2019 Jeep Jamboree dates and locations announced

[jodomcfrodo]

That's a good way to look at it, I get that.

I think the same can be said with a lot of things as well. When there is a fee or a certain price point on things, it often times keeps the people out who you wouldn't want there to begin with, which I totally get.

At some point it seems like this would be something I'd like to do. If only my wife and kids were out of town that weekend, I would go to it by myself

I went to a Jeep Jamboree in the coal mining part of PA. There is certainly a good amount of people that you don't want to be wheeling with in that area. The Jeep Jamboree was filled with a bunch of reasonable people which is where I found the most value. While most of them were new JKU owners I found that they were all nice people. And if you pick to do some of the harder trails that JJUSA offers, you won't have to deal with many inexperienced new owners.

The Tilamook one isn't very far from you. In my opinion, that one is probably as good as Ouray. I'm hoping to go to the Tilamook JJ sometime.

 

[Chris]

I went to a Jeep Jamboree in the coal mining part of PA. There is certainly a good amount of people that you don't want to be wheeling with in that area. The Jeep Jamboree was filled with a bunch of reasonable people which is where I found the most value. While most of them were new JKU owners I found that they were all nice people. And if you pick to do some of the harder trails that JJUSA offers, you won't have to deal with many inexperienced new owners.

The Tilamook one isn't very far from you. In my opinion, that one is probably as good as Ouray. I'm hoping to go to the Tilamook JJ sometime.

Yes, the Tillamook one is close for sure. I'm very familiar with the area as well.

I noticed that it says Jeeps with larger than 37" tires aren't allowed. I wonder why this is? Perhaps they won't want the guys out there that have such extreme, purpose built rigs, that it sort of scares everyone else off?

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Yes, the Tillamook one is close for sure. I'm very familiar with the area as well.

I noticed that it says Jeeps with larger than 37" tires aren't allowed. I wonder why this is? Perhaps they won't want the guys out there that have such extreme, purpose built rigs, that it sort of scares everyone else off?

The 37" tire rule is probably in place for a few reasons. Firstly, JJUSA doesn't offer trails that can't be accomplished with 35's and lockers. You aren't doing any extremely hardcore wheeling on the JJUSA trips. Sure you might have to winch in a couple of places, but you aren't doing anything scary or anything that requires 40s.

Secondly, I bet they had a lot of problems with people showing up with under built rigs and breaking them. If you have a Jeep on 40's and are going to a Jeep Jamboree, you probably don't have a super well built rig. Everyone with 40's that I know is too hardcore to even glance at a JJ event. They already have a club and go wheeling constantly. I'd bet they had plenty of people showing up with dana 35's and 37's back when TJ's were popular.

 

[Chris]

The 37" tire rule is probably in place for a few reasons. Firstly, JJUSA doesn't offer trails that can't be accomplished with 35's and lockers. You aren't doing any extremely hardcore wheeling on the JJUSA trips. Sure you might have to winch in a couple of places, but you aren't doing anything scary or anything that requires 40s.

Secondly, I bet they had a lot of problems with people showing up with under built rigs and breaking them. If you have a Jeep on 40's and are going to a Jeep Jamboree, you probably don't have a super well built rig. Everyone with 40's that I know is too hardcore to even glance at a JJ event. They already have a club and go wheeling constantly. I'd bet they had plenty of people showing up with dana 35's and 37's back when TJ's were popular.

Haha, that makes perfect sense.

But even then, I wonder if there's that one guy who shows up in his TJ with 37s on the stock axles?

Seems to be they would set some sort of base requirements, like alloy axle shafts, lockers, etc.

 

[IPerkWVU]

I went to the coal mountain one in PA last year. The price is steep but Jeep Jamboree sells out every trip, every year. I think a few of them like Ouray and Tilamook are worth it. Not sure I'd pay to go to the Badlands in Indiana when I can just go there with a group myself...

Moral of the story, in my opinion, only a select few are worth the price that JJUSA wants. Even still, they'd probably sell out even with higher prices.

Ha, I would be so disappointed if I paid JJUSA money for a Badlands trip. Don't get me wrong, it's a great day trip and the snack stand puts out a decent cheeseburger but not too interesting of a venue. @jodomcfrodo let me know next time you are in Attica and I'll try to come and wheel with you guys, we make a few trips a year typically.

I agree that the value is hitting a more remote destination and wheeling with a responsible group

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Ha, I would be so disappointed if I paid JJUSA money for a Badlands trip. Don't get me wrong, it's a great day trip and the snack stand puts out a decent cheeseburger but not too interesting of a venue. @jodomcfrodo let me know next time you are in Attica and I'll try to come and wheel with you guys, we make a few trips a year typically.

I agree that the value is hitting a more remote destination and wheeling with a responsible group

I’ve only been to the badlands once actually. I haven’t done much wheeling since I moved to Chicago. I would be up for a Badlands trip once I get my Jeep back from the shop. Most of the Chicago Jeep clubs are comprised of jokers from what I’ve seen so far so I’d rather go with forum people.

