OPUS OP4 set up near coastal cliffs on Kodiak Island, Alaska

The Expedition Journal

Real people.
Real adventures.

Trip stories from OPUS owners across America. Cross-country solo runs, family weekends and off-grid basecamps, told by the people who took them.

Featured trip · OP4

Kodiak Island, Alaska

A five-day expedition to a remote Alaskan island: a nine-hour ferry, bear country, black-sand beaches and an OP4 on the deck of the Tustumena.

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The map

Where can your OPUS take you?

Every pin is a trip an owner actually took, from the Alaskan coast to the Florida shoreline. Pick one to read the story behind it.

39 trips25 regionsPin locations are indicative.

From the owners

Where they take them.

OP15

Oregon

Alvord Desert

Camping anywhere you like on a dried lake bed in Southeast Oregon: no reservations, no neighbors, and an OP15 that works with you.

Sean Couvreux

OP13

Virginia

Loft Mountain, Shenandoah

Three nights in the low 30s was the first real test of a new OP13. Solar held the batteries at full and the camp group was jealous.

Michael and Caroline

OP4

Colorado

Mineral Basin

Deep into the Colorado high country behind a Gladiator: alpine lakes, quiet camps and sausage and peppers off the OP4's outdoor kitchen.

Rodney · @more_dirt_more_distance

OPUS OP4 on an OHV trail in George Washington National Forest

OP4

Virginia

Appalachian Ridges

Flagpole Knob and the OHV trails of George Washington National Forest, taken on as a shakedown test for a brand-new OP4.

Adam and Kati Cox · @GoCarolinaWild

OP4

Texas

South Padre Island

A birthday on the sand: beach driving, fishing and dune camps along the Gulf, with the OP4 planted on shifting beach terrain.

Robert Salazar · @Coastal_gxspi

OP4

Utah

Toquerville Falls

Two families, two OP4s, three nights by La Verkin Creek. When the planned route would not go, they found a bluff over the water instead.

The Brech and Piggott Families

OP4

Alaska

Southcentral Alaska

A summer of world-class fishing with the OP4 as mobile basecamp: Homer halibut, Seward salmon and beach camps on the Cook Inlet.

The Cardin Family

OPUS OP4 towed by a Rivian R1T in Coyote Canyon

OP4

California

Coyote Canyon by Rivian

An OP4 behind an electric truck: 245 miles to Hospital Flat, extreme off-road up Coyote Canyon, and tire deflation off the Rivian's onboard air.

Jared Chase

OP4

Colorado

Kite Lake at 12,000 Feet

An owners' meetup in Creede: fishing the Rio Grande, a 10-mile push to a lake above 12,000 feet, and 24 straight hours of rain that did not matter.

The Ireland, Odom and Liner Families

OP4

Nevada

East Walker River

Two Fresno families boondocking on the East Walker: snowball fights at Sonora Pass in July, night water crossings and a camp most rigs cannot reach.

The Brech and Piggott Families

OP15

South Dakota

Black Hills National Forest

Steven, Sondra and their cat Sheba based the OP15 in the Black Hills and day-tripped Custer State Park, Wind Cave and the Needles Highway.

Steven and Sondra · @travel.with.ss

California

Six Nights in the Mojave

Four rigs, six nights, zero hookups: river crossings, sand dunes and the Mojave Mailbox with a LITE, two OP4s and an OP2 in convoy.

The Chow, Brech, Piggott and Ireland Families

OPUS campers below the Eastern Sierra in the Alabama Hills

California

Winter in the Alabama Hills

Six families, six days, 14 degrees: movie-set rock formations, a ghost town at 8,000 feet and warm campers in the Eastern Sierra winter.

Six OPUS Families

OPUS OP4 in a Sierra National Forest meadow

OP4

California

Sierra National Forest

Dirt bikes by day, cards and stargazing by night. The chairs and tables got left in Fresno; the trip did not care.

The Brech Family

OP4

California

Red Rock Canyon

Three families camped by an abandoned mining claim: dirt bikes, mine tunnels and the desert film sets of Jurassic Park.

The Brech, Piggott and Humrick Families

OP2

Cross-country

Across America for Violet

Jim crossed the country to meet his newborn granddaughter, camping most nights behind a Jeep Rubicon. Then 2020 happened, and the trip got longer.

Jim Moss

OPUS campers in the redwoods of the Smith River NRA

Northern California

Smith River Country

Seven crews through the redwoods: the Steelhead Adventure Trail, creekside camps and dispersed sites from Mill Creek to Big Flat.

Seven OPUS Crews

OPUS OP4 on a cross-country Midwest road trip

OP4

Minnesota to Wyoming

The Midwest Swing

Seventeen days, six campsites and a rescue dog named Pearl: Philadelphia to Wyoming through Blue Mound, Custer and the Badlands.

The Tracy Family

Oregon

Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route

Nine campers, 27 people, three dogs and a film crew on a 750-mile route that is 95 percent off-road. The biggest Adventure Run yet.

Eight OPUS Families

OP4

Florida

Fernandina Beach

Twenty rigs on the sand and the OPUS drew the crowd: a windy beach weekend on Amelia Island where set-up became a spectator sport.

Ryan Hathaway

Colorado

Enchanted Rockies Trail

The first owner-planned Adventure Run: sand dunes, Medano Pass, Bishop Castle and high ridge camps across southern Colorado.

The Odom, Sundstrom and Schuster Families

Texas

Big Bend National Park

Six nights off-grid in West Texas, down a road that had broken two trailer axles that same week. The OPUS giggled and kept going.

