This is where roof tents all began, the outback of Australia and the open wilderness of South Africa. Camping off the ground to get away from the predators in overland-equipped vehicles. Fast forward 40 years and here we are, modifying our trucks to take on the paths less travelled, albeit in slightly damper and less dangerous conditions.

We all love a road trip there’s no denying that, and some of us love off-roading, so what better idea than to combine the two? An Off-Road Trip. Our first, and one that won’t be forgotten.

With the plan set, we needed a location, and unlike regular driving with roads everywhere, we needed somewhere with legal byways and green lanes aplenty. Somewhere we could put our 4x4s to test, but in classic Latitude Roadtrip style, keeping the scenery and campsites amazing and route interesting. We spun the globe (hypothetically) and landed on the Elan Valley in mid-Wales.

Why here? If you’ve been you’ll know, it’s a beautiful part of the UK and one a little less well-known and popular. However, it also boasts a plethora of byways ranging in difficulties and lengths, perfect.

Picture this, it’s mid-April, it feels like its not stopped raining for about 8 months and you could really do with some sunshine. Or at least a break in the rain, mainly because we were about to embark on two days of driving through rivers and deep puddles, but also for the moral boost! We could argue that our sun-dance did the job, because when we arrived at Brecon Beacons Wild Camping on the Friday evening the clouds parted and we got a lovely sunny golden hour.

Now, as much as this off-road trip was about the lanes and the scenery, it’s just as much about the machinery. We had some awesome trucks join us representing Japan, Germany, the USA and of course Great Britain. It was great to see everyones rigs and their camping set-ups to go with them.

Day One saw us break into three groups of 6, this is to keep things less congested on the lanes and help with traffic and convoying. Each setting off at time intervals, our days would gradually increase in difficulty finally peaking by conquering the famed Strata Florida.

Heading west from our first campsite we swiftly started getting dirty.

Night Two we arrived at Cocos Wild Camp, another site set in an amazing location with enough space to home a small town. This meant everyone there can space out and feel out in the wild. Their campsite has 3 different tiers or zones, but with some high winds due we set up camp in a sheltered area down from the hilltops in zone two.

Everyone arrived in their groups throughout late afternoon after a full days off-road and before long we had our own little Latitude village setup.

Some of us knew what we were in for on Day Two, others not so much. The difficulty level definitely stepped up from our first day and after a short drive from the campsite to our first off road section everyone soon found that out.

Taking the Claerwen Reservoir byway from bottom to top everyone had to conquer a number of short steep technical rock climbs, we had some great group leaders with us though in Jake and Jasper. Both with off road experience they guided those with less experience on the best routes to take and what modes to be in when it came to the likes of low range gearboxes and locking differentials. Then, in the worst case scenario, there was always a winch on hand to get anyone out of a sticky situation.

A brief lunch stop whilst half way around the Claerwen Reservoir ‘missing link’ trail groups got to catch up with one another and swap their most recent stories of the lastest byway beaten by their mighty off-roaders. For some, these were the hardest lanes and obstacles their 4x4s had ever seen, so a new found excitement readied them for the byway final boss - Strata Florida.

For many they have just heard of this particular byway, or seen videos online, so for a large portion of the group this was the first trip down Strata Florida. We navigated it from north to south and miraculously all made it through with no issues! Minus a quick winch from an extremely deep muddy puddle (cough Ollie) and a couple of bumpers bashed a little at ‘the bombhole’.

It took us roughly 2.5 hours to complete it and in this time you get a whole range of different environments, from tight, twisty forest sections, to wide open rocky expances, to narrow river beds and crossings. By the time we completed it and met up at the end everyone had honed their off roading skills a little more and had an amazing time doing it.

When off-roading it is important to understand your vehicles abilities, in this instance it was a requirement that you had a low range gearbox, all-terrain tyres, a front & rear recovery points, a spare wheel and of course, your Latitude roof tent.

It’s also important to follow the Green Lane Association (GLASS) code of conduct, and if you’re thinking of visiting these locations we would advise doing so in more than one vehicle incase the worst happens, as you really feel in the middle of nowhere and have no phone signal.

All in all, our first Latitude Off-Road Trip was an awesome weekend, which just so means that we’re going to have to do another 4x4 specific trip in the future. If you’re interested in joining us next time keep an eye on our socials and emailing list.

See you on the road ✌️