JJUSA offers a real speciality service and they do it well. I think they mostly gear towards the casual crowd but they have stuff for the more hardcore wheelers as well. It is certainly an easy way to guarantee what you’re going to be doing on your trip.

 

[qslim]

There is a lot more value than some people here want to admit. Having knowledgable guides is a great advantage. You also aren't wheeling with unvetted strangers. If I was to go to Ouray, I would either go with JJUSA or be wheeling with complete strangers. As much as I hate to say it, the high price filters out a lot of the people you don't want to be wheeling with (don't read too much into that). I've gone wheeling with strangers from the internet before just to find that they are complete fools when I get there. It isn't fun wheeling with some guy who decides to full throttle his Jeep at the very first obstacle and break it (yup, thats happened to me before). JJUSA essentially offers the experience of wheeling with people you know are somewhat reasonable even if you live 1000 miles from where you are wheeling.

That's a reasonable point. Like I said, I just think they're asking all the money for 2 days of a guided tour through Arches, but they may very well be providing a top-notch experience that's worth top-dollar. I contacted the coordinator for details, and he responded right away with a lot of good information. I was basically concerned that I'm fairly new to all this Jeep stuff, and I'd be using a 99 Sahara with nothing more than a 4" lift and bumpers (no lockers, armor, etc.) and that I'd be going with my wife a two little kids, so I'm not looking to get too extreme. He let me know that the guides who lead the trip are locals who know the trails very well and know enough to give their customers a great experience based on their equipment and experience level. If they're charging an arm and a leg and selling out on a regular basis, it's probably for a reason.

 

[qslim]

$800 for the family? That's quite steep... what all does that include? I seem to be missing that.

If you go to the site and click on the trip you're interested in it will link you out to a PDF about that particular excursion. The Blanding, UT trip in particular included catered breakfast & dinner, box lunches, and presentations on the local history of the Ute tribe. The family rate is $845.

 

[IPerkWVU]

I’ve only been to the badlands once actually. I haven’t done much wheeling since I moved to Chicago. I would be up for a Badlands trip once I get my Jeep back from the shop. Most of the Chicago Jeep clubs are comprised of jokers from what I’ve seen so far so I’d rather go with forum people.

JJUSA offers a real speciality service and they do it well. I think they mostly gear towards the casual crowd but they have stuff for the more hardcore wheelers as well. It is certainly an easy way to guarantee what you’re going to be doing on your trip.

I try and remember to post to this thread when we head up there. I know @Farmergreg also isn't too far away from Badlands either. We'll have to make a trip sometime

 

[IPerkWVU]

I'll be at the Tennessee mountain Jamboree @ Windrock. If any other forum members will be there let me know! Sold out in about 10 minutes once registration opened up, glad I set a alarm to remind myself.

 

[Mud dauber]

OK guys let me first say thanks for a great forum. I would go Jeepin with anyone who writes in this forum!

Being very new to Jeeps and the Jeep lifestyle when I first looked at the events lots of them are already sold out. I figured they must be worth the price of admission to a lot of people. Like some have stated it might be a bunch of new Jeep owners and that is fine with me. Everyone wants to be part of "The Club". We are were new at some point.

I like the fact that participants are required to have a CB radio. The events indicate that you get instruction and hear about local history over the air. That should add a lot of value.

What I question before I sign up is this, For intermediate trails they recommend 33" tires and a mild lift. I have 31" tires and a 1" body lift on my 05 Unlimited with a Limited Slip. I have been led to believe that I can go a lot of places with my Jeep the way it is set up now. I probably would not try the hardest trails but I thought my Jeep could do an intermediate trail? Will they turn me away from intermediate trails or am I wrong about trail ratings. I wonder if all these folks that show up in new rigs are already lifted and have 33" tires and a winch.

Enlighten me please

 

[Serbonze]

OK guys let me first say thanks for a great forum. I would go Jeepin with anyone who writes in this forum!

Being very new to Jeeps and the Jeep lifestyle when I first looked at the events lots of them are already sold out. I figured they must be worth the price of admission to a lot of people. Like some have stated it might be a bunch of new Jeep owners and that is fine with me. Everyone wants to be part of "The Club". We are were new at some point.

I like the fact that participants are required to have a CB radio. The events indicate that you get instruction and hear about local history over the air. That should add a lot of value.

What I question before I sign up is this, For intermediate trails they recommend 33" tires and a mild lift. I have 31" tires and a 1" body lift on my 05 Unlimited with a Limited Slip. I have been led to believe that I can go a lot of places with my Jeep the way it is set up now. I probably would not try the hardest trails but I thought my Jeep could do an intermediate trail? Will they turn me away from intermediate trails or am I wrong about trail ratings. I wonder if all these folks that show up in new rigs are already lifted and have 33" tires and a winch.

Enlighten me please

They will do a tech inspection on Thursday night where your Jeep will be gone over. They will then indicate which trails you are eligible to sign up to drive.

 

[Serbonze]

So I wasn't thrilled with the new double occupancy rule that was implemented this year, but it appears that voices have been heard and that it will probably roll back to the previous ruleset where they won't make you pay for a passenger even if you don't have one.

