Dacia’s third-generation Duster is proof you don’t need a lavish budget to seek adventure – provided you temper those Rubicon Trail expectations. No, it doesn’t have the transmission hardware the other SUVs on this list have, but the all-wheel-drive version’s more generous ground clearance and approach angle, drive-mode selector, wipe-clean upholstery and scratch-resistant bumpers mean it’s more capable in the wild than its bargain price suggests. Honest, friendly and unpretentious, it’s a big-value companion for real-world muddy trails and mountain lanes.

The love-it-or-hate-it (and mostly it’s hate, judging by the slow sales) Tesla Cybertruck has enough modern tech under its stainless-steel skin to deliver genuine off-road capability, up to a point. Other much lighter, shorter-wheelbase adventure-ready utilities crush it for axle articulation and have proper locking differentials, but the Tesla can handle most of planet Earth while looking like it’s beamed down from a different galaxy altogether, or escaped from a low-polygon video game.

If the maxim ‘go big or go home’ was a car, this’d be it. Weighing as much as 4000kg, the Hummer is obscene, its huge 170kWh battery alone as heavy as some superminis, yet still only able to send the monster 315 miles between fills. But it looks mega, especially with the roof panels removed, when crab-walking or when using its up-to-1000bhp triple-motor powertrain to hit 60mph in around 3.5sec. Serious about exploring the scenery? The SUV version’s shorter rear overhang makes it more capable than the longer pick-up.

Lada’s Niva feels like it climbed through a wormhole from 1977. And with its generous ride height and approach and departure angles, plus a lockable centre diff, it’ll climb up, through and over most other things, too. There are no airbags, ABS only recently rejoined the menu after a few years away due to sanctions against Russia, and its reluctance to hit 62mph (it takes 19 seconds) will have you wondering if you left low ratio engaged. But this Soviet-era tractor works where it matters.

Built in the UK, the Nomad is like a full-sized version of those Tamiya radio-controlled buggies you may have built as a kid – and it’s every bit as much fun as that sounds. The Mk2 looks not unlike the original but it’s all new. Honda power is replaced by a 2.3-litre Food EcoBoost four, driving through a Ford six-speed gearbox and a limited-slip differential. Comfort is scant, storage all but non-existent. But if you’re going to jack in your job, sell your house and travel the world’s wildest places, you might as well do it in something so fantastic to drive you’ll never get homesick. Slides everywhere, flies like an eagle and looks like nothing else on Earth.

Jimny may be tiny, but its enthusiasm is Defender-sized. A short wheelbase, solid axles, a proper low ratio and simple mechanicals give it old-school off-road charm in a pocket-sized package. It hops around on tarmac and wheezes at motorway speeds, but away from sealed surfaces it reveals its true ace card, showing no fear whatever you throw at it. First restricted to a two-seat commercial variant in Europe to sidestep emissions regs, even that has been dropped now, but you can always import one from Asia.

Making even the Ineos Grenadier look like it’d rather not get its shoes wet, Scotland’s Munro M170 is a boxy, industrial-strength EV with a hose-down cabin and engineering aimed at farms not farmers’ markets. Luxury is almost non-existent, but durability is baked in: Munro reckons its trucks and pick-ups will survive 50 years of abuse. They’ll also run up to 200 miles on a charge, wade through rivers and climb anything, thanks to mountains of torque and permanent all-wheel drive.

Ram’s 1500 RHO swaps the old TRX’s supercharged V8 madness for a 540bhp twin-turbo Hurricane straight-six and drops 162bhp and a ton of decibels in the process. But it’s just as capable off road and even better on it than before now that there’s less mass up front. Long-travel air suspension, massive 35-inch tyres and a hulking stance make you feel like a Baja racer, but the wide-open desert is about the only place you’ll find it easy to park.

Rivian’s electric SUV and truck twins prove you can still burn up the trails, even if you don’t want to burn petrol to do it. Quad-motor versions deliver freakish control, letting you claw up rocks with ballet-like precision. Freakish acceleration, too, thanks to a recent 1050bhp upgrade that’ll get you to 60mph in 2.6sec when you get back on the blacktop. Up to 410 miles of range should cover even the most extreme adventure weekend, and the whole package’s blend of outdoorsy charm and Silicon Valley slickness has real appeal.

Tougher than a 20-year-old Nokia, the almost unkillable Hilux has a new Cybertruck-inspired nose for 2026, along with a digital-heavy interior and the legendary pick-up’s first ever EV option. The IMV ladder-frame chassis, though, is mostly carried over, meaning you get independently suspended front wheels but a live rear axle and lockable diff at the back. Floods, boulders, Biblical plagues: the Hilux shrugs them off and just keeps going. It’s the cockroach of the pick-up world, and we mean that as a compliment.

