This Toyota Land Cruiser Did an Off-Road Trail on Street Tires

Toyota and Bass Pro Shops may not seem like natural partners, but both brands share a deep connection to the outdoors. Toyota has been building capable off-road vehicles since the 1950s, while Bass Pro Shops has become one of America’s best-known names for its outdoor gear and humungous retail stores. So, when the two invited us to the Ozarks—just a short drive from Bass Pro Shops’ headquarters in Springfield, Missouri—we knew we'd be exploring the great outdoors.

Waiting for us was a lineup of Toyota’s latest off-road-focused trucks and SUVs, including the Tundra TRD Pro, Tacoma Trailhunter, 4Runner Trailhunter, and Land Cruiser. From there, we headed into the hills and on to the Glade Top Trail, a scenic but demanding route that winds through Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest.

Along the way, we encountered loose surfaces, deep ruts, rocky sections, and off-camber terrain that put the vehicles’ traction systems and suspension articulation to work. After spending half a day roaming the trail, we comfortably drove the same vehicles back to the hotel, muddy and dusty but without a single mechanical issue.

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The Big Surprise

All of the trucks handled the trail confidently, but it was the Land Cruiser that surprised us the most. Unlike the Trailhunter models and the Tundra TRD Pro, the Land Cruiser tackled the entire route on standard all-season tires.

The Land Cruiser we drove was equipped with the Premium package and optional 20-inch wheels wrapped in Yokohama Geolandar X-CV tires, rubber designed more for everyday driving on pavement than serious off-road use. On paper, they seemed like the least appropriate tires for the terrain.

That immediately raised a few questions. Was the trail easier than it seemed? How much difference do aggressive all-terrain tires actually make in conditions like these? Or was this simply a testament to how capable Toyota’s modern four-wheel-drive systems have become?

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The answer is likely a combination of all three, but the Land Cruiser’s performance still stood out. Even on street-oriented rubber, the SUV’s full-time four-wheel-drive system continuously distributed torque where it was needed most, while Toyota’s electronic traction control carefully managed wheel slip over loose surfaces. Combined with its locking center differential, low-range gearing, and generous suspension travel, the Land Cruiser consistently found grip where we expected it to struggle.

More important, it did all of this without drama. There was no excessive wheelspin, no scraping, and no sense that the vehicle was approaching its limits, never mind exceeding them. It simply crawled the trail with confidence.

Toyota does offer the Land Cruiser with more aggressive all-terrain tires that would undoubtedly provide additional grip in deeper mud, loose rock, or more technical trails. But that’s exactly what made the Yokohamas so impressive. Despite their road-focused design, they consistently found traction throughout the trail, helped in large part by the Land Cruiser’s sophisticated four-wheel-drive system and traction management software.

While the Glade Top Trail wasn’t the most extreme off-road route we’ve ever tackled, it presents enough technical sections to properly test each vehicle. Loose rock, uneven surfaces, off-camber climbs, and small rock-crawling obstacles forced the trucks’ suspension, traction systems, and drivetrains—as well as their drivers—to constantly adapt to changing terrain.

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There were several moments where switching into 4-Lo became necessary, particularly while crawling over rocky sections and navigating steeper, tilting terrain. Instead of spinning tires or struggling for grip, the Land Cruiser calmly clawed its way forward.

Tires are obviously a major part of the off-road equation. Generally speaking, the more aggressive the tire, the more grip, sidewall protection, and confidence you’ll have once the terrain gets rough. That’s why the Land Cruiser’s performance on the Yokohama Geolandar X-CV tires stood out so much.

Perhaps even more impressive was the fact that we completed the trail without suffering a single flat tire, despite driving over several sharp and uneven rock sections that easily could have damaged a less capable road-oriented tire setup.

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The Rest of the Adventure

Toyota’s truck and SUV lineup has become so diverse that there’s basically an off-road vehicle for nearly every type of buyer. Out on the trail, each model revealed a distinct personality.

The 4Runner Trailhunter also impressed with how manageable and composed it felt off-road. Its suspension soaked up the trail’s constant dips, ruts, and small whoops well, helping keep the occupants in place and in control even when the terrain underneath was anything but smooth.

Then there was the Tundra TRD Pro, which approached the trail with brute-force energy. As the largest vehicle in the group, its wider body and longer wheelbase made the tighter and more technical sections more challenging, and we could occasionally hear the underbody protection and exhaust contact terra firma. Even so, the Tundra continued to push through obstacles without hesitation, proving just how capable modern full-size trucks have become off-road.

The Tacoma Trailhunter felt the most at home in the environment. Its narrower body and shorter wheelbase compared to the Tundra made it easier to thread through tighter sections of the trail, while its generous ground clearance helped it avoid scraping over rocks and the like. It felt nimble, well-balanced, and purpose-built for this kind of driving.

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The terrain itself also brought a different set of challenges. Conditions were wetter, muddier, and noticeably slicker than the hard-packed dirt trails we typically encounter out west, which added another layer of complexity to the drive. That reduced traction made the trucks’ four-wheel-drive systems and tire setups work even harder, especially on loose rock and off-camber sections where maintaining momentum and control were more important.

Overall, the Glade Top Trail was both fun to drive and a genuinely beautiful place to explore. The Ozarks offered a completely different kind of off-road scenery than what we’re accustomed to in California. Instead of dry desert landscapes and dusty trails, we were surrounded by rolling green hills, dense forests, limestone surfaces, and wide plateaus stretching across the Mark Twain National Forest. We can’t wait to go back.