A field journal, not a feed.
Open Atlas is written for people who plan trips carefully, respect the places they visit, and want someone on the trail to tell them the truth about what's out there.
Travel writing with dirt under its fingernails.
Most of the outdoor internet is performance. Drone shots, empty trailheads, and gear reviews from people who just opened the box. Open Atlas exists to do the opposite.
We run one Toyota FJ Cruiser dubbed the FJ13. We take trips. We come back with photos, notes, and specifics that help other people go out there themselves. We try not to over-promise, over-produce, or pretend we know more than we do.
Where am I going to park? What are the roads like? Do I need four-wheel drive? How is cell service? How far is the fuel station? Our target reader is someone who opens a destination page or glances over field notes to get answers to practical questions and trusts that the person writing it has actually been there, experienced the weather, made mistakes, and brought home lessons learned in the form of field notes and gear reviews.
Four core principles.
If a post, route, or gear hasn't earned its place through real wear, weather, drops, scrapes, tears, rain, snow, and mud, it stays off the site. We only publish what survives real-world abuse.
We'd rather write well about a place once than hype it up three times.
How we got here.
- 2024 · Summer
First road trip that became a project.
A slow west coast loop from Oregon through northern California and back. Plenty of excursions from lava tubes, majestic old growth redwood forests, and coastal switchbacks to notice that the best field notes we had were our own.
- 2025 · Bend, OR
Acquired the FJ13.
Traded in a commuter for a Toyota FJ Cruiser. Started the ongoing project of turning it into a trail ready overlander without sacrificing its versatility of exploration and daily commuting.
- 2026 · Spring
Open Atlas launches.
The field journal goes public featuring the Pacific Northwest, with a directory structured by state and a rig page that doesn't pretend the upgrades are all done.
- Up Next: Summer 2026
Eastern Oregon and Yosemite National Park.
A short exploration of the wonders of eastern Oregon featuring wide open landscapes, blue skies, and some of the lesser known features of this rugged landscape. If time and resources permit, the FJ13 will take us to Yosemite National Park to explore the Sierra Nevadas and the Yosemite valley.
Honesty & disclosures
Open Atlas uses affiliate links on a handful of gear pages. When we link out to a retailer and you buy something, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. We only recommend gear we actually carry and use. If something doesn't make the cut after a season of use, we take it off the site
We do not accept paid placements or sponsored posts. We currently do not have any gift-for-review arrangements. If that ever changes, it will be disclosed on every page the change affects.
Read the field notes. Use them. Send us better ones.