Photography by Richard Giordano Located south of Banff and within the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa or Kootenai First Nations, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park is a culmination of the Canadian Rockies’ finest. Bright alpine lakes border jutting rocky ridges, while spruce, fir, and pine trees shade blazing wildflowers in fiery orange, pretty pink, and delicate…
Twisties, Curves, and Canopies: A Journey Through the Ozarks
It’s All in the Planning We had planned the trip for a couple of months, poring over the details, making inventories of what we had and would need for a long-distance moto journey across the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri. I would need to bring a new set of tires for my BMW F 750…
Overland Embassy Guides Darién Gap Crossing for Travelers
Photo credits: Alejandro Huerta Franco The Darién Gap crossing between Panama and Colombia is many overlanders’ first exposure to the red tape of transcontinental vehicle shipping. Some travelers are so overwhelmed by the paperwork and costs involved they turn around and return the way they came. Others take a deep breath and plunge in, embracing…
The Canyons of the Ancients
If you had lived in southern Colorado during the Ice Age, chances are you’d be hunting camels for your dinner. Luckily, a lot has changed since the Pleistocene era, the epoch geological timespan when glaciers ruled North America. Ten thousand years after its first settlers dined on camels and woolly mammoths, modern-day visitors to the…
Destination: Cotopaxi National Park, Ecuador
Photography by Richard Giordano At 5,897 meters (19,347 feet), Cotopaxi is Ecuador’s second-highest peak and one of the highest active volcanoes on the planet. Located a mere 30 miles from the Ecuadorian capital city, Quito, the park is well-visited and offers enough to keep visitors entertained for several days, including camping, hiking, off-pavement driving, and…
Video of the Week :: Living in the Cactus Forest with Tight Loops
Lead photograph by Tight Loops Eager to escape the coldest winter months in Montana, Chase Bartee and his wife Aimee head the desert southwest in their 1985 VW camper van, exploring the rugged terrain of the Saguaro, Joshua Tree, and Death Valley National Parks. The couple’s skills as artists, photographers, and filmmakers fuse with a…
How to Ship an Overland Vehicle
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Spring 2022 Issue. Photography by Coen Wubbels The alarm clock sounded at 3:00 a.m. For the fifth morning in a row, Coen yawned as he threw his legs out of bed to once more get on the phone. We were in the Netherlands, visiting family while…
Gaia GPS Launches New Overlanding Map
Gaia GPS has launched Gaia Overland, a new global base map designed to provide the information you need to plan and navigate your next overland or off-pavement adventure. Map features include updated roads and trails, including those from OpenStreetMap, road and trail data from the US Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management, and…
Destination: Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, British Columbia
Photography by Richard Giordano Located on the west coast of southern Vancouver Island, Juan de Fuca Provincial Park offers visitors the chance to bask in its rainforests, try out the surf, observe local flora and fauna, and hike the local trails. One of the park’s main features, the Juan De Fuca Marine Trail, winds 47…
Looking for Firewood? Stacked.camp Knows Where It’s At
These days there’s a website or app for just about anything, and you can now add firewood to that list. Stacked.camp is a new “community-focused project” (website database) that was created to help campers find firewood, quickly and easily. Stacked was specifically built as a “lite-weight” webapp to facilitate quick loading of information, even when…
The Mojave Desert MDHCA has Elected a Prominent Overland Explorer as President
This is excellent news for us desert lovers. Billy Creech has been elected President of the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association (“MDHCA”) non-profit which was formed in 1993 with the mission to research, conserve and share the natural and cultural history of the Mojave Desert. The MDHCA runs the 75 acre Goffs facility and…
11 Tips for Visiting Baja, Mexico, This Winter
Photography by Richard Giordano From sunseekers to snowbirds, surfers, and off-roaders, it seems like nearly everyone I’ve talked to is planning to visit Baja this winter. The promise of warmer temperatures, beach camping, and finding solace in remote desert locations has mass appeal. Waking up to the sound of coyotes chattering, frolicking in sparkling bioluminescence…
Destinations :: Cumberland, British Columbia
On the east coast of central Vancouver Island, British Columbia, you’ll find Cumberland, a gateway to Comox Lake 60 miles northwest of Nanaimo. What makes Cumberland and its 3,000-plus residents unique is the welcoming community and world-class recreation possibilities. Unlike other touristy stops on Vancouver Island, like Tofino and Coombs, Cumberland has kept its quaint…
10 Years, 10 Routes, 10,000+ Miles—A Decade Anniversary for Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR)
Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) are one of the best ways to adventure-road trip around the U.S. And what better way to celebrate Motorcycle Awareness month and National Road Trip day (May 28) than with the 10-year anniversary of BDR—an organization that literally defined the phrase “adventure riding.” What is BDR? Using double-track, forest service, and…
Managing Your Money on the Road
Words by Lisa Morris, photography by Jason Spafford A learned friend advised that if I were to raise funds for a big two-wheeled trip successfully, I’d have to adopt the mantra Don’t be too stupid to be poor. Being frugal is the easy part—surrendering the daily caffè latte, monthly subscription to premium television, and…
South Africa Overland
There are countries within continents which are quite unlike those surrounding them: Uruguay and Turkey are good examples. And South Africa is unique on the African continent. It is a land of extremes: wealth and poverty, desert and tropical coast, cities and wide-open spaces. Yes, it has its challenges, but the crime and political instability…
Backcountry Discovery Routes’ Holiday Auction
Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) is holding its fifth annual Holiday Auction. Head over right now until December 20 to place bids on items that will no doubt increase your fun factor—or someone else’s. Choose from brands such as Touratech, Klim, and Mosko Moto. Custom adventure rides are also on the auction block, along with skills…
One for the Road
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Fall 2020 Issue. Let’s accept that adventure motorcycling means long, unsupported journeys across the world’s developing nations, lately redefined as the Global South. Overlanding is another word for it, as distinct from regular touring vacations or even gnarly domestic adventures that aren’t hard to have…
Overland Across Eurasia by Bus
Article by Martyn Davies “The Overland” From 1957 until 1979 a steady stream of people travelled from Europe to the East. They were a mixed bag seeking a change of lifestyle and a little adventure, including students, artists, Vietnam Vets, and hippies. The road from Europe to India and beyond was called “The Overland” or…
How We Began Our Overland Journey and What We Learned
Two weeks before the start of our overland adventure, my mother and I went to Spain for a week. Coen was flabbergasted. Buried in a list of things he felt needed to be done, he couldn’t understand why I went on vacation. On the other hand, I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about….