The Backcountry Brief

92 days until America's 250th Birthday… July 4, 2026

Welcome to this week's Backcountry Brief. Your weekly roundup of what happened, what's ahead, and stories from America's Backcountry.

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Country Report: Last Week & What's Ahead

Of Interest (to me)… Jeep Just Brought a Military Truck, an '80s Cherokee, and a Chopped Wrangler to Moab

Trail Guide: Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway — Kentucky's 1,000-Mile Backcountry Network

Forum Watch: The Week's Top Discussions

I've been keeping up with some news that matters. Here's what stood out this week:

Luke McMillin won the SCORE San Felipe 250 overall on Saturday — his third San Felipe victory after wins in 2022 and 2023, and a return to form after going winless in 2025. McMillin ran the #83 Trophy Truck through 250 miles of Baja in 4:29:45, clearing Tavo Vildósola by three minutes and Bryce Menzies by five. His co-driver Jason Duncan changed a tire solo in 45 seconds. McMillin carried his newborn son Jett's name on the rail in tribute to his father Mark. The race was brutal from the start — pole-sitter Ricky Johnson rolled just a couple miles in, defending champ Alan Ampudia broke a shock and overheated, and Class 8 had zero finishers. Brendan Gaughan picked up a maiden SCORE Class 1 victory after the original winner lost it to a ten-minute penalty for missing a virtual checkpoint. Desert racing. Full recap at 131 Off-Road: https://131offroad.com/2026/03/29/2026-san-felipe-250-recap/

Sunday was National Vietnam War Veterans Day. March 29, 1973 was the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam and Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disbanded. Nine million Americans served during the Vietnam era. 58,220 never came home. The President issued a formal proclamation honoring their service, and communities across the country held ceremonies — wreath-layings at the Wall, welcome-home events, and moments of silence. If you saw a Vietnam vet this weekend, you know what was said. Welcome home. Presidential message at WhiteHouse.gov: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2026/03/presidential-message-on-national-vietnam-war-veterans-day/

On Capitol Hill, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs considered more than 27 bills aimed at modernizing VA programs. Among them: expanded dental coverage for more veterans, and the Get Justice-Involved Veterans Back Home Act, which would provide VA mental health care — including telehealth and mobile units — to incarcerated veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and other service-connected conditions. Separately, the VA Research Reform Act would create a centralized database and require "veteran impact forecasts" to ensure clinical studies actually improve veteran health. These are the bills that don't make headlines but change lives. Full story at Stars and Stripes: https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2026-03-18/house-veterans-committee-considers-27-bills-21109076.html

The Second Amendment pipeline at the Supreme Court remains full. Wolford v. Lopez — testing whether states can ban carrying firearms on private property open to the public — and United States v. Hemani — whether the federal government can prohibit firearm possession by users of controlled substances — are both expected to produce decisions by summer. The Court also has eight additional 2A cert petitions stacked on the docket, including challenges to felon-in-possession bans, open carry restrictions, and the AR-15 case out of Connecticut. Full landscape at SCOTUSblog: https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/02/the-second-amendment-landscape/

Easter Jeep Safari is in full swing in Moab right now. The 60th Annual runs through Easter Sunday, April 5. If you're headed that way, the Vendor Expo at the Old Spanish Trail Arena is April 2-3. Trails are filling fast but last-minute spots sometimes open at the registration desk. This is the big one — 60 years of wheeling the red rock. Details at rr4w.com: https://www.rr4w.com/event-details.cfm?eventid=1038

Today is Good Friday. Easter Sunday is April 5. Take the family outside this weekend.

Saturday, April 4 is National Jeep 4x4 Day. The fourth day of the fourth month. Four letters in Jeep. Four wheels driven. It's not a coincidence. MetalCloak has the full story on how 4/4 became the unofficial holiday for anyone who'd rather take the dirt road. Read it at MetalCloak: https://metalcloak.com/blog/national-jeep-4x4-day

Looking further out — the 8 Day Moab Off Roadin' runs April 8-15. MetalCloak Skillz Day is April 18 in Auburn, CA. Jeep Beach hits Daytona April 17-26. The Bronco Super Celebration is in Townsend, Tennessee, April 23-26. And if you're near Springfield, Missouri, the Moore Expo is April 17-18. Spring is stacked.

Every spring, the sound of engines and the smell of red dust fill the canyon before you even cross into Moab city limits. That's how you know Easter Jeep Safari is on.

For the 60th anniversary, Jeep dropped six concept vehicles in the desert… and this year's lineup leans hard into heritage, military grit, and pure nostalgia. No electric drivetrains. No touchscreens replacing steering wheels. Just real builds that real wheelers want to drive.

The Wrangler Anvil 715 is the headliner. Based on a Rubicon 392 with the 470-hp Hemi V-8, the entire front end has been redesigned to channel the 1960s Kaiser Jeep M715 military truck. The nose sits about four inches further forward with a narrow grille between circular headlights. The roof is non-removable — raised four inches with integrated skylights for a proper safari look. Steel bumpers. 37-inch BFG Mud-Terrains. Limb risers. A Trails Offroad mapping tablet replacing the factory infotainment screen. Military-inspired green from hood to tailgate. The design team held back on roof racks and kitchen-sink accessories on purpose — they wanted you to look at this thing and imagine what you'd do with it. That's respect for the customer.

Then there's the XJ Pioneer. A 1986 Cherokee two-door originally sold in Reno with 80,000 careful miles on the odometer. The factory Champagne gold metallic paint is untouched. The original 2.8-liter V-6 still runs. The design team added a 2-inch ARB coil-spring lift, carbon-fiber fender flares, 33-inch BFG K02s on 17-inch wheels modeled after the originals, and body-matched rock rails. Inside: wooden bead seat covers, a Moonies cling on the window, a Labyrinth lunchbox, and an Apple Macintosh Plus box converted into a cooler. If you were a kid in the '80s, this one hits different.

