50th Annual Tierra Del Sol this weekend!

Not many events and/or off-road clubs can say they are celebrating their 50th annual gathering. But this weekend, in the Ocotillo Wells SRVA in southern California the Tierra Del Sol 4WD Club out of San Diego will be doing just that, as the host the 50th Annual Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari. The event is scheduled for March 2-4 at the Ocotillo Wels SRVA, between Borrego Springs and Salton Sea.

Over the years the vehicles have changed, people have come and gone, and the venue has moved. Now in its 50th year, the event is well organized with on site obstacle park and  trail rides, product demonstrations, on site vendor show, and one of the largest raffles of any off-road event.  Last year over $155,000 in raffle items were collectively given away.

BDS’s very own Jason Shellhaas will be hanging out showing off so cool new products and our JK from SEMA.  He’ll be set up over near Off-Road Warehouse’s booth so stop by and say hi. The First person to post a photo to our Facebook page posing with Jason gets a BDS t-shirt.

So if you’re looking for an awesome event this weekend, make sure you check out the 50th Annual Tierra Del Sol. For more info and schedule of events, check out http://www.tds4x4.com/


3 comments

Some major changes have occurred at TDS. The raffle at TDSIt is gone is the heart of the event. Never has their been a more enthusiastic crowd nestled in their lawn chairs in front of the stage yelling “Burn It!” when the winning ticket holder does not reveal themselves within 40 seconds or so to claim their prize. This phrase of “Burn It” has carried over into the lexicon of many off road raffle’s and it’s origin is lore. It is now gone! Somebody had the great idea to turn the TDS raffle into a real yawner. To put it frankly, it sucks. This year it was like pulling teeth and if it was not for the quality of the prizes it would have not been worth participating. I am surprised they did not pass out BINGO cards it would have made a mor lively crowd. It was not the people, they were fired up and ready to all yell “Burn It” in the TDS tradition, but the management changed up and now it is apparently history. What a stupid decision in my humble opinion. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Then there was the law enforcement. These guys were everywhere. On the trails, in the air, in the crowd and on the ingress and egress routes. When the raffle was over I bailed out of the area. Before I could make it to my vehicle I witnessed four people being lit up. On my drive out of the area I did not observe a single officer moving, the entire compliment had somebody pulled over and were going through their vehicles or shining lights into the faces of passengers on the highway and off the highway. Did I mention the Bell Jet Ranger operated by the CHP orbiting many of the favorite areas? There was also a Robinson flown by the Sheriffs dropping in on people. Okay I got it, I just don’t like it…………

@Michael Cavenaugh
Thanks for the feedback on the event Michael. This was our 2nd year making the trip out from Michigan to attend and our rep is still out handling some business. I was unaware of the changes to the raffle and I’m sorry to hear it was a disappointment as well as the rest of the event. I haven’t had a chance to get any feedback from our rep or local distributors on how the event went, but we will definitely look into the event further. I attended last year and had a blast. The raffle, although long, was an exciting time and the crowd seemed to get really into it. Thanks again for your feedback, and I’m sorry it didn’t live up to the expectations of the 49 previous events they’ve held.

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