Bronco or Wrangler? The solid-axle Jeep noses ahead in the rough, but the Ford is a much better all-rounder thanks to its independent front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering. And although only the Wrangler gives you a V8 option, the 418bhp bi-turbo V6 Bronco Raptor – Braptor to its fans – doesn’t hang about either on the road or blasting through forest trails on its Fox-suspended 37-inch monster truck tyres. Prefer to crawl than race? Save $25k over the Raptor by picking a Badlands with the optional Sasquatch kit.

Wading? Pah, any 4×4 worth its salt can do that, but only YangWang’s U8 can swim for up to 30 minutes, spinning its wheels in the water to propel itself. Well, did you really expect anything less from a brand that made a bunny-hopping supercar? The quad-motor U8 from BYD’s luxury arm can also perform 360º turns and generates a massive 1184bhp, its batteries being charged by a 2.0-litre range-extender. By all means laugh, but when it comes steaming past your cross-Channel ferry you won’t be amused.

Current Defender too Instagramy-y for you? Steering not feel broken enough? Ineos Automotive revives the no-nonsense rugged spirit of the old Landie with modern reliability from BMW straight-six power. Solid axles and a ladder-frame chassis sacrifice refinement for rock-crawling ability and the cockpit (like the ride) feels part tractor, part aircraft, with chunky switches that’ll make you think you’ve got your country’s nuclear codes in your wallet. Also available as a Quartermaster pick-up, the Grenadier is flawed as a school-run wagon, but you’ve got to admire its focus.

Forget Lamborghini’s silly and now deceased Huracan Sterrato, Ford’s Ranger Raptor is the real desert supercar king, cramming much of the flavour of the big F-150 Raptor into a more manageable package. Long-travel Fox 2.5-inch internal bypass shocks, chunky 33-inch-tall all-terrain tyres and a punchy 430bhp bi-turbo V6 make fast dirt driving feel hilariously easy. Shame emissions regs limit UK versions to a weedy 288bhp, but any Raptor is going to make that weekend trip to B&Q a riot.

Out-poshed by the Rolls Cullinan it might be, but the Range Rover is still the undisputed king of luxury adventure. Its air suspension glides over ruts and potholes as if they’re mere rumours not facts, the PHEVs whir along for 75 miles on electric power while the interior goes full-on boutique hotel. Beneath the spa-day refinement, though, sits a formidable off-road system with low range, clever traction modes and astonishing articulation for wilderness capability most owners will never scratch the surface of.

The Land Cruiser has a cool new set of retro threads but there’s plenty of substance to go with that style, and it’s still built like it expects to be dropped from orbit. Lockable centre and rear diffs, high and low ratios and traditional body-on-frame construction are all part of the package. It’s crammed with kit, but so it should be for a crazy price (£80,740 in the UK) that makes its 210bhp, 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel and 10.9sec 0-62mph time all the more disappointing.

No vehicle embodies that go-anywhere spirit quite like the Jeep Wrangler, except maybe the Sherman M4 tank the original tag-teamed with to win the Second World War. Solid axles, locking diffs and up to 327mm of ground clearance make it a true off-road weapon, one you can enjoy with or without the roof, and even the doors. Steering that feels like it operates via a ’90s dial-up modem and a jittery ride mean paved roads are less fun, but the Wrangler is charmingly unapologetic – and still offers a 470bhp Hemi V8.

Born during the Cold War – and still fighting it, judging by the slab-sided, flat-windscreened looks – the G mixes military-grade capability with a luxury interior that feels like a nightclub VIP room built inside a bank safe. Capable petrol and diesel models get triple locking diffs and a low-ratio ’box, but the G580 with EQ Technology has more ground clearance, wades deeper and uses its four motors to pull off trick 360º spins. Part status symbol, part mountain goat and outrageously expensive, the G-Class is genuinely elite both off the beaten track and on your socials.

The Defender is taking on the Dakar in 2026, and this £160k Octa is the nearest anyone who’s not a works driver will get to the Rally Raid competition SUV built for the sport’s Stock category. The Octa gets a raised ride height, flared arches, McLaren-style hydraulically interlinked suspension and 625bhp of BMW-derived 4.4-litre V8. So it’s fast (4.0sec to 62mph) but also has twice the bandwidth of a Range Rover Sport SV because it’s designed to go fast everywhere. Looks unstoppable, and it is. The standard, non-Octa Defender is brilliant, too.