What Trucks Are Best for the Outdoor Enthusiast?

If you are an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys boating, hunting, camping, and fishing, more than likely you have a truck to get you to those remote locations along with your gear. If you’re in need of a replacement vehicle, McCluskey Chevy has a full inventory of trucks for sale at its Cincinnati dealership. Ohio and northern Kentucky residents look to McCluskey Chevrolet for its Chevy brand pickup trucks, such as the Chevrolet Silverado and Chevrolet Colorado in crew cab, double crew cab, and extended crew cab models.

Since it’s summer, many of our customers might be towing boats to nearby lakes for fishing and other activities. Our Chevrolet Silverado and Colorado pickup trucks are the perfect way to get your boat safely to its final destination. Both vehicles have the power and cargo space for your boat and fishing rods. We offer these two compact pickup trucks with a 200-horsepower 2.5-liter inline-4, a 305-horsepower 3.6-liter V6, or a 2.8-liter Duramax turbodiesel inline-4 that makes 181 horsepower and an impressive 369 lb.-ft. of torque.

No matter what size Proline or Sundancer sport fishing boat you are towing, both Chevy vehicles feature a towing capacity from 3,500 pounds with the 4-cylinder,  up to 7,700 pounds with the diesel. If you have trouble keeping your boat trailer in line, the Chevy Colorado and Canyon pickups are available with an integrated trailer brake controller, a tow/haul mode, and trailering equipment. In our estimation, the diesel, with its impressive torque and 31mpg EPA highway fuel economy rating, makes either the Colorado or the Canyon pickup the best choice for towing your boat.

If you are towing a big 36-foot Contender or a 28-foot rig, the Chevrolet Silverado HD is available with either a 6.0-liter gasoline V8 that makes 360 horsepower or a 6.6-liter Duramax turbodiesel V8 that pumps out 397 horsepower and an earth-moving 765 lb.-ft. of torque through an Allison 1000 transmission. Towing capacity is at least 13,000 pounds, while diesel 3500 models are rated up to 23,200 pounds. Available towing helpers include trailer wiring provisions, trailer sway control, an integrated trailer brake controller, a hitch package, and a gooseneck and fifth-wheel prep package.

Hunting

The hunting tradition remains alive and well in southwest Ohio and the northwest vicinity of Kentucky. If you’re making your way to Pater or East Fork wildlife areas outside of Cincinnati or any of your other favorite hunting spots, you’ll need a pickup truck to carry your gear. To reach some of these remote areas, hunters choose one of Chevy’s popular pickup trucks to slog through the mud, woods, and backcountry roads. This lineup continues to provide roomy interior cabins for extra gear or a hunter’s Labrador retriever, outlets in the front and back for electrical supply systems, and 4WD.

If you select the new 2017 Chevy Silverado, it will not leave you disconnected from asking for help or directions out in the wilderness. You’ll be rewarded with the first full-size pickup to offer 4G LTE Wi-Fi 8. Its signal is more powerful than your smartphone and provides a connection for up to seven devices. You’ll have a strong enough connection to reach those remote fishing lodges or mountainous hunting locations. Chevy engineers have designed the truck with new wireless phone chargers on front bucket seats and a new remote locking tailgate. So take off and fish or hunt; your new 2017 Chevrolet Silverado can adequately carry all of your gear.

Chevrolet even offers a pickup truck aimed specifically at hunters and outdoorsmen. Personalized for the outdoorsman, the Silverado Realtree edition, a Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71 crew cab, is covered in camouflage graphics from an outdoors company called Realtree. In addition to the exterior graphics, the front seat headrests are embroidered with the Realtree logo. The truck also has black-out trim outside. Chevy’s parent company has signed a 10-year partnership with Realtree to deliver these specialized pickup trucks.

Wherever an Ohio or Kentucky hunter is headed this year, McCluskey Chevrolet has a tough, strong pickup truck to navigate through those steep hills, mud troughs, assorted rocks, and rutted trails and an all-new suspension to improve vehicle handling while towing and still providing a comfortable ride.

