Not even the rain could keep us away from the Tierra Del Sol (TDS) Desert Safari in the Truckhaven Hills—near Ocotillo Wells, CA (N 33 15.691 W 116 00.857). The annual event held March 5 – 7 is the largest of its class, bringing together 4x4s and off-roaders alike for a full weekend of organized runs, a huge outdoor vendor area and an impressive off-road raffle of over $100k in parts and accessories.
Off-Road.com has been attending the TDS Desert Safari for a few years now. We enjoy the event and its cause—keeping off-road areas open. We also enjoy the scenic San Diego deserts and wide variety of off-road vehicles one can see all in one place. From Jeep 4x4s, Suzuki Samis and full-size trucks to the hand-built back-yard rigs, you never know what you will see around the next hill.
Early Saturday morning we spotted John from All-Pro crusin' around in this sweet Jeep sandcar.
The best part of the TDS Desert Safari is that people can have a good time while helping keep our land open for off-road use. Just register for the event, buy raffle tickets from the TDS club and support those vendors that showed up or donated items for the raffle.
This year we tagged along with a group of full-size 4x4 trucks that were too big to go on the organized runs but still made the best out of the weekend by playing in the Truckhaven hills. The Azusa Canyon Off Road Association (ACORA) trail leader Gil Lopez gave us a seat in his monster Ford Bronco customized to be a F350 with Dana 60s (Photo by EH).
48TH ANNUAL TDS DESERT SAFARI PHOTOS HERE
48TH ANNUAL TDS DESERT SAFARI
We had an opportunity to interview Bob Alexander, PR Director for the TDS Desert Safari about this year’s event. Here’s what Bob had to sa.:
Hi Bob,
Great event. Tell us more about this year’s Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari.
About 1,200 registered vehicles. Guessing at 15,000 guests over the three days and over 3,000 guests attended the famous TDS raffle Saturday evening.
The TDS 4WD Club runs a tight ship. Their well organized event includes check-in, tech inspection and organized runs.
The hills always have room for people to come out and show off what their rig can or can’t do. Many tried to conquer the white dirt hill anchored with its very own street sign. In the time we were there observing the carnage, we saw several Jeeps make it up with little to no problem. It was mostly those trying to take more difficult routes to the top that had a hard time getting past the half-way mark. Others did make it but had mechanical scars in the process. This Jeep broke it's rear axle shortly after this photo.
What was the Safari trail for Saturday, any detail on the length or level of difficulty?
Safari trail was about 20 miles long averaging about 5-6 hours in time with the level of difficulty from mild to wild. We have green and red and blue (most challenging) intermixed with signage and trail crews helping to direct traffic throughout the entire trail. A few vehicles did a nice lean and left only two tires on the ground, but no injuries.
The big crowd pleaser is the famous raffle, this year over $130k in prizes. There was everything from Goodyear Tires, Warn Winch, Currie, Master Craft Safety to name a few.
How about the famous TDS raffle?
Over $130,000 in raffle prizes. 7 bucket raffles with premier sponsors donating prizes worth $1000 and up. 130 general raffle prize packages valued at $700 to $1600 dollars each. Over 3000 attended the raffle. No rain and while a little chilly, the response was excellent.
48TH ANNUAL TDS DESERT SAFARI
Off Road Warehouse was at TDS with a full off-road oasis. Under a massive tent flying the U.S. Flag was the largest selection of off-road parts and accessories at the vendor show. We stopped by to pick up some goodies for the trail and were quite amazed at how many people were out buying this weekend.
Bob, can you tell us how much money was raised this year and where it’s going?
Still calculating the overall amount of money that was raised, but we have already donated $5000 to the California 4 Wheel Drive Association and are donating over $2500 to Thundering Trails, which is a organization that takes underprivileged children to the desert to learn about responsible use of our natural resources and give them a great time in the desert. As we finalize the revenue we will be donating to many organizations including the San Diego Off Road Coalition, Blue Ribbon coalition and a number of other local, regional and national organizations that work tirelessly to preserve our sport.
Anything else you would like to add?
Approximately 100 vendors who all indicated they were happy with the crowds and traffic to their various booths. This year we started with a tribute to the military that was well received by the crowds and officially declared the Desert Safari an international event, as I introduced two guys who traveled all the way from the Netherlands to participate. The crowd roared and welcomed them with open arms ... really quite impressive that they heard about this in Europe.
Almost half the participants registered online and we sold almost 3,000 T-shirts. The food vendors did great with this, with our friend the "Empanada Lady" selling 79 dozen of those tasty little treats.
Sunday morning the Salton City Seniors Center was hopping as they sold several hundred homemade breakfast plates to the tired, but hungry, guests of the Desert Safari.
The infamous "Notches" become a night attraction at the Truckhaven Hills.
So we’re making plans for next year already, when is the next TDS Desert Safari?
The first weekend in March 2011 - this will be the 49th TDS Desert Safari.
There you have it folks, sounds like things went off without a hitch and the 48th Annual TDS Desert Safari was a huge success.
We want to thank the Tierra Del Sol 4WD Club for putting on this great event 48 years and counting. The dedication of all these volunteer men and women really shows how strong the off-road nation is. Helping keep our lands open to off-road use and making a difference in today’s turbulent environmental climate is to be commended. Our hats are off to you TDS.
Be sure to come out and support this group next year at the 49th Annual TDS Desert Safari.
48TH ANNUAL TDS DESERT SAFARI PHOTOS HERE
Want more TDS Desert Safari? Check out these past event articles filled with hundreds of action photos and video.
47th Annual TDS Desert Safari
45th Annual TDS Safari
44th Annual TDS Safari
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