28,500 individuals packed into one expo. $40B in 2026, headed to $68B by 2036. 14,000 acres exterior Zion simply closed. The trade is consuming its personal playground and most overlanders don’t see it taking place.
I’ve been eager about this for some time
This 12 months I couldn’t attend the primary Overland Expo of 2026. I like going to those and after I cannot attend in particular person, I nonetheless take pleasure in watching the movies of the occasion. However one factor has turn out to be clear, and I’ve been eager about this for some time, and I believe it’s lastly time to say it out loud. The overlanding trade is rising so quick that it’s beginning to eat itself alive, and a whole lot of us, myself included, haven’t been paying shut sufficient consideration to note. The numbers should not refined, and when you see them you can’t unsee them.
I bear in mind the early ones, smaller crowds, extra vans than Sprinters, extra selfmade bumpers than $4,000 roof high tents. This 12 months there have been 28,500 in attendance, and you could possibly really feel the vitality via the movies of the individuals who did stroll arounds. There have been 420 distributors and 323 lessons. I began to suppose again concerning the first reveals I attended and one thing began to turn out to be very clear. This 12 months there have been Suburbans with $30,000 in aluminum bumpers. Sprinter 144s with rooftop AC items and Starlink dishes bolted to the roof, parked subsequent to a 40 12 months previous Toyota pickup with a camper shell and a Hello-Carry jack. Each of those rigs are overlanding. The group is larger than ever, and additionally it is extra divided than ever.
The quantity that ought to scare all of us
However right here is the quantity that ought to scare all of us. The overlanding market was $40.92 billion in 2026. By 2036, it’s projected to hit $68.17 billion. I’ve been trade studies for years now and that development fee isn’t slowing down. New automobile costs are up 10.4% 12 months over 12 months in line with KBB. Tariffs have added $30 billion in prices in a single 12 months. Aftermarket components costs are surging, 50% from Mexico, 12% Canada, 8% China. The entire stack is costlier than it was two years in the past, and but extra individuals than ever are shopping for in. The expansion is actual. The expansion can be an issue.
Cheryl and I’ve been doing this lengthy sufficient to recollect when you could possibly roll right into a small city within the desert and discover a campsite without spending a dime and have it to your self. That isn’t a factor anymore in many of the well-liked locations. Final spring we tried to discover a quiet spot exterior of Moab on a Thursday afternoon in March and ended up driving 40 miles previous Inexperienced River earlier than we discovered a single pull-off that was not already occupied. We have now been going to that space for 22 years. Twenty-two years in the past you had your choose of spots. Now you’ve gotten your choose of crowds.
What simply occurred exterior Zion
Let me let you know what simply occurred exterior Zion Nationwide Park, as a result of it’s the a part of this story that I can not cease eager about.
The SR9 hall, 14,000 acres of public land simply exterior the east entrance of Zion, simply obtained closed to dispersed tenting. Last rule. Not a proposal. Signed and posted within the Federal Register. The rationale given was useful resource harm, trash, human waste, unlawful fireplace rings, the form of stuff that occurs when too many individuals discover the identical place on the identical time. I’ve seen that harm myself. I’ve packed out different individuals’s beer cans from campsites I’ve stayed at for 20 years — and so have the general public I camp with. I’ve pushed previous websites that was once quiet pull-offs that are actually principally overflow parking heaps for instagram reels. So I’m not going to sit down right here and say the closure is unjustified. It’s justified. What I’m going to say is that additionally it is avoidable, and the way in which the trade dealt with it made it worse.
The BlueRibbon Coalition has been documenting what they name a manufactured cycle of closures. Their reporting reveals {that a} research commissioned by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, SUWA, was used as a part of the justification bundle for the SR9 closure. That research was funded particularly to advocate for the closure. It was not impartial science. It was advocacy dressed up as knowledge. The Forest Service and the BLM used it anyway, as a result of it confirmed what their budget-strapped workers had been saying for years, that the websites are overused, and that they don’t have the workers to handle them. So the trail of least resistance was to shut them. SUWA obtained what they needed, the companies obtained to cut back their workload, and the remainder of us misplaced entry to land that was open to us final summer time.
And as soon as that template works, it really works once more. The identical playbook, the identical advocacy research, the identical “useful resource harm” framing, you’ll be able to drop it on a dozen different websites throughout the West. We’re going to see extra of those, not fewer. I’ll guess on that proper now.
I’m a part of the issue too
I’m going to say one thing that may be unpopular. A number of us, and I’m together with myself on this, have been a part of the issue. We put up a campsite on Instagram, we tag the situation, we use the fitting hashtags, and 18 months later that spot is overrun. I’ve carried out it. You’ve most likely carried out it. The algorithm rewards it, the engagement feels good, the manufacturers discover, and we inform ourselves we’re simply sharing the love of the outside. We’re. We’re additionally portray a goal on each place we love.