@Chris regarding 40s, they have stated that they are now allowed on a per case basis. You need to send a picture of your Jeep to them and they will review the "look" of it. If it still looks like a Jeep in their eyes, they can make an exception and allow it. They have stated that they want to keep the buggies out because they tend to tear up the trails. I have a friend who has a TJ on 40s and coil overs and they stated that his Jeep no longer looks like a Jeep so he wouldn't be allowed. In the update video, the Jamboree guy held up a picture of a JKU on 40s and said it was okay because it still looked like a Jeep.

If they could cut the costs down a bit, perhaps offer an entry option that didn't include meals, I think I would fork over a couple hundred dollars for one of these trips. If they allowed camping on the property too, that would help.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Completely missed this thread when it started! Just to give my two cents on the matter but I want to say first I have never gone on a Jeep Jamboree event!

Second and I really hate publicly admitting this but my offroad experience is limited to my mother's family farm of 600+ arces and my wife's family property which is like 80~100 acres. Between work and family I have never gotten the opportunity yet to really go on a well known trail in any of the multitude of Jeeps I have owned which is like 10+ at this point.

Because of that, and man I hate that I forgot to sign up this year, I really want to do Moab or some other trails first with Jeep Jamboree for a couple of reasons.

First for me would be paying for the spotters that know the trail and filter out the people that don't know what they are doing. My biggest fear is traveling across the US in my Wrangler, going on a trail and finding out after a rollover or something that my spotter really had no idea what they were doing.

Second I like that most of the events they do seem to limit lifts and tires. I realize this is an odd statement but as someone who has a stock lifted TJ with 235/75r15 tires I'm not going to feel too out of place on the trail when the limit is 35" tires. It also means if I go on a trip I will hopefully not be holding up the group because I have the smallest TJ out there!

Finally as people have stated, they provide food. I know this seems odd but being able to bring my wife with me to Moab and not have to worry about food on the trail considering I'd be driving from Virginia would be huge.

I'm hoping, especially once my Diesel Swap is done, to meet Jeepers across the US and be able to make friends and start planning out a couple trips to various trails all across the US each year. I work behind a computer all day and being able to look forward to a couple of weekends a year where I won't have a computer in sight would be amazing!

-Grant

 

[IPerkWVU]

The one I'm going to only provides post trail day dinners and expect that you brown bag it for lunch, but we get a 3rd day of wheeling out of it. There is a Kroger grocery near by that premakes sandwiches for the event. I thought the trade off was worth it. As far as camping, many of the locations have camping near by, may just need a permit.

 

[qslim]

OK guys let me first say thanks for a great forum. I would go Jeepin with anyone who writes in this forum!

Being very new to Jeeps and the Jeep lifestyle when I first looked at the events lots of them are already sold out. I figured they must be worth the price of admission to a lot of people. Like some have stated it might be a bunch of new Jeep owners and that is fine with me. Everyone wants to be part of "The Club". We are were new at some point.

I like the fact that participants are required to have a CB radio. The events indicate that you get instruction and hear about local history over the air. That should add a lot of value.

What I question before I sign up is this, For intermediate trails they recommend 33" tires and a mild lift. I have 31" tires and a 1" body lift on my 05 Unlimited with a Limited Slip. I have been led to believe that I can go a lot of places with my Jeep the way it is set up now. I probably would not try the hardest trails but I thought my Jeep could do an intermediate trail? Will they turn me away from intermediate trails or am I wrong about trail ratings. I wonder if all these folks that show up in new rigs are already lifted and have 33" tires and a winch.

Enlighten me please

Mud,

I’d recommend you contact the rep for you particular event. I had similar questions about their Utah trip and found contact info on the pdf for that particular trip in their website. The guy got back to me the same day, told me that one of the guides actually takes a stock CJ-7 on this particular trip and I’d be just fine.

 

[RubiconMike]

I did a couple of JeepJamboreeUSA events around 16 years ago, and a few Jeepers Jamboree events since then also.

IIRC, Jeepers Jamboree is the original, started by Mark Smith 67 years ago and only runs the Rubicon. JeepJamboreeUSA was started by Mark's son with the idea of hosting similar runs across the country (not everybody wants to drive to the Rubicon).

I did a JeepJamboreeUSA trip to San Felipe Mexico in '02 - I think they only did it that year because it wasn't a money maker. The mayor of San Felipe met us in El Centro CA and escorted us down to San Felipe, we didn't have to stop at customs or at the military inspection checkpoints. When we got to San Felipe they had a party waiting for us with free beer! That night at the bar, we met F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya - he and his buddies were doing some local dirt biking for his bachelor party. Pretty amazing trip!

I did another one at Big Bear. Not as amazing as the San Felipe trip, but pretty fun. I believe the price of the San Felipe trip included the hotel and meal, but I may have had to pay for my room on the Big Bear trip.

The events may be somewhat pricey, but besides the food and sometimes room, you get tour guides that know the area, and a support system that provides spotters where necessary and repairs (or transportation for parts) where needed. It's a great way for people new to the sport to get out and see what their Jeeps can do while meeting some really nice people.

The Jeepers Jamboree on the other hand.............. (the Saturday night party is AMAZING)