Kelly and Nathan Verootis

OP4

Colorado

The Rimrocker Trail

Three OP4s off the pavement from Cortez to the Rimrocker: Yankee Boy Basin, Last Dollar Road and lakeside camps under Wilson Peak.

Max Moss, Lee Odom, and Darin and Anne Doty

OP15

Maryland

Assateague Island

Wild horses on the beach, sea bass twenty miles offshore, and an annex that shrugged off the coastal weather.

Joseph L. · @OVERLANDH2O

OP2

California

Hiking Anza-Borrego

Three days of desert hiking out of a Blair Valley basecamp: the Pictograph Trail, Smugglers Canyon and an OP2 that rolls through everything.

Debbie and Ray · @wildflowersforme

OP15

Arkansas

The Ozarks

Three days of backcountry forest trails with Adventure Motors, and the discovery that sleeping well off-grid is half the trip.

Jordan V.

OP15

North Carolina

DuPont Forest

Straight from pickup to the trailheads: mountain biking DuPont's famous singletrack with a baby, a six-year-old and an outdoor kitchen.

The Verhaaren Family

OP15

California

Down Into Desolation Valley

Rough track in, cold nights, no services. The OP15's heater and roof solar turned a hard valley into a comfortable basecamp.

Alex Seefeldt · @adventures.with.roo_opus.op15

OP15

California

Thanksgiving at Point Mugu

A family of five, one pup and a beach for Thanksgiving: fishing, skim boarding and the OP15's outdoor kitchen doing the holiday cooking.

The Hsieh Family · @vanessabrookeslife

OPUS OP4 camped in red rock country near Moab, Utah

OP4

Utah, Colorado and Arizona

Fifteen Days Solo Around Moab

Bernadette, her dog Gryff and an OP4: a 15-day solo loop through four states, from Goosenecks to Monument Valley to Sedona.

Bernadette Brooks

OPUS OP4 overlanding through the American West

OP4

South Dakota and Wyoming

5,000 Miles Through 15 States

An 18-day, 5,000-mile overland loop from North Carolina through the Badlands, Custer State Park and Devils Tower. The OP4 never missed a beat.

Roger · @offthegridtrail_outdoors

OPUS OP4 in Titus Canyon, Death Valley National Park

OP4

Death Valley, California

Titus Canyon, Death Valley

The Las Vegas-based Gange family took their OP4 through Titus Canyon: desert driving by day, steaks and s'mores at camp by night.

The Gange Family · @raptor_landing

OP4

New Mexico

Jackalope Ranch

A father, a nine-year-old and a brand-new OP4 racing a thunderstorm. The air tent won, and seven more trips followed.

Lance Burch · @LanceBurchDenver

OPUS OP4 camped at Warm Springs Bay, Lake Powell

OP4

Utah and Arizona

It's All About the Dogs

Rain chased the plan, so the dogs picked the destination: Warm Springs Bay, where 80 mph gusts met an unbothered OP4.

TH and Lesa Maugh

OPUS OP4 camped beneath the Teton Range, Wyoming

OP4

Wyoming, Montana and Idaho

Bear Country, Yellowstone

Mike and Sherry's OP4 week through Jackson Hole, the Tetons and Yellowstone: grizzlies, bison and geysers, then home through Idaho, Utah and Colorado.

Mike and Sherry

OP15

Washington

Naches Pass

The Hahn family and three other crews took quads, dirt bikes and their OP15 up Naches Pass: breakfast scrambles, board games and a killer fort.

The Hahn Family

Toyota Tacoma towing an OPUS OP4 over rocky ground on the Mojave Road

OP4

Mojave Desert, California

Mojave River

Phillip Usrey ran the Mojave Road with his Tacoma and OP4: petroglyphs, Fort Piute, the Mojave Mailbox, lava tubes and the big river crossing in Afton Canyon.

Phillip Usrey · @Parksit007

OP4

Idaho

Sawtooth Mountains

A brand-new OP4's first trip: hail and heavy rain at Yellow Belly Lake on night one, then three days of alpine lakes and fly fishing on the Salmon River.

Mark Frock and family · @captain_oneeye

Adventure Addicts

Got a trip worth telling?

Every story here came from an owner. If you have taken your OPUS somewhere worth writing home about, send it in and we will feature it in the journal.

Share your story

Real people.Real adventures.

Kodiak Island, Alaska

Where can your OPUS take you?

Where they take them.

Alvord Desert

Loft Mountain, Shenandoah

Mineral Basin

Appalachian Ridges

South Padre Island

Toquerville Falls

Southcentral Alaska

Coyote Canyon by Rivian

Kite Lake at 12,000 Feet

East Walker River

Black Hills National Forest

Six Nights in the Mojave

Winter in the Alabama Hills

Sierra National Forest

Red Rock Canyon

Across America for Violet

Smith River Country

The Midwest Swing

Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route

Fernandina Beach

Enchanted Rockies Trail

Big Bend National Park

The Rimrocker Trail

Assateague Island

Hiking Anza-Borrego

The Ozarks

DuPont Forest

Down Into Desolation Valley

Thanksgiving at Point Mugu

Fifteen Days Solo Around Moab

5,000 Miles Through 15 States

Titus Canyon, Death Valley

Jackalope Ranch

It's All About the Dogs

Bear Country, Yellowstone

Naches Pass

Mojave River

Sawtooth Mountains

Got a trip worth telling?

Real people.
Real adventures.