Driving the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah

It's a long way from Brisbane to Moab, Utah, and the annual Easter Jeep Safari still feels like the sort of event that shouldn’t quite exist in 2026.

The event began in 1967 as a one-day Moab Chamber of Commerce trail run, and six decades later it has grown into a nine-day off-road institution. Jeep says more than 20,000 enthusiasts were expected for the 60th running, held from March 28 to April 5, 2026, which tells you this is not just a manufacturer sideshow with a few lifted Wranglers parked outside a hotel. It's one of the great recurring rituals of four-wheel driving culture. 

What makes the Safari matter is that Moab has no patience for brochure language. This is not a Jeep event at all, but one that has been run by a local club.

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The sandstone around town is brutally democratic and it doesn't care about heritage, hype, or how convincing your launch video looked back at headquarters. It only cares whether your tyres bite, your suspension can breathe, and your underbody survives the next ledge.

That's why the annual Jeep circus in Utah is a genuine public stress test, a place where the brand can show off concept vehicles, gather feedback from owners, and put new ideas and Jeep Performance Parts (JPP) in front of some of its most committed customers.

Jeep itself describes Moab as a 'proving ground', and Stellantis has been saying for years that Easter Jeep Safari is where those conversations happen. 

Getting to Moab is three flights from Australia, one to Los Angeles, one to Denver and then a small plane to Canyonlands regional airport. The flight across the US is absolutely stunning and showcases the scenery you are about to experience, but no matter what you see from the air, it won't make up for the sight of the actual thing from the ground.

Australia has some incredible places for off-roading, but it's hard to beat what is on offer here in Utah. Not just because of the scenery, but also because of the unrestricted and totally unregulated access.

As is the case in the land of the free, there are not nanny police standing around ready to defect your 12-inch lift kit, nor does anyone seem to care what hill you climb and how. It's just there to be enjoyed.

Easter Jeep Safari was born out of local necessity as much as local enthusiasm. The Moab Museum notes the town was looking for new visitors as uranium demand declined in the late 1960s, and the Chamber created the event to bring people to town in spring.

The first route was Behind the Rocks and Moab Rim was added the following year, and Red Rock 4-Wheelers which now organises and manages the event says those early runs were so informal that participants signed up on Saturday morning and once even received ice cream dropped by airplane at lunch. 

As permits, insurance, and land-management rules became more complex, the event outgrew that loose local format. Red Rock 4-Wheelers gradually took over the running of the Safari, and both Jeep and the club point to 1982 as the turning point when the local off-road group assumed leadership.

From there, the event expanded from a single Saturday outing into the nine-day format now built around organised trail runs, a large expo, and the kind of global attendance that can turn downtown Moab into a rolling catalogue of beadlocks, jerry cans, and very strong opinions about tyre pressures. 

Jeep layered its own mythology onto that foundation over time. The brand says the first branded Jeep 'Easter Egg' dates to 1997, when artist Michael Santora hid a tiny seven-slot grille motif in a Wrangler cowl, while concept vehicles became a regular centrepiece of the modern Moab ritual in the 2000s.

As is the case every year, Jeep brings along a bunch of pretty crazy concept cars that are actually drivable (in the harshest of environments at that) and in many cases end up going into limited production.

Jeep’s official 2026 Easter Jeep Safari concept lineup at Walker Drug comprised the Jeep Grand Wagoneer Commander Concept, Jeep Wrangler ANVIL 715 Concept, Jeep Wrangler BUZZCUT Concept, Jeep Wrangler Laredo Concept, and Jeep XJ Pioneer Concept.

This year we got to drive all five Jeep concepts plus a variety of other Jeep models across what is without doubt the most challenging off-roading this writer has ever done. For the average person, this level of off-roading intensity – especially the climb to the top – may be a little overwhelming and certainly a few of this year's media attendees that lacked 4WDing experience struggled, but no one leaves Jeep's Easter safari disappointed.

If you own a Jeep, or even if you just love off-roading, we would say this is definitely an event you absolutely must do once in your life. Even though it's obviously impractical to bring your own vehicle to the USA, the ability to hire a Jeep in Moab and surrounding towns for this event is very feasible and with the right car and setup, this is a memory and a place that you will never forget.

The vibe and atmosphere is amazing and although the place is 99.99 percent Jeeps, we did see the occasional Toyota FJ Cruiser or Ford Bronco owner trying their damn hardest not to blend in.

Regardless of what you're driving, the camaraderie and willingness of all there to chat and help each other out is a testament to what Jeep has built with its customer base over its 85-year history.

We spent two days doing a few of the famous courses and trails, which at one point came to a summit unlike no other. Overlooking Moab over an edge, having spent half a day climbing rocks and steep hills which at one point really looked impossible to do so, is an incredible experience.

There are sections to some of these trials and climbs that are literally at a cliff-face, and one wrong wheel placement and some bad throttle control and you are genuinely going down a cliff to your likely doom. Here in Moab there are no guard rails, nothing to catch you. It's as authentic as it gets.

