Every spring, Fort Tuthill County Park in Flagstaff, Arizona transforms into something that's hard to put into words unless you've been there. For three straight days, the grounds fill up with trucks, trailers, tents, gear, people, and enough energy to power a small town. This year's Overland Expo West, now in its 17th year, did exactly that — and by most accounts, it may have been the biggest and most impressive edition yet.
The numbers alone tell a story. Last year's show pulled in more than 28,000 people, 423 registered exhibitors, and 154 presenters, trainers, and VIPs. Final figures for this year haven't been released yet, but people who've been coming for years said the crowds felt even larger. Attendees didn't just come from across the United States either. People made the trip from Australia, Canada, Japan, Germany, Norway, Iceland, Israel, Argentina, the Philippines, South Korea, New Zealand, Peru, Indonesia, Poland, Great Britain, Mexico, the Netherlands, and China. That kind of international pull doesn't happen by accident.
What Overland Expo West Actually Is
For anyone who hasn't heard of it, Overland Expo West is an annual gathering built around the overlanding lifestyle — a world that sits somewhere between camping, off-road driving, motorcycle travel, and serious expedition prep. The show brings together hundreds of exhibitors alongside a packed schedule of classes, workshops, demonstrations, and slide shows. This year featured more than 400 exhibitors and over 175 educational sessions and activities spread across three days.
But it isn't just a trade show. People camp on-site. There's live music after dark. Films get screened. The whole setup is built for people who actually live this way or want to start — not just people who want to browse and buy.
The goal, as the organizers see it, is to create a space where someone just getting into overlanding can sit next to a seasoned veteran and both of them walk away having learned something. That philosophy shows up everywhere from the seminar tents to the exhibitor floor.
A Floor Full of Gear — A Lot of It for Your Roof
Walk the exhibitor floor and the sheer variety of products on display hits you almost immediately. Tow ropes, portable toilets, fire starters, powered coolers, lighting rigs, winches, tires, suspension systems, communication gear — the list goes on. Companies were showing off ways to make trucks tougher, trailers more capable, and off-road setups more livable out in the backcountry.
But if one product category owned the floor this year, it was roof-top tents. They were everywhere — mounted on vehicles, set up on trailers, displayed on the ground. Jason Epperson, who runs the RV Miles podcast and video channel, put it plainly when he said, "I don't know how there can be so many roof-top tent manufacturers." He also noted, "I've seen more types of portable fire pits here than I've ever seen at an RV show."
Epperson was attending Overland Expo West for the first time, and his reaction to the whole experience was telling. He described it as almost overwhelming — in the best possible way.
"It's a smart set-up for both the consumer and the media. This has really opened my eyes to how an RV show can be run in a more customer-centric way," he said.
He went on: "They've got a huge tent which is near the food trucks and there are seminars all day, which are packed. There is so much that is wild and wacky and awesome. Much of the traditional RV crowd would be interested in this stuff and you don't see it at a traditional RV show."
The RV Industry Shows Up in Force
One of the more notable shifts at this year's show was how many traditional RV manufacturers made the trip to Flagstaff. Christopher Barth, co-founder of Ember RV, was among the first to notice. His company was one of the earliest Indiana-based RV brands to exhibit at Overland Expo West — that was five years ago. Back then, they were largely alone in that category. Not anymore.
This year, brands including Winnebago, Palomino, and a Forest River Forester all had a presence at the show. Industry decision-makers were walking the grounds. The show that once felt like the fringe of the RV world is now drawing serious attention from the mainstream industry.
Barth described attendance this year as very strong, and said it may have surpassed previous years based on what he saw on the ground. Ember showed off what their Overland Series can do, and the highlight was straightforward but impressive — they ran the air conditioner, a 12-volt fridge, and all interior lights using only the onboard battery and solar system.
"We had to open the windows and put the AC at its lowest temp just to keep things going," Barth said, giving a sense of just how hard the system was being pushed. He also described the dual nature of the Ember setup: "At this show, we're like a hybrid case. Outside, we have the ruggedness of our Overland Series with the Curt independent suspension and exoskeleton. But inside Ashley has done an outstanding job making these livable and modern."
New Rigs Make Their Debut
Several RV manufacturers used Overland Expo West as the stage for their debut launches, which made sense given the crowd. People who come to this show are serious about the gear, and showing up in Flagstaff with something new carries weight.
Storyteller Overland brought out the GXV Wild. Palomino debuted the R12RB. And Winnebago introduced the ARKA 20Z, which drew significant attention throughout the weekend.
Kenny Phillips, Winnebago brand ambassador and co-host of the Beyond the Wheel Podcast, was at the show talking about the ARKA. He said he had a full month with the rig back in January and came away impressed. He shared the reaction he's been hearing from people: "People are loving the overall build, the aesthetics, the materials. They love the on-board air. They can't believe that that price includes the tires and all the other features."
That price is $331,901 — which sounds like a big number until you consider that some comparable vehicles at the same show were pushing past the half-million-dollar mark. In context, the ARKA is positioned as a legitimate value play in a segment where serious capability doesn't come cheap.
Epperson was able to put together his own video on the ARKA at the show, using the media room facilities available on-site — another detail that speaks to how well the show supports the people covering it.
Seminars and Workshops That People Actually Attend
The educational side of Overland Expo West is one of the things that sets it apart from pretty much any other show in the RV or outdoor space. The seminars run all three days, covering topics that range from pet safety and knife handling to traction aids, two-way radio use, and guides to the best overlanding destinations around the country.
Workshops went hands-on in ways that most shows never do. Sessions on getting a vehicle un-stuck drew crowds. So did workshops on finding water sources in remote terrain and on towing a trailer into backcountry conditions. Cooking and food demonstrations added another layer. Vehicle build exhibitions drew people who wanted to see what serious builds actually look like in person — not just in a magazine or online.
The seminar tents were packed throughout the weekend. That's not a small detail. It means people weren't just showing up to browse and leave. They were staying, learning, and engaged.
Why This Show Hits Different
There's a reason people who attend Overland Expo West keep coming back — and why first-timers tend to leave a little stunned by the whole thing. It's hard to put a finger on exactly what it is until you hear someone like Epperson explain it.
"The RV industry could learn a lot about what people are looking for in a show from Overland Expo West," he said. "It's such a great experience because it's not just 40 rigs from one brand. It's people camping on site who are there for a common reason. I feel like something like this where they're treating the crowd as fans of overlanding, whereas RV shows are a turn-and-burn sales event. Everybody is having a lot of fun."
That's the thing about Overland Expo West. It isn't built around a sales pitch. It's built around a shared interest in going places most people don't go, in rigs most people don't drive, with gear that gets tested by real conditions. The people who attend bring that energy with them, and it changes the entire feel of the event.
For anyone who's spent time at traditional RV or outdoor shows and walked away feeling like they sat through a long commercial, Overland Expo West is something different. It's a community gathering that happens to have hundreds of exhibitors. The distinction matters more than it might sound.
What's Next
No formal announcements were made about next year's event, but with 17 years of momentum behind it and a crowd that travels internationally to attend, Overland Expo West isn't going anywhere. If anything, the growing presence of mainstream RV brands alongside veteran overlanding companies suggests the show is evolving into something even larger.
For anyone who hasn't made the trip to Flagstaff for this one, the evidence is stacking up that it's worth putting on the calendar.
