Auburn Hills-based Stellantis’ Jeep brand hosted a Jeep Jamboree to celebrate 70 years of extreme off-roading adventure on the Rubicon Trail in California’s Sierra mountains over the summer, including the upcoming Rubicon Trail Expedition from Aug. 26-29 with more events scheduled through early November.
Jeep Jamborees are off-road adventure weekends for Jeep 4x4s drivers that have a long tradition dating back to 1953 when 4×4 pioneer Mark A. Smith organized the first Jeep Jamboree and voyaged across the Sierra Nevada Mountains by way of the old Rubicon Trail.
This summer, so far 450 Jeep enthusiasts driving a total of 125 Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators celebrated with a special event on the Rubicon Trail’s seven-decade anniversary. The jamboree was meant for enjoyment, but also to prove that stock Jeep vehicles can drive off the trail and get back home.
“For more than 80 years, the Jeep brand community has defined the Jeep brand and, for 70 of those years, the Rubicon Trail has been heralded by the community as one of the toughest off-road trails in the world, which combined with its beauty has put the Rubicon Trail on every Jeep 4×4 customer’s bucket list,” said Jim Morrison, senior vice president and head of Jeep brand North America. “Conquering the Rubicon Trail is tangible proof that these Jeep vehicles can literally go anywhere and do anything.“
The Rubicon Trail spans approximately 22 miles of difficult off-road terrain, and Jeep Trail Rated 4×4 vehicles are designed and built to overcome.
The Jeep Jamboree covered 17.5 miles of the terrain on its trail rides. Elevations on the trail range from approximately 5,400 feet to more than 7,000 feet.
“In 1953, when Mark Smith organized the first Jeep Jamboree with 55 Willys and voyaged across the Sierra Nevada Mountains by way of the Rubicon Trail, off-road recreation was born,” says Pearse Umlauf, president and CEO of Jeep Jamboree.
Jeep brand engineers have used the Rubicon Trail to develop and test its SUVs, including the Jeep Wrangler, which continues to be a “proof of concept” for the Jeep brand, where lessons learned from iconic off-road locations like Rubicon Trail and where feedback gleaned from Jeep drivers continue to push the brand forward.
