I Took Toyota’s New Off-Road Vehicles on America’s Most Iconic Trails. They Didn’t Flinch.

If you’re like most people, Toyota is already a part of your life in one way or another. The odds are pretty good that your last Uber driver picked you up in a Camry, your little brother’s first car was a Corolla, your mom has a RAV4, and your favorite college professor drives a Prius. Heck, you might have a Toyota in the garage yourself. They’re practically unavoidable.

Most automakers are known for their one thing, and Toyotas are synonymous with being safe, reliable cars. But what sets Toyota apart is its variety. The global auto giant has the largest vehicle offering of any car brand currently on the market. And though Toyota is better known for its lineup of steady, norm-core vehicles, the company is increasingly turning heads with its track-oriented sports cars and, now, a hefty lineup of off-road-ready trucks and SUVs.

When I joined Toyota for a two-day trail ride in its all-new Tacoma, 4Runner, and Land Cruiser models, we traveled to the unofficial off-roading capital of the United States—Moab, Utah. It’s a small desert town of roughly 5,000 people that’s centered on adventure tourism. The area is made up of red-rock desert, slickrock formations, canyons, and arches. Some of its most popular trails—Hell’s Revenge, Poison Spider Mesa, Fins and Things, and Moab Rim—are flocked to by recreational off-roaders but are also favorable proving grounds for some of the most popular off-road-centric car brands.

Since 1967, Jeep has made Moab the setting for its Easter Jeep Safari, an annual nine-day event that celebrates its iconic Wrangler model and covers large stretches of the Rubicon Trail. Ford has an off-road outpost in the area too, situated on the banks of the Colorado River. Its Bronco Off-Roadeo serves as an off-road school and destination experience for owners and potential Bronco customers.

Toyota’s tire prints seem less ingrained in the off-road culture of the area. As I strolled downtown Moab, I popped into every souvenir shop on Main Street—taking stock of the hats, T-shirts, bumper stickers, and lighters that were for sale. Every item came emblazoned with appliquéd patches or screen prints of Wranglers and Broncos. As I searched from shop to shop, items that resembled the distinctive shape of a Toyota truck or SUV were nowhere to be found. But they should be.

Over the past four years, Toyota has rolled out new generations of the Tundra, Sequoia, Tacoma, 4Runner, and Land Cruiser—with each model touting an adventure-ready capability that allows you to drive right off the showroom floor to the closest trailhead. The fully loaded grades of Tacoma and 4Runner both now come as a specialized Trailhunter trim, which sees the addition of notable aftermarket off-road accessories as stock, including Old Man Emu 2.5-inch forged mono-tube shocks with rear piggyback-style remote reservoirs, a steel rear bumper from ARB, and between one and a half to two inches of factory lift from front to back. Albeit a laundry list of now built-in off-road upgrades, it’s an intentional selection of parts and accessories that have been tried, tested, and used by staunch off-road enthusiasts for years.

Upscale Toyota sister company Lexus recently relaunched its GX—a model that was dually popular among both early-2000s cool moms and the off-road community of the past 15 to 20 years. Why? Because the GX has the rare ability to combine a refined driving feel with both rigid body-on-frame construction, a full-time four-wheel-drive system, a Torsen limited-slip center differential, and a low-range transfer case—characteristics that come in handy out on the trail. Now, similar to Toyota, the highest grade of the GX is now dedicated to a speciality trim, Overtrail+, which sees the addition of a one-inch suspension lift, an electronically controlled locking rear differential, a built-in air compressor, and removable third-row seating to accommodate over-landing equipment.

If you’re an off-roading enthusiast, none of this is too surprising. The company is far from new to the space. Its pedigree in off-road achievements proceeds it. Toyota has racked up multiple class wins in the Baja 500 and 1000, Score & MTEG series, the Dakar Rally, and the Rebelle Rally. Like many automotive manufacturers with race teams, Toyota has long been implementing the trickle-down effect, using its research and design findings from competition racing to inform the capability and technology of its road and, in this case, off-road cars.

And car enthusiasts have long lauded Toyota for its off-road capabilities. When the Toyota Land Cruiser was imported to the United States back in 1958, it quickly became a symbol of adventure. And as over-landing began to gain traction in the 2010s, that popularity rapidly accelerated post-Covid as a popular socially distant activity. And now car brands have leaned into the off-road scene more than ever—Jeep has continuously maintained its popularity with Wrangler and Gladiator models, while Ford brought back the Bronco in 2021 after a 25-year hiatus alongside a new, smaller Bronco Sport iteration.

A Toyota 4Runner takes on the Hell’s Revenge trail in Moab, Utah.

A setting like Moab is the ultimate stage to show off what your vehicle is capable of—or to quickly find out what it can’t do. There’s probably nothing more embarrassing than attempting to drive demanding terrain in a vehicle that is ill-equipped to do so. The opposite is also true, however. After doing my fair share of off-roading—including a stint in the Rebelle Rally and as a guest expert in Road & Track’s luxury off-road test—I know that a treacherous trail like Hell’s Revenge, known for its roller-coaster-ride terrain of slickrock ridges, feels less scary and more fun so long as you have the right equipment.

As we played musical chairs behind the wheels of the all-new 4Runner, Tacoma, and Land Cruiser models, it became apparent that Toyota is aiming to make adventure more accessible. Its lineup has the ability to take the guess work out of off-roading in a way that doesn’t feel overengineered or disingenuous.

Each of our vehicles was equipped with some combination of Toyota’s latest off-road technology—Multi-Terrain Monitor (MTM), Multi-Terrain Select (MTS), and CRAWL Control. MTM uses multiple exterior cameras located around the vehicle to act as additional spotters on the trail, making cresting steep inclines and maneuvering around jagged rock edges easy, while MTS intuitively adjusts throttle, brake force, and torque distribution depending on the type of surface you are traveling on, like mud and sand, rock and dirt, and even snow and icy surfaces.

But even with technology that makes moving through difficult trails like this more or less a breeze, Toyota excels at preserving that tactile, second-nature feel that often gets lost when this level of tech is introduced. Differential locking mechanisms remain as physical switches, and sturdy ridged knobs are used to toggle through MTS. Critical selections that you would typically need quick access to in off-roading situations are never hidden within tabbed screens on the infotainment center, which have become a growing nuisance in both new and electric vehicles.

And although each Toyota vehicle made easy work of the Moab trails we traversed, at times it was at a much slower pace than for the non-stock off-road vehicles that we met out on the trail. But as we occasionally waved on a group of modded Jeep Wranglers that had that advantage, at one point we heard one driver chatter over a shared radio frequency, “I can’t believe this group of stock Toyotas can get through this trail.” How’s that for street, er, trail cred?

Toyota’s truck and SUV lineup is one of the most comprehensive offerings of off-road-ready vehicles, and the Tacoma alone maintains its status as the best-selling midsize pickup truck in the U.S. And all over the country, pockets of Toyota off-road enthusiasts exist and are growing. Yes, you’re still going to see practical Camrys and Corollas all over your daily commute. Meanwhile, Toyota is quietly dominating the off-road scene.