Meet Ben Easley | Chief Explorer @ Overland Trail Guides

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Easley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
There were two big motivating factors behind the creation of Overland Trail Guides. First, I come from a product management background. Back in 2019 when I founded OG, there was a plethora of routes posted across various forums, Facebook Groups, and various applications. Users often had to search across multiple sites, forums, apps, and groups to find a route in a specific area, which was time consuming in itself. And oftentimes there was a huge information gap. Many of the routes and files posted were super sparse on details. Users had no idea how long it’d take to travel a particular route, things to see along the way, where it was legal/illegal to camp, and what sort of terrain they’d encounter. A then there is the trust factor. How do you know what’s being presented in accurate as it’s just coming from a random person that posted the route on a forum or Facebook Group? We aim to solve all of these problems and more by creating a centralized repository of searchable routes, with super detailed route guides, and tons of waypoints and points of interest to see along the way. We also consider the many different types of vehicles creating various route and trail options for different vehicles class like AWD Crossovers, high clearance 4x4s, Sprinters and oversized rigs, motos and more.

I was confident the problem wasn’t being solved, and decided to jump in headfirst and build the site as a minimum viable product. This was right in my wheelhouse, as I’d been a map geek since my early teens when I used to collected USGS topographic quadrants to map all of the local fire roads and trails that I wanted to explore on my mountain bike. There was no Trail Forks, Strava, or Gaia GPS back in the mid-90s! For the first and half, the site was an experiment. Would people sign up for a free membership that gave them unlimited access to our routes and digital mapping files and routes? Turns out they would! We eventually began monetizing the business, while growing our route catalog to over 60 routes (with more being added every year) across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
OTG makes it easy for overlanders and adventure motorcyclist to get out an explore the backcountry. We provide the largest repository of curated overland routes across North America. We pride ourselves on creating unique experiences. This means more than simply providing a gpx file and basic descriptions. All of our routes feature detailed information to help our customers understand if a particular route meets their needs. What is there to see along the way? Is my vehicle capable of driving the route? When is the appropriate time to go? What sort of historical artifacts or natural history can I learn about along the way?

Quite simply, we condense the amount of research a user needs to do in order to get out and explore a particular area/route with confidence. Instead of spending 10 hours researching a building a custom route in say the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, our customers easily find all of our routes in Arizona, including a 500+ mile adventure along the North Rim. Those 10 hours of research are suddenly condensed down to 10 minutes.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Overlanding in the states is primarily about backcountry travel– so we’re probably heading out to BLM land or one of the nearby national forest. I’d probably take them on a new route that we’re developing that happens to be loosely based on a Bikepacking route that travels from Denver to Salt Lake City passing through the heart of the Rockies that we’re calling the Trans-Rockies Adventure Trail. This 900+ mile passes through some of the most scenic locations mountain towns in the Rockies and Colorado Plateau. The track showcases the varied terrain and ecosystems of the Rockies, Colorado Plateau, and Wasatch Mountains outside of SLC. In addition to the epic alpine views and redrock canyonlands in places like Moab and the San Rafael Swell, we’d visit mountain towns like Salida, Crested Butte, Marble, Paonia, Moab and others.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
A big shoutout to my family and friends who supported me on this crazy journey, especially to my wife, who’s given me the freedom to be away from home while exploring the backcountry.

Website: www.overlandtrailguides.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/overlandtrailguides/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OverlandTrailGuides

Image Credits
Ben Easley