I’ve been extra cautious the final couple of years about what I put up publicly and what I preserve to myself. I’m not going to be the man who kills his favourite spot by sharing it with 50,000 strangers. There are a few locations Cheryl and I’ve been going to since earlier than the youngsters have been born that I’ll by no means tag, won’t ever identify in a video, won’t ever put in a public put up. They’re household locations. They keep household locations.
If you’re a content material creator on this area — and I believe a whole lot of us are, in a technique or one other — you already know this. You might be simply hoping no person else does. The maths is unforgiving. A reel with the fitting tags can put 5,000 individuals at a campsite that holds 8 autos. It doesn’t matter how good the content material is. The maths wins.
The cultural cut up that no person needs to speak about
There’s a cut up within the overlanding group that has been rising for some time and I don’t suppose we speak about it sufficient. On one facet you’ve gotten the off-road crowd, lockers, 40 inch tires, $20,000 in suspension, winches, low vary, the form of construct that truly goes technical. On the opposite facet you’ve gotten the brand new overlanding crowd, lengthy journey campers, espresso machines, Starlink dishes, rooftop AC items, the form of construct that goes to a KOA with a non-public web site and calls it overlanding. Each teams name themselves overlanders. Most of them have by no means met. They exist in numerous expo halls, completely different Instagram feeds, completely different YouTube algorithms.
I’ve nothing in opposition to both group. Folks spend their cash how they need to spend their cash. However the sensible actuality is that the second group is 80% of the expansion. The market analysis is fairly clear on that. The greenback quantity is within the life-style gear, the rooftop tents, the awnings, the lithium batteries, the overland-branded attire. The precise hard-core off highway rig continues to be a distinct segment inside a distinct segment. So when the trade says overlanding is booming, they imply the approach to life facet is booming, and the approach to life facet is the one which drives the social media engagement, and the social media engagement is what’s portray the targets on the backcountry.
This isn’t a judgment. I’m a 58 12 months previous man with a Cummins and a 60 gallon aux tank and a Maglight within the door pocket, and I’ve carried out loads of judgment-free overlanding in my time. I began tenting on the bottom with my tent, had a jeep with a rooftop tent on high a home-made trailer, 4 Wheel camper and now the Earthcruiser. I get why individuals need a extra snug setup. I additionally know that the snug setup is the one that’s producing the form of foot visitors that will get the dispersed websites closed. We’re going to have to determine the best way to speak about this with out beginning a struggle, as a result of the struggle is the opposite factor the trade doesn’t want proper now.
What simply modified in Washington
The SR9 closure isn’t the one factor taking place. It’s the canary within the coal mine. In Could 2026, an government order rolled again a bunch of Biden-era public land restrictions. The BLM rescinded the Public Lands Rule, which was the 2024 rule that was imagined to prioritize conservation over a number of use. The USDA rescinded the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protected 45 million acres of Nationwide Forest from highway building and timber harvest. None of that is going to be good for dispersed tenting. None of it’ll be good for the form of overlanding most of us do, which is the sort that requires public land, not personal campgrounds.
I will probably be trustworthy with you — this half is tough. The off-road group is split on these rescissions. A number of the hardcore off roaders see the Roadless Rule as federal overreach and are glad to see it gone. They’ve some extent. The rule was written by individuals who don’t drive a Jeep into the woods. A number of the overlanding crowd is terrified, as a result of they see what’s coming subsequent, which is extra logging roads, extra fragmentation, extra oil and gasoline leasing, extra strain on the identical backcountry spots which are already beneath siege from overuse. Each of these readings are partially proper. That’s what makes it laborious to speak about.
The trade is larger than ever, the tools is extra succesful than ever, and the entry is shrinking beneath our tires. That’s the math that no person needs to speak about. So allow us to speak about it for a minute.
What I’m truly doing about it
I need to provide the sensible facet of this, as a result of I don’t need to be the man who complains with out providing one thing to do about it.
First, a budget and simple stuff. Cease geotagging your campsites. I imply it. Take the photograph, put up it, however don’t tag the situation. Use the county or the final area should you should, however not the particular spot. If you’re posting for a model, even higher, ask them in writing to not tag the situation. Just a few of them will pay attention. Most won’t. However the extra of us who make the ask, the extra the trade begins to really feel strain to alter. The businesses that pay attention will get our enterprise. Those that don’t will get our silence.
Second, become involved with the entry struggle. The BlueRibbon Coalition is the best entry level, they’ve a kind on their web site the place you’ll be able to submit feedback on energetic land use proposals, takes about 10 minutes, and it truly issues. Public remark durations on federal land choices are when the companies are required to pay attention, and the individuals who present up are principally those who need the closures. The overlanding group is larger than the off highway group, and most of us are sitting this struggle out. We have to cease sitting it out.
