestic vistas our jeep runs have taken us to, and we feel sorry for those who have never enjoyed Mother Nature from deep within, miles from the nearest bustling highway.
Your adventure awaits.
Welcome to the world of offroading!
Feel free to send us comments, suggestions, submissions.
Fred Ginsburg CAS PhD
Executive Editor of Offroading.info
