It was this time last year Bronco Nation set out from Detroit, Michigan to Buena Vista, Colorado. I had dropped off my Jeep in a holding lot so I could leave with a 2021 Bronco Sport Badlands, and I’d be tailing our Bronco out to Super Celebration West a couple days later.
The goal? To see how the Bronco Sport handled the trails of Colorado.
Dispelling the Myth
You’ve heard what people say about the smaller Bronco. You may have said it yourself: The Sport, with its Escape-based construction, is not a “real” Bronco. Coming from XJs, I got that all the time: Only Wranglers were true Jeeps, not the unibodies I drove.
However, I’m betting most of the people who speak ill of the Sport have never taken a First Edition or Badlands off road. In our Badlands, we accomplished just as much stock with 8” of clearance as the Broncos did on 33s and 37s .
Did we have to be choosy with our lines? Yes. Was the hardest trail we did rated moderate? Yes. Did we still dent in the lower portion of the front bumper a little? Yep. But we made it miles into the backcountry and up to 13,000 feet while having a ton of fun, making that vehicle, in my opinion, a real Bronco.
Here’s how the trails on the trip went down.
Weston Pass
We started out on Weston Pass. I’ll be honest, I was slightly skeptical of the lower-clearance Sport. I knew its capabilities and had seen the video of it on Hell’s Revenge with Vaughn Gittin Jr. and crew, but they’re professionals and at least had done a tire swap. However, Weston Pass is a dirt road, suitable for passenger cars on the east side, and high clearance vehicles on the west. The scenery was beautiful, but the 2-hour drive didn’t offer any challenges.
Mt. Princeton
Immediately after that, we headed over to Mt. Princeton. The trail switched back and forth and was steep in some parts, but it was the shelf portion that seemed to stretch for a mile that got to my nerves. That loose shoulder and narrow width of the trail had me handing over my spot in the driver's seat. If you don’t like heights, you might not want to do this until you’ve gotten used to the vehicle!
Cottonwood Trail, Pt.1
That evening, a group of us started out on Cottonwood trail. It’s a dirt road with ruts and small rocks, but nothing difficult at all. We were trying to get to the top before we lost light for some video footage, but a vehicle we were with had issues. No worries; it gave us a chance to test out the Sport’s RIGID light bar, and we headed back out in the dark.
Mt. Antero
The next day, we were meeting up at the moderate Mt. Antero with Mitch Creel and friends, who were in our Bronco and with their 1” lifted Bronco Sport Base on 30.5” tires. They were headed past us to Baldwin Lakes, and we knew we wouldn’t be going as far as they were planning. Still, we made it quite a way. We had to stop due to clearance, and their Base Sport had to stop due to the single clutch in the rear, but this one was all enjoyment with a good amount of challenge for both Sports. By this point, I was used to driving the Sport off road, and as nice as the tech is Ford added, I found I much preferred left-foot braking to the Trail Control we had tested the day before.
Continental Divide
This was the first day of Super Celebration West, so we got in line with the vintage Broncos and a few new ones to go to the Continental Divide overlook. The Sport provided camera support for a couple crews, and you can catch a glimpse of this street drive in Jon Melton’s SCW recap video. It was a fun ride for any gen of Bronco.
Mosquito Pass
Here’s where we picked up our damage to the front plastic. We joined Mitch Watts from Town & Country TV and Greg Nikolas from Bronco Off-Roadeo in the Broncos and headed toward the top. It wasn’t a hard trail going up, but on the way out, there was a tight portion with a rock just a little too high for the Sport to clear. Our pro driver first tried giving it some gas to get over, but we didn't make it. But with some finesse and a different line, he soon had the Sport making its way down the path.
Cottonwood Trail, Pt. 2
When we got back, we repeated our attempt to get to the end of this trail with the Bronco and Sport. This trail ended up being a rugged dirt road, and it was easily done at slightly higher speeds by the Sport. The landscape was incredible!
Night Ride
One of my favorite runs of the event was the Bronco Nation night ride with RIGID. Everyone else seemed to have a great time too -- after all, who doesn't want to put their accessories into use? All gens of Bronco went out on a winding path around trees and brush, into dips and over hills, and through the mountain.
Tin Cup Pass
On the last day, Dan Schaffer and I took the Sport on a solo expedition to Tin Cup. The Broncos had done it earlier in the week, and he thought it would be perfect for the Sport. The trail starts at the ghost town of St. Elmo. In the Sport, there are enough challenges for it to be fun, but the trail wasn’t continuously difficult. Stop and take in the lake, and enjoy the aspen stands you’ll pass.
Come to Events like SCW!
Tin Cup concluded our time off-roading with the Sport. And even though the Sport is an excellent road trip SUV, driving it back to Michigan on the highways seemed like a waste of a great vehicle. While there are limitations to the trails Sports can go on, there are plenty of runs this vehicle can easily do and many more that owners can take on with experience.
So if you’re a Sport owner, especially of a Badlands or First Edition, come out to events like Super Celebration West and more! We love when Sports join us on drives. Plus, seeing them in action never fails to change a mind or two that this vehicle belongs in the Built Wild family.
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