Customized Pickup Truck

If you’re looking for a perfect outdoor enthusiast vehicle that stands out among the crowd, we’re one of the only dealerships in Cincinnati that is an exclusive dealer of Rocky Ridge Lifted Off-Road Conversion Trucks.

The Rocky Ridge brand is a premier up-fitter of full-sized pickup trucks, including Chevy Silverados. Rocky Ridge offers a wide array of customized packages that are top of the line and already calibrated to meet GM’s specs. If you are interested in this type of customized truck, all you need to do is fill out our form and a Rocky Ridge truck product specialist will contact you.

Kayaking

If you and your family enjoy a more sedate way to enjoy a lake or bay, taking a kayak on your Chevy Silverado is the perfect way to get there. There are a variety of roof racks and carriers that will efficiently and effortlessly haul your kayak. The Silverado’s roof can even be configured with a canoe or paddleboard carrier.

Winter sportsmen will be impressed with our 2017 Chevy Silverado full-size pickup truck’s high-strength steel construction, V-8 power, automation, and strong construction, as well as style, capability, and dependability. It’s got plenty of room for you and your family’s winter gear, such as hockey sticks, skates, fishing rods, skis, and snowboards.

Chevrolet engineers have even designed a special 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Alaskan Edition that is geared for Ohio’s harshest winter weather. It’s equipped with 18″ black aluminum wheels, Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires, and an available 6.6L Duramax Turbo-Diesel V8 engine. You don’t need to miss out on your favorite outdoor sports even if the wind is howling and the snow is adding up.

So no matter where you and your outdoor enthusiast friends and family want to go, take a look at McCluskey Chevy’s inventory of trucks for sale. We’ll find the perfect vehicle to tow your boat or carry your kayak and the rest of your gear into the wild.

2021 Update

What to Look for in an Outdoor Truck in 2021

Outdoor lifestyles have become more popular than ever before, especially after 2020 reminded us that getting away from it all and embracing the great outdoors is a worthwhile endeavor. Even before 2020, however, truck manufacturers like Chevy had realized that people who enjoy hunting, fishing, hiking, and more all needed trucks that really facilitated that kind of activity. So what you should look for in an outdoor truck for sale includes some of the same stuff that other people want in a truck: good towing, payload, and performance.

But, you should also look for some things specific to embracing your passion as an outdoor enthusiast. In particular, we suggest looking for a truck with at least one off-road or outdoor-focused trim level, with features clearly designed to really let you get out and enjoy yourself. While some trucks have an outdoor or off-road package available, this can often be little more than a unique color or exterior badging. A real off-road trim, like those you find on the 2021 Chevy Silverado and Colorado, gives you excellent performance for hitting the trail or getting to your favorite camping spot. So let’s take a look at what each of these trucks has to offer an outdoor enthusiast.

The 2021 Chevy Silverado is Big and Bold

First things first: the Chevy Silverado is a full-size pickup, so this is the larger of the two options from Chevrolet that you should consider when looking at trucks for sale. There are some advantages to that, but also some drawbacks. The size of the Silverado lets you really pack the bed and cab with everything you need to take with you, which is great. But it can be a bit of a liability if you need to navigate some tight quarters to get where you want to go.

The 2021 Silverado has a few different cab sizes and bed lengths available, which is nice, and there are tons of options, including six engines and eight different trims to choose from. We’re going to focus on the two off-road trims for the Chevy Silverado, though. That’s right; there are two great options here for outdoor enthusiasts. That’s one of the things we really love about the Silverado for anyone that likes to leave the city behind, and it’s something few other trucks can boast.

You primarily want to look at the Trail Boss trims – the Custom Trail Boss and the LT Trail Boss – if you want to do some outdoor activities. Essentially, the Custom and LT are standard trims offered on the Silverado, with the LT giving you more tech and luxury features compared to the Custom. Similarly, there are off-road-focused versions of them available, and you get some extra features in the LT Trail Boss compared to the Custom Trail Boss.

