I Took a Ford Bronco Everglades to the Everglades, and No, I Wasn’t Eaten by a Python

Loop Road is a 23.5-mile detour that runs along the Tamiami Trail, which is otherwise known as U.S. Highway 41, and slices east-west across the Everglades at the southern tip of Florida. At one end—we’ll call it the beginning—Loop Road has potholes the size of manhole covers. I’ve never seen potholes like these, so circular and deep and well-defined, except at a couple of tire company test tracks, where they are permanent and the drivers are paid to test the extreme. So, I suppose, am I. This weekend, anyway.

I’m driving the most pothole-prepared Bronco that Ford sells, the Everglades model. But that doesn’t explain another Ford driving ahead of me on the thoroughly under-developed Loop Road, basically a bulldozed slash through the swamp and the timber: It’s a new black-over-white Mustang convertible, top up, air conditioner on. I promptly surmise that it has to be a rental car containing a small family of tourists, whom I bet have never seen potholes like these before, either.

The Loop Road must have looked good in their vacationer’s guide, touted as a peek inside the deepest part of the Everglades. The potholes do lessen about halfway through the drive, but since I passed the Mustang, which was going approximately two miles an hour, I don’t know if they made it that far, or were left with flat tires and the suspension dragging on the ground, trying to get a cell signal to AAA.

The Everglades is about 4300 square miles, and the Everglades National Park is 2357 square miles, located south from the Tamiami Trail to the Gulf of Mexico. Loop Road is pretty representative of what’s down here. It is a birdwatcher’s dream, and I was sad that I was only able to identify the seagulls and buzzards. Is that Phalacrocorax auratus, the Double-crested Cormorant? Who knows? I only had time to count one crest. Aside from birds and frogs and lizards, I didn’t see much additional wildlife, but when I stopped at a fast-flowing stream, I did spot some small fish, and possibly heard an alligator croak in the distance. “Croak” as in make that sound, not die, but I suppose it could have been both.

The Ford Bronco Everglades was introduced as a late-2022 model, which the company says is “an SUV born to breathe when the air gets thick and designed to press on when the trail turns others around,” hopefully like that touristy Mustang. Most all SUV manufacturers offer models purported to be more rugged than standard, but the Everglades walks the walk: It incorporates the off-road equipment included in the potent Sasquatch Package. Indeed, it’s good to have something Sasquatch-related, as its close cousin, the Florida Skunk Ape, has been spotted near here, according to the Miami Herald: “Sometimes called the Sasquatch of the Southeast, the Skunk Ape is rumored to live in the Everglades near Ochopee.”

I visited Ochopee (like it’s spelled, Oh-CHOP-ee), and spotted an interesting attraction: The smallest U.S. Postal Service outpost in the country, a tiny footprint of 61.3 square feet. The building used to be a storage facility for irrigation pipes on a tomato farm. It was quickly converted into a post office in 1953, after a fire destroyed a previous post office and general store. It’s manned by Postmaster Don Walters, who looked nothing like a Skunk Ape, though admittedly it appeared as though he hadn’t shaved for a while.

As mentioned, there’s plenty of off-road hardware here on this Bronco, specially selected for the job at hand, which is not conventional cow trailing. With the Everglades-standard snorkel, located on the passenger side, air can reach the engine when you’re fording a water crossing that’s more than three feet deep. Ford says 36.4 inches is the limit, so if the current washes away your yardstick, you’d best seek out a ferry. That fording capability—Fording! See what I did there?—is still a healthy 33.5 inches on the standard Ford Bronco, enhanced on the Everglades by raised vents in the front and rear axles, transfer case, and transmission.

Ground clearance is 11.7 inches, but you can bet plenty of Everglades customers will quickly increase that a few inches with aftermarket suspension bits, and tires bigger than the standard Goodyear LP315/70R17 Territory MTs. Which, incidentally, are very good compromise tires, fairly quiet on pavement, and capable in modestly muddy situations. If you are a dedicated off-roader, though, you’ll want something more aggressive.

The massive, model-standard Warn ZEON 10-S winch alone retails for $1800 or so, but is available online at multiple outlets for about $1500. Yes, you can add it yourself, but it’s nice to have the factory installation on our test Bronco. We never got the chance to use it, but with a 100-foot lead and a 10,000-pound rating, we’re confident it works. It precludes a front-mounted camera, which would be a big help off-roading, but oh, well.

Underneath is what we used to call skid plates, but now Ford has re-named them “full vehicle steel bash plates,” which is a bit graphic for a driver of my delicate touch and sensibility. Since I was traveling alone, I decided to forgo testing that fording limit and the heaviest mud, snorkel and winch or not. Call me chicken, but I didn’t want to get stuck or swept downstream and eaten by a 19-foot python, or a 1300-pound alligator. And yes, both do get that big down here. Having recently lost weight, I may have declined in reptilian desirability, but my swallow-ability has increased.

Under the hood—which requires a prop rod to hold up, a little thrifty for a $59,000 vehicle—is the smaller engine offered in the Bronco. The turbocharged 2.3-liter, 300 horsepower (275 on regular gas, which is all I fed it on the 1100-mile trip) four-cylinder would underserve the purpose, but it’s saved by the eager 10-speed automatic transmission, which always seemed to be in the right gear. Our fuel mileage was 17.6 mpg, a shade better than the EPA’s 17 mph city/highway average.

Specs: 2024 Ford Bronco Everglades

• Price: $55,720 / $58,770 (base / as-tested)
• Powertrain: 2.3-liter turbocharged I-4; 10-speed automatic transmission
• Output: 300 hp; 325 lb-ft (on premium fuel)
• Layout: Front-engine, four-door, five-passenger, four-wheel-drive SUV
• Weight: 5300 pounds (est.)
• 0–60 mph: 7.4 seconds
• Top speed: 99 mph (governed)
• EPA Fuel Economy: 18/17/18 mpg (city/hwy/combined)
• Competitors: Jeep Wrangler, Toyota Land Cruiser, Land Rover Defender S

The four-wheel-drive system is controlled by the GOAT—not Tom Brady, but a dial that stands for the precious “Goes Over Any Type” of terrain, Ford says. Available settings include Normal, Eco, Sport, Slippery, and Sand, plus several additional niche settings you’ll seldom use on special edition models.

Outside, our Bronco was painted a slightly washed-out-looking “Azure Gray Tri-Coat Metallic,” a $995 option, which I considered a good place to save $995. Wheels are a darker gray, slotted old-school style that visually work quite well.

Handling and ride are better than you’d expect, except on really rough pavement. Steering is precise, better than on the Bronco’s arch enemy, the Jeep Wrangler, but otherwise, the two SUVs are very similar. Either will take you most anyplace you want to go.

Inside, the “marine-grade” vinyl upholstery-covered seats were reasonably comfortable and supportive, tolerable for long stints behind the wheel. There’s a 12-inch touchscreen centered in the dashboard; it’s about what we’ve come to expect from such displays. There are rubberized mats on the floor, concealing a drain plug in case you spill a whole canteen of drinking water on your adventure.

That’s the 2024 Bronco Everglades. Thirsty, perhaps a little pricey, but a lot of fun to drive, and it seems worth the price to be able to go some places where others may not. Nice job, Ford.