By Blake Herzog
Overlanding sits at the crossroads of travel, camping and self-reliance — a slower, more intentional way to experience the outdoors that’s gaining quiet momentum. Part road trip, part backcountry escape, it’s about using your vehicle not just to get somewhere, but to live from it, turning remote landscapes into temporary homes and the journey itself into the adventure.
Overlanding may be the ultimate outdoor adventure that you’ve never heard of.
It has much in common with other forms of vehicle-assisted enjoyment of the natural environment. It combines features of four-wheeling and “vanlife.”
“It’s classified as self-supported vehicle adventure,” explains Dana Marshall, co-owner of MULE Expedition Outfitters in Prescott Valley. “So if you have everything you need on board your vehicle to go out for an extended period of time and enjoy the outdoors and use your vehicle as a base camp, that’s overlanding.”
Marshall and her husband Joe are from the Northwest and in the business of enabling others to discover overlanding just as they did 15 years ago. They expanded into the Southwest in April 2025 by opening their third store in Prescott Valley, joining stores near Seattle and Portland.
“It’s an area we’ve always loved, it’s beautiful here, and it’s got so much area for overlanding and the stuff that we and our customers like to do,” she says.
Overlanding enthusiasts typically drive past developed campgrounds and deeper into the wilderness. They love to hike, fish, take photos when they reach their destination, but some consider the journey as the real reward. Many work remotely, a recent option that has propelled the growth in its popularity.
They take different approaches to overlanding — some make no alterations to their vehicle, pack a ground tent and supplies, and that’s it. Others turn to businesses like the Marshalls’ to get enough gear to make the ride a little smoother.
“It’s really not difficult because you can always go camping with a tarp and a can of beans. There’s nothing you really need need, other than shelter and water, and some food. But it makes it much more comfortable.”
It’s possible to do some overlanding in a car, but it’s mostly approached with four-wheel drive trucks, SUVs and vans. Popular choices include the Toyota Tacoma or 4-Runner, Jeeps, full-size trucks from Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge, she says.
These add-ons can include lifting a truck or van for better clearance, a suspension system, a tent mounted on top of a truck bed or SUV. If you want to go all-out you can take the roof off an SUV and replace it with a pop-up tent that lets you stand upright in your vehicle.
MULE sells battery-operated and solar electrical systems, shower systems, cans for storing water and fuel, recovery straps and winches in case travelers get stuck in a ditch, first-aid kits, light bars, front and rear bumpers, mounting racks, mattress upgrades and anything else an overlander might consider useful.
“One of the things we like to do is have a showroom with the product in stock, and we like to think of ourselves as a “Car-EI,” instead of an REI,” Marshall says.
She and her husband fell in love with overlanding after two years of nights and weekends building a Volkswagen Vanagon with a Westfalia pop-up camper into a four-wheel drive overland-ready vehicle, then taking two years off from work to explore Southern and Baja California.
“It really reset how we think about life and what’s really important, and we thought wow, other people need to experience this.” Marshall say. “Not just going out for a day but really have a change in your perspective, and being self-sufficient for that period of time.”
Some in the overlanding community define it in part by journeys that cross international boundaries, but Marshall says there are plenty of worthy destinations in Northern Arizona for this kind of trip.
“There’s so much Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land where there’s just free-range camping that’s not controlled like a campground or whatever,” she says. “Or like anywhere out to Sedona, anywhere in the national parks. We just drove down Bloody Basin Road last weekend. You don’t have to go far.”
The couple is planning to relocate to Greater Prescott, so they’re on the lookout for more Arizona adventures.