So, to begin, the Custom Trail Boss starts with a 4.3L V6 engine, though 5.3L V8 and 6.2L V8 engines are also available. This is important because, with its standard engine, the Custom Trail Boss has a maximum towing capacity of 7,300 lbs, but you can get 2,000 lbs of additional towing if you choose one of the more powerful engines. By comparison, the LT Trail Boss starts with the 5.3L V8 engine and has the 6.2L available – so you get 9,300 lbs of maximum towing no matter what if you go with the LT Trail Boss. If you have a camper or boat you want to take with you, then that can be a crucial difference.

That being said, in terms of off-road features that can really help with getting you to wherever you want to go, both of these trims are great. The two Trail Boss trims feature a 2-inch factory suspension lift for greater ground clearance than the standard 2021 Silverado models, as well as an Autotrac 2-speed transfer case, a trailering package to maximize your towing ability, and they both come with 4WD standard. You also get 18-inch high gloss black-painted wheels with Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires on the Trail Boss models, which make it easier to handle rough trails and terrain when you’re out in the wilds.

There are some differences between these two trims, but they really come down to features that aren’t entirely essential for enjoying the outdoors. For example, the Custom Trail Boss features a 7-inch infotainment display, cloth seating with 4-way manual front seats, a standard steering wheel, and a 3-inch monochromatic driver information display in the gauges. The LT Trail Boss, on the other hand, features an 8-inch infotainment display, a 10-way power adjustable driver seat with power lumbar, a heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel with mounted controls, and a 4-inch color driver information display. These upgrades aren’t absolutely crucial, but they can make taking your truck to where you want to go more enjoyable.

The 2021 Chevy Colorado Comes Through Strong

The Colorado is Chevy’s midsize truck, which means it is smaller overall than the Silverado. Again, this can be an advantage or a problem, depending on what you want. It offers less space in the bed and cab for your stuff, but it’s easier to fit on narrow roads and passages when you’re on the trail or trying to get to your preferred fishing spot.

Although there are fewer options overall with the 2021 Colorado, you once again have two different trims that are pretty attractive for going off-road or enjoying the outdoors. But in this case, one of them is clearly superior to the other. The Z71 trim is a decent off-road option for the Colorado, with excellent luxury and tech features. If you really want to be able to conquer the trail and go just about anywhere, however, then you want the ZR2 trim.

With the Z71, you get a 3.6L V6 engine, which offers up to 7,000 lbs of maximum towing capacity. It also comes with an off-road suspension package, automatic locking rear differential, and 17-inch painted wheels with all-terrain tires. This is a very luxurious option, with a heated steering wheel, HD rear vision camera, and wireless charging pad, all standard. It comes with 2WD standard, though 4WD is available, and it’s a great option if you like to enjoy the outdoors, but you’re not really one for hitting rough trails.

If you do have a passion for going off-road, then you’ll definitely want to look at the Colorado with the ZR2 trim – one of the finest off-road trims on any truck out there. The ZR2 comes with the same engine standard, though a 2.8L Turbo-Diesel is available, which you won’t find on the Z71. The ZR2 comes with 4WD standard as well as an Autotrac 2-speed transfer case, transfer case shield, and hill descent control. It also has a unique off-road suspension featuring Multimatic DSSV damping to keep you stable on the roughest terrain, and it includes 17-inch all-terrain tires.

Which Truck Is Right for You?

So, as you’re looking at different trucks for sale, should you be circling in on the 2021 Chevy Silverado or Colorado for your outdoor lifestyle? That really depends on what you need. The Silverado is larger and offers superior towing capacity, which can make a big difference if you have a lot of gear and a large boat you want to take with you. But the smaller size of the Colorado and incredible ZR2 trim make it a terrific option for going off-road and getting through narrow paths. The easiest way to decide is to come visit us at McCluskey Chevrolet today and see both of these trucks; we’ll help you figure out which one is perfect for you.