The Jeeps that we drove were modified with lift kits (official parts) and bigger tyres, but the majority of the modifications would have set you back less than A$7500 according to the Jeep engineers at the event, with most of that taken up by the upgraded wheels and tyres.

Apart from the Wranglers and Gladiators that looked almost bored conquering the vastness of Moab's red rocks, what was really amazing to see was that even the giant Jeep Grand Wagoneer was handed over to us to climb some insane hills. We definitely bottomed that out a few times and probably damaged some underbody plates (sorry) but the thing climbed totally unbothered otherwise.

Jeep has nothing to prove with its off-roading credentials. There is no sane person out there that would not expect a Jeep to be able to conquer the harshest of terrains, but seeing it is believing it and there's no place better than Moab.

Where an ever increasing number of new entrants come out looking rugged but often fail to perform in the real world, Jeep's continuing emphasis to build its vehicles with function over form has kept its heritage true to its core.

I'm not much for off-roading for the sake of off-roading, but there's magic to seeing a vehicle do exactly what it's engineered to do and it puts some serious muscle on Jeep's marketing talk that so many brands often throw out there without substance. So when Jeep says their vehicles are tested at places like Moab and Rubicon, they mean it.

Jeep sales in Australia have been struggling for the last few years due to numerous factors, but its core products – the Wrangler in particular – continue to define a segment and price point. The list of official and non-official parts for the Jeep's off-roading needs is mind blowing, perhaps only matched by Toyota and its legion of fans.

The Easter Jeep Safari runs every year and if you plan ahead now, there's a very good chance you will find yourself at some incredible locations this time next year.

Below are the list of concepts that the brand brought to this year's event:

The Jeep Wrangler ANVIL 715 Concept is probably the clearest expression of where Jeep thinks modern overlanding is headed.

Based on a Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, it takes the stripped-back adventure brief first explored by the Bug Out concept and turns it into something more resolved, with a fixed roof, skylights, an integrated rack, onboard air, steel bumpers, a dedicated Trails Offroad screen, and bed-lined flooring.

The restyled nose, inspired by SJ-series Jeeps from the 1960s, gives it old-school credibility without making it look like a costume piece. It reads less like an accessory catalogue on wheels and more like a genuinely thought-through long-range tourer. 

The Jeep Wrangler BUZZCUT Concept is the extrovert of the lineup, and Jeep knows it. Jeep Performance Parts created a sporty two-seat Wrangler with a fastback-style roof chopped by 2.0 inches, a 2.0-inch lift, 37-inch BFGoodrich KM3 tyres, a snorkel, winch, roof platform, and a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The loud Vitamin C Orange and black paint does most of the shouting, but the smart bit is further back, where the rear seat has been replaced by a lockable drawer setup and custom MOLLE panels. In other words, it isn't just a Moab fashion statement; it's a compact adventure rig with a surprisingly serious view of storage. 

The Jeep Grand Wagoneer Commander Concept is the curveball, because it asks a question few people really ask of a Grand Wagoneer: what happens when the big luxury Jeep turns up ready for trail support duty?

Jeep’s answer is a stealth-inspired build on 35-inch all-terrain tyres and 20-inch wheels, backed by a roof rack with auxiliary lighting, skid plates, and side graphics that reinterpret the classic woodgrain of Wagoneers past in a darker, tougher way.

The clever part is that Jeep didn’t have to completely reinvent the vehicle to make the idea land. Instead, the Commander is pitched as proof the brand’s flagship can serve as a premium base for towing, touring, and off-road support without losing its identity. 

In an age when even the toughest 4x4s can start to feel like rolling electronics expos, the Jeep Wrangler Laredo Concept deliberately goes the other way.

Built on a Willys foundation, it pairs a 3.6-litre V6 with a manual transmission and backs that up with half doors, a manual Sky Slider roof, a tan hardtop, 37-inch tyres on retro slotted mag wheels, a wash-out vinyl floor, and a rear-gate-mounted onboard air system.

Jeep calls it a ‘fewer features, more feel’ exercise, and that is basically the point. This is a Wrangler concept that trades gadget count for mechanical honesty, old-school attitude, and just enough throwback charm to make many modern off-roaders look slightly overdressed. 

The Jeep XJ Pioneer Concept is the smartest heritage play of the lot because it didn’t simply borrow old styling cues, it started with a first-generation 1984 Cherokee donor vehicle and worked forward from there.

Jeep tied the build to two milestones, 85 years of brand heritage and the Cherokee nameplate’s return in 2026, but the strongest part of the concept was its restraint.

A 2.0-inch lift, quick-disconnecting sway bar, custom carbon fender flares, 17-inch wheels, 33-inch all-terrain tyres, and integrated rock rails bring genuine trail ability, while the cabin stays faithful to the original with a few period-correct nods to the cassette-tape era. It's a restomod, yes, but one disciplined enough not to smother the things people loved about the XJ in the first place

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