THE FIRST BUT NOT LIKELY THE LAST

A Recount of the Inaugural Overland Expo in Costa Mesa, California

- WORDS AND PHOTOS BY DILLON HOUCK

Since 2009, the Overland Expo has served as an important part of the off-roading and overlanding community, as it has become a yearly staple for many attendees of these events across the United States. Until recently, overland and off-road enthusiasts have been able to choose from four regional events across the country: Expo West in Flagstaff, Arizona, PNW in Redmond, Oregon, Mountain West in Loveland, Colorado, and OE East in Arlington, Virginia. 2025, however, is a year of new opportunity, as Overland Expo debuted anew venue in the sunny state of California that offered expo-goers an early-season excuse for a warm(er) weather road-trip to shake off old-man winter.

Properly named Overland Expo SoCal, and hosted at Costa Mesa's Orange County Fair & Event Center, the inaugural showing exceeded everyone's expectations. Between March 15th and 16th, over 19,000 adventurers flocked through the gates of the events center to meet up with friends, find inspiration from all kinds of builds and rigs, learn useful skills from Overland Expo's 100+ specialized classes, and explore some of the newest products in the off-road and overland industry from the 303 different exhibitors on display.