My Ford tests the off-road limits of the 2014 Explorer with a journey to southwest Utah’s legendary national parks.
By Seth Putnam
Photography by Jonathan Kane
You can feel the gallop through the steering wheel of the 2014 Ford
Explorer
Sport as we surge through steep mountain ranges, effortlessly passing
other road warriors on the way from Salt Lake City to Moab, Utah.
On the surface, the Explorer is a sleek and stylish vehicle, roomy
enough to comfortably accommodate seven people and a cargo area full of
gear. But looks can be deceiving, and beneath the hood of this black
beauty is a beast of a machine: a 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost
® engine that boasts plenty of hauling and climbing ability, all with impressive EPA-estimated fuel economy ratings.*
Utah has an idiosyncratic climate that threatens to shift every few
minutes. During a three-and-a-half-hour afternoon drive, fog turns to
rain to snow to rain and back to fog. Whipping the windshield, the
otherworldly snowflakes seem—deceptively—as if they’re as big as the
palm of my hand. Despite the wild weather, the Explorer is doing great
on the highway. But how will it perform when the pavement ends?
The Descent
When we arrive in Moab, we head straight to Canyonlands National Park to
find out. We enter the preserve at dawn, just as the sun begins
glinting off the red rock canyon walls. Pulling off the road, we get out
of the car and walk gingerly toward the canyon’s edge. The earth seems
to disappear, with hundreds of feet of sheer cliff dropping away from
our toes.
The centuries peel away, and I begin to think how difficult it must
have been for Native Americans and settlers alike to move across this
unforgiving landscape, much less make a home here. We’ve arrived in a
vehicle packed with technology, from the available SYNC
® with MyFord Touch
®
voice-activated technology**—which allows me to use voice commands to
get directions, make phone calls, and even skim through the available
SiriusXM
® Radio
† stations—to the available heated leather-trimmed seats that take the bite out of the desert’s freezing dawn.
When you stand face-to-face with nothing but thin air, your hands
start to tremble. Your knees shake, and it feels like your stomach has
taken up residence in your mouth. One wrong move could end in a free
fall. It’s a sobering reminder that for all of humanity’s efforts to
tame it, the ferocious wilderness still lurks. The Explorer had taken us
to the brink, and it was time to push the envelope.
In the distance, what looks like a game trail snakes its way down to
the canyon floor. We decide to explore the trailhead, and we discover
that it’s actually the Shafer Trail, a road into the backcountry. On
second thought, “road” might be a charitable description; it’s little
more than a one-lane path carved into the side of the canyon. On the
right, a sheer red rock wall towers into the sky. On the left, nothing
but thin air. How can we say no?
The Explorer’s available Terrain Management System
TM is
designed to
intelligently deliver the vehicle’s resources in the way that best fits
the landscape. The Sand setting keeps the transmission in its lowest
gears and allocates the vehicle’s 350 foot-pounds of torque to the
wheels to aggressively pilot through desert conditions. With Hill
Descent Control
TM enabled, we set our desired speed and begin our off-road descent, handling the plummeting switchbacks with ease.
The walls of Lathrop Canyon shoot up around us as we plunge into the
abyss we had been standing above only moments ago. Looking along the
contours of the gorge, the snowcapped La Sal Mountains form a stark
contrast to the searing desert clime surrounding the SUV. Just when we
think we’ve reached the floor, huge fissures open up in front of us:
canyons within the canyon. The Explorer scrambles over the rough rocks
with all the grace and poise of a mountain lion. After several miles of
winding, rugged road along the Colorado River, we emerge from the canyon
onto pavement, victorious over a trail that—despite its beauty—was
fraught with danger.
The Climb
In awe of the earth’s oddities, we head to Arches National Park to
ascend into an entirely different landscape. There, we discover spires
of sandstone that tower over us like castle ruins. Below our feet lies
an ancient salt bed that’s thousands of feet thick in places.
The bed was created 300 million years ago, when the sea flowed into
the Paradox Basin. The basin evaporated over time, forming the bed,
which continued to rise and sink as the environment changed. A plethora
of rock layers formed, and as erosion and acid rain began to take
effect, weaker bottom layers fell away from stronger top layers,
creating the striking arches that more than a million visitors flock to
see each year.
The current rangers of the park are also concerned with fostering
natural ecosystems. They do this by eliminating exotic plants while
encouraging native ones to grow. Some plants in the park are over 100
years old and are examples of the resilience needed to survive in the
desert.
Despite this hardiness, conserving the delicate desert ecosystem is
an important task, the scope and scale of which is not to be
underestimated. The rangers are following in the footsteps of
forward-thinkers like Teddy Roosevelt (revered as one of the fathers of
the national parks system) and Edward Abbey, an extreme naturalist and
author who served as an Arches park ranger in the 1960s.
It’s essential work that allows us to revel in the wonders of the
natural world. But it’s also a reminder that adventures in the
wilderness can be tough, especially in a place like the rugged desert of
Moab. Luckily, the Explorer is just as rugged and has shown that it’s
up for the challenge.
FAST FACTS
2014 EXPLORER
>
SOLID FOOTING The 4WD system allows the Explorer to deliver confidence and traction in all conditions.
>
SAFE ON SLOPES Hill Descent Control
TM lets you set and maintain a constant speed while traveling downhill.
>
ADAPTABLE TO ALL TERRAIN
The Terrain Management System
TM lets you easily shift on the
fly into one of four settings to match the terrain: Normal, Mud/Ruts,
Sand and Snow, Gravel, Grass.
*EPA-estimated rating of 16 city/22 hwy/18 combined mpg, 3.5-liter EcoBoost®
4WD. Actual mileage will vary. **Driving while distracted can result in
loss of vehicle control. Only use mobile phones and other devices, even
with voice commands, when it is safe to do so. Not all features are
compatible with all phones.
†Subscriptions to all SiriusXM services are sold by
SiriusXM after trial expires. Subscriptions are governed by SiriusXM
Customer Agreement; see www.siriusxm.com. Sirius U.S. Satellite Service
available in the 48 contiguous United States and D.C. Sirius, XM and all
related marks and logos are trademarks of Sirius XM Radio Inc.
