Land Rover Expedition Team Crosses U.S. via Trans-America Trail

There are road trips and there are road trips. This trip undertaken by the Land Rover Expedition America team would fall under the latter category. Last week, the Land Rover Expedition America team and three LR4 SUVs finished their 27 day, 4,300 mile journey across the U.S. the hard way. Starting from Asheville, North Carolina and finishing off at the Oregon coast, the group took the Trans-America Trail. The trail was created by motorcycle legend Sam Correro in the nineties and comprises a mixture of forest roads, farm roads, and other off-road routes.

Leading the group was off-road icon and certified Land Rover Driving Instructor Tom Collins. Collins is well known in the off-road community for his participation in the Camel Trophy event in 1987 and being the leader for the event in 1990. Collins has also a played a major role in the creation of Land Rover's driving school and adventure programs in North America.

Some of the biggest challenges came in the last third of the trip. The group made the difficult crossing of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and narrowly escaped flash floods in New Mexico and Utah. Their biggest challenge came within the last forty-eight hours of the journey in Oregon where wildfires forced the closure of many trails. Thanks to firefighters, the group was able to avoid the hot zones and arrive at the coast.

“The sight of the ocean is something the team on the trip has been dreaming of. After weeks of dust, plains, mountains and desert, the Pacific is an incredible sight,” said Tom Collins.

Even more impressive is the fact that this group is the first to drive production vehicles across the Trans-America Trail in the trail's recorded history. The three LR4s suffered no mechanical problems during the journey. The only repairs needed were for tire punctures.