Third, help the small companies which are doing this proper. There are outfitters and guides in locations like Mexican Hat, Enterprise, Bishop, and Globe who’ve been quietly advocating for entry for many years. They aren’t making YouTube movies about it. They’re exhibiting as much as county fee conferences and writing letters to their state BLM workplace. Whenever you e-book a visit, ask them what they’re engaged on. Whenever you purchase gear, ask the model in the event that they donate to entry advocacy. Vote along with your pockets.
Fourth, and that is the one I’ve been engaged on personally, construct a group of people that truly know the best way to behave within the backcountry. Pack out your trash. Use a wag bag if you need to. Don’t reduce switchbacks. Don’t drive by way of moist meadows. Don’t gentle a hearth ring greater than a dinner plate. Cheryl and I’ve been on the highway lengthy sufficient to know that the loudest advocates for land entry are normally additionally the individuals who deal with the land the worst. That has to cease. We’re those who lose entry if we preserve behaving like vacationers in our personal public lands.
Fifth, and that is the one no person needs to listen to, you shouldn’t have to spend $80,000 to be an overlander. The trade would love so that you can imagine that you simply do, and the social media algorithm rewards the individuals who put up the most costly builds, however the precise exercise, the half that issues, doesn’t require a $200,000 rig. I’ve carried out multi-week journeys in a inventory Jeep with a floor tent. I’ve carried out month lengthy journeys in my 2014 Earthcruiser. None of these journeys have been much less enjoyable as a result of the truck was cheaper or costlier. The truck simply obtained me there and again. The journey was the journey, and the journey didn’t care what I used to be driving. The trade has spent a decade telling you that the gear is the passion. The gear isn’t the passion. The locations are the passion. Don’t let the advertising idiot you, and don’t let the $200,000 Sprinter on the subsequent trailhead make you are feeling like you don’t belong. You belong. The path is public.
What I noticed on the expo
I regarded on the new gear at Overland Expo this 12 months. A few of it’s genuinely good. The brand new Thule Widesky rooftop tent is constructed higher than something Thule has put out within the final decade. The 23Zero Kabari is a critical piece of engineering, designed for Australian outback circumstances, which suggests it’s going to maintain as much as something the American West can throw at it. The REDARC photo voltaic panels are getting thinner and extra environment friendly yearly. The brand new ARB winches are noticeably sooner than the older fashions. The Starlink Mini is genuinely a recreation changer for anybody who works from the highway, I don’t care what the naysayers say, it really works — it simply works.
However a few of the gear is simply nonsense. The Winnebago ARKA at $331,901 isn’t an overland automobile, it’s a standing image with a advertising division. The AT Overland Aterra at $32,000 is a trailer you don’t want if you have already got a truck with a mattress. The value hole between a $25,000 used 4Runner with a $3,000 roof high tent and a $200,000 Sprinter with a $30,000 buildout isn’t a high quality hole, it’s a advertising hole. The 4Runner will get you to the identical campsite. It would even get you there slower, which is the purpose.
I’ll say this instantly. If you’re new to overlanding and you might be studying this and you feel such as you can not afford to get into it, you’ll be able to. A 2005 Toyota 4Runner with 180,000 miles prices about $8,000. A used roof high tent prices about $1,500. A pair of Maxxis Razr tires prices about $1,200. A fundamental restoration equipment is $300. A very good cooler is $400. An honest battery setup is $800. That’s $12,200 and you might be overlanding. You aren’t going to win any Instagram contests. You’ll have a good time. Cheryl and I ran a setup like that for years earlier than we ever upgraded to the EarthCruiser. We nonetheless have a whole lot of enjoyable reminiscences after we had older rigs. Don’t let the $200,000 Sprinter crowd let you know that you’re not actual.
The place this all lands
The expansion in overlanding isn’t the enemy. I like that extra individuals are getting exterior. I like that households are tenting with their youngsters. I like that there’s a entire economic system constructed round educating individuals the best way to benefit from the backcountry. What I don’t love is the half the place the trade is so centered on the gear and the builds and the subsequent expo that we aren’t listening to the entry. The entry is the half that issues. The entry is the half that’s shrinking. The entry is the half that’s going to find out whether or not the youngsters we’re taking tenting this 12 months are going to have the ability to take their youngsters tenting in 20 years.
I’ll preserve going to the expos. I’ll preserve writing concerning the gear. I’ll preserve posting images of the Earthcruiser. However I’m going to be much more considerate about what I share and the way I share it. And I’m going to maintain exhibiting as much as the general public remark durations, and I’m going to maintain writing letters to my state BLM workplace, and I’m going to maintain supporting the small companies which are doing the precise work of conserving public land open. When you have learn this far, I hope you’ll do the identical.
Hit me up within the feedback when you’ve got a favourite spot you’ve gotten been conserving quiet about. I can’t publish it. I’ll simply be glad to know it’s nonetheless on the market.
Thanks for studying,
Brent ConklinWhiskey 7 BackroadsSomewhere on some dust highway
