The mission of OutdoorX4 is to promote responsible 4×4 adventure travel along with the utility of 4×4 and dual-sport vehicles to enjoy all forms of outdoor recreation. In essence, we want to help create solidarity amongst all communities of adventure enthusiasts because at the end of the day, enjoying the great outdoors should be a right of which we all share rather than a privilege.

The Magazine

So what makes OutdoorX4 different from other publications? Well, for one our content is a hybrid of all areas of outdoor recreation and adventure. Whether you’re an avid 4×4 adventure traveler, mountain bike enthusiast, camp cooking aficionado, world-class fisherman, dual-sport motorcyclist or weekend warrior, OutdoorX4 is focused on providing the most engaging and unique content to appeal to the broadest range of outdoors enthusiast while providing expert advice in the field, suggestions on places to visit along with an expanded perspective on the history of the areas we travel, as well as dynamic photography that inspires the outdoors enthusiast to choose the road less traveled.

Frank Ledwell, Editor-in-Chief

Frank is an avid explorer, adventurer, and advocate of responsible outdoor recreation and off-highway travel. Frank has had the fortune of traveling throughout the world, including destinations throughout North and Central America, as well as across Eastern and Western Europe. When he’s not cycling across Texas on his road bike or climbing in the Swiss Alps, he is touring the backcountry in remote destinations throughout the United States and abroad in his diesel Grand Cherokee.

Frank is the Editor-in-Chief of OutdoorX4. Additionally, he was the Co-Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of JPFreek Adventure Magazine from 2006 through mid-2012 as well as publisher of several industry journals. He is a member of the Texas Auto Writers Association, and his articles on off-highway travel, adventure destinations, and product reviews have been featured in numerous publications. Frank resides in Texas with his family.

John Herrick, Publisher

With a deep and varied background in business and a nose for keeping work fun while doing what he enjoys, John Herrick publishes OutdoorX4. John makes sure the book gets to subscribers and the newsstand while enjoying as many adventures as possible the rest of the time which also includes producing CRAWL Magazine as well as producing special outdoor events.

He’s been published as both a writer and photographer, an avocation he took up in his late teens.

An avid Jeep owner, John also enjoys desert racing, rock crawling, and other motorsports. With an eye towards responsibility, he heads the CRAWL Trail Foundation which promotes grass roots trail preservation.

John lives in Northern Nevada in the shadow of the Eastern Sierra, with his wife Pam of 30 years.

Phil Golden, Director of Technology, Contributing Editor

Phil was born with a determined desire to explore. Whether by Jeep, dual-sport motorcycle, mountain bike, road bike, kayak or on foot, Phil pushes himself to go further and do more. Phil can often be found alone on his adventures as he enjoys the purity of being surrounded by nothing but wilderness. He recently traveled solo on the Continental Divide trail from Mexico to Canada, self-support by Jeep and completely off-highway. Additionally, he has logged over 6,000 miles and numerous legs of the Trans America Trail via dual-sport motorcycle from Tennessee to Oregon, and owns the oldest active geocache in the state of Louisiana.

Phil is an avid endurance cyclist, randonneur, and runner. When Phil is not pushing himself to the limit, he is on a mission to raise awareness for the rare terminal disease his son has called Adrenoleukodystrophy. He has written numerous articles and conducted several interviews regarding his awareness campaign – Expedition Awareness. While his passion runs deep for the great outdoors, it does not compare to that of his family.

Phil resides in Wichita Falls, Texas with his wife and three children.

Jonathan Hanson, Overland Columnist

Jonathan Hanson’s expedition experience encompasses land and sea-scapes from Baja, Mexico to the Beaufort Sea, from the Libyan Desert to the Namib, and modes of transportation from sea kayaks to sailboats to bicycles to Land Cruisers and Land Rovers.

He has traveled among and worked with cultures as diverse as the Seri Indians and the Himba, the Inuit and the Maasai.

Jonathan has taught wildlife tracking, natural history writing, 4WD techniques, and other subjects for many conservation and government organizations. He is an elected fellow of the Explorers Club, and a charter member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. His writing experience spans a dozen books and two dozen magazines, including Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Nature Conservancy, Sea Kayaker, and Backpacker.

Jonathan and his wife, Roseann, are the creators and owners of the Overland Expo, the largest adventure travel event of its kind in the world.

Kraig Becker, Gear & Adventure Author

Kraig is a freelance writer and world traveler who covers mountaineering expeditions, polar exploration, adventure travel, and other outdoor pursuits.

He has served as the Media Director for the Primal Quest expedition adventure race and is the editor of The Adventure Blog.

He is a regular contributor to travel site Gadling.com and the outdoor blogs for The Clymb and the Wenger brand. He has also published stories with Outer Edge Magazine, National Geographic Adventure amongst others.

Kraig resides in Austin, Texas.

Wes Craiglow, Contributing Author

Wes was bitten by the adventure bug at a young age, spending his boyhood exploring the family farm from sunup to sundown, annual vacations on lonely backroads across the rural South, and dedicating his summers to staff employment at a Boy Scouts camp.

When not on extended paid vacations to Southwest Asia for Uncle Sam, Wes can be found guiding backcountry trips and documenting routes, destinations, and stories in the U.S. and Central America.

Wes is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Central Overland, an online magazine dedicated to vehicle-based adventure travel, and resides in central Arkansas with his wife and two kids.

Mark Stephens, Contributing Author

Mark is an adventurer who was born of, reared by, and educated in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert.

He has climbed the walls of Devil’s Canyon, trekked the trails throughout the Rocky Mountains, slept on the ground in most National Parks, rope-swung into a river here and there, driven the back roads of the southwest U.S. and Mexico, enjoyed song and cerveza in the cantinas of the Baja peninsula, and otherwise traveled like a backpacking pilgrim from British Columbia to Peru.

Mark holds a degree in English from Arizona State University; he learned from composition maestros such as Jeanne Dugan, Robert Krut, and G. Lynn Nelson. His work has been published in Overland Journal, Nissan Sport Magazine, Arizona Outdoorsman, and JPFreek Adventure Magazine. Mark and his wife are also the curators of Adventure Parents, a resource focused on the adventures of raising children to enjoy an active, outdoor lifestyle.

Mark resides in Arizona with his wife and two children.

Allan & Jackie Ellis, Contributing Authors

Alan & Jackie are avid off-highway enthusiasts who have immersed themselves into a lengthy list of outdoor activities, be it land, water, or air.

Their primary recreation vehicle is a Jeep Rubicon and it has traveled all over the continental United States on backpacking, mountaineering, rock climbing, sailing, and skydiving adventures.

Additionally, Jackie and Alan are professional skydivers and work as instructors at Skydive Dallas in Texas.

You can follow their adventures on their site at Jackie and Alan’s Outdoor Adventures.

Andrea Ledwell, Contributing Author

Andrea is the better half of our Editor-in-Chief.

Born and raised in Mississippi, Andrea spent her time as a child adventuring while on her bicycle and called the Smoky Mountains her second home.

Andrea is an avid explorer, artist, musician, mother, wife, adventurer, seeker of truth, and on a quest for all things beautiful and good.