The Wrangler Buzzcut chops two inches off the roof and lays the windshield back for a bulldog squat. The Laredo goes full back-to-basics — 3.6-liter V-6, six-speed manual, horse-blanket upholstery, vinyl floors, and half doors. The Grand Wagoneer Commander proves the big three-row can tow a trail rig and still handle dirt with 35-inch Nittos and custom skidplates.

And the Gladiator Red Rock? That one stays in Moab. Jeep is donating it to the Red Rock 4-Wheelers as a trail maintenance rig… purpose-built with a Warn winch, Bedslide cargo tray, and Leitner Designs rack. That's the kind of thing that keeps trails open.

Six concepts. Zero gimmicks. More of this. Full breakdown at MotorTrend: https://www.motortrend.com/news/first-look-2026-easter-jeep-safari-wrangler-gladiator-cherokee-grand-wagoneer Also covered at Car and Driver: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a70847055/2026-easter-jeep-safari-concepts-moab-details/

Three weeks of Western trails in a row seemed like enough. Time to head east.

The Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway is one of the best-kept secrets in East Coast off-roading. Over 1,000 miles of historic county roads, gravel tracks, dirt trails, and scenic byways wind through Eastern Kentucky's Red River Gorge and the Daniel Boone National Forest. This is Appalachian backcountry at its finest — narrow ridgelines, creek crossings, old-growth forest, and scenery that looks nothing like Moab but is every bit as worth the trip.

The terrain splits roughly three ways between paved roads, gravel, and dirt trails. Difficulty ranges from easy scenic drives to moderately challenging 4x4 routes rated 4-5 out of 10. You won't need 37s and a full cage, but you will want a capable rig. The Byway recommends a licensed, street-legal 4WD with 33-inch mud tires, rear lockers, recovery straps, and a winch. A GMRS radio or CB is smart — cell coverage is spotty at best.

The highlights are stacked. Spaas Creek Road is a moderately rated six-mile trail through dense forest. Pumpkin Hollow connects to it at about three miles and serves as a solid warm-up. Mountain Springs Road to Sand Lick Road is an all-day adventure that gets interesting after rain. And you'll pass through landmarks like the Fitchburg Stone Furnace — a charcoal blast furnace built by the Red River Iron Manufacturing Company in 1869 and shuttered just four years later. History under the canopy.

If the family needs a break from the trail, the Gorge Underground is a must — a flooded old limestone mine where rainbow trout swim 35-degree water and you kayak through underground rooms. The kids will talk about it for years.

Spring is prime time. The forest is waking up. Creek levels are filling. The DBBB has a full schedule of organized Event Rides this year — the Bowen Ride runs April 9-12 if you want to hit it with a group. The KYTLCA Spring Byway follows May 14-17.

• Location: Red River Gorge / Daniel Boone National Forest, Eastern Kentucky

• Distance: 1,000+ miles of roads and trails (ride what you want)

• Elevation Gain: Varies — Appalachian ridge and hollow terrain

• Type: Network of interconnected routes (not a single loop)

• Difficulty: Easy to moderate (rated 3-5/10 depending on route and conditions)

• Vehicle Requirements: Street-legal 4WD. 33" mud tires, rear locker, recovery straps, and winch recommended. GMRS/CB radio encouraged.

• Season: Spring through fall. Trails can get muddy after rain — that's part of the fun.

Rock's tip: Download the official DBBB map through the Avenza Maps app before you go. You won't have cell service on most of these trails, and a paper map or offline GPS is the difference between a great day and a long night. If you're making the trip from outside Kentucky, set up base camp at Callie's Lake and Campground near Red River Gorge — it's central to most of the route network. And air down before the creek crossings. The rocks are slick. Full route info at ridethedbbb.org: https://ridethedbbb.org

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I keep tabs on a bunch of forums so you don't have to. Here's what caught my eye this week:

Over on Bronco6G, it's Easter Jeep Safari week and the Bronco community is fully embedded in Moab. The dedicated "EJS Moab Trail Experience — Bronco Owners Welcome" thread is active with group run updates and trail reports from members already on the ground. Separate threads are breaking down Jeep's 2026 concepts — the Anvil 715 military front end is getting serious respect, and the XJ Pioneer has '80s kids reaching for their wallets. The Bronco faithful may not drive Jeeps, but they know good design when they see it. Bronco6G forums: https://www.bronco6g.com

On the JL Wrangler Forums and Jeep Gladiator Forum, the 2026 EJS concepts dropped like a bomb. The concepts thread is pages deep already, with the Anvil 715 and XJ Pioneer drawing the most heat. A Wolfbox-sponsored Sevenmile Rim trail run on March 29 had members posting live from the slickrock. Trail convoy coordination continues for the rest of Safari week — Steel Bender, Fins and Things, and Poison Spider Mesa are all on the board. The energy out there right now is electric. JL Wrangler Forums: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com Jeep Gladiator Forum: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com

And over at Rokslide, the conversation is shifting from late-season to spring preparation. A Nunavut musk ox hunt trip report from late March is getting attention, and the general discussion board is buzzing about spring scouting plans and upcoming hunt expos. Turkey season is opening in multiple states, and the gear threads are heavy on optics, boots, and load-out comparisons. If you hunt, this is the time to start planning. Rokslide forums: https://rokslide.com/forums/

Until next week…

P.S. Got a story to share? Event for me to visit? A family adventure worth featuring? Leave a comment and let me know—I'm always looking for the next adventure.