Outside Scottsdale, Arizona there is, well, desert. Lots of desert. Which means it’s a great place to test the off-road abilities of the 2007 Jeep Patriot. Of course, we had to drive along highways – lots of highways – to get to a specific off-road course Jeep officials had mapped out. For the morning highway drive, we grabbed the keys to a four-wheel-drive Sport model with the five-speed manual tranny, and for the off-road excursion (and the return drive) we found ourselves in a Limited with the Freedom-Drive II off-road package. Just a few days prior to our arrival, Arizona had seen some snow in the higher elevations, so we did find a few isolated mud holes along the off-road course.