What do you get when you cross a truck with seemingly endless acres of soft sand? Before last week, I would have answered “a tow truck and a hefty bill,” but now I know that the answer is “Fun, lots of fun!” GMC Trucks can handle towing your 4-wheelers to the sand, pushing sand, and yes, even driving in sand!
I was invited by GMC to take a short trip to Utah for their GMC Pickup and Plow Experience at Coral Pink Sand Dunes. Included in the event were opportunities to drive several pickup models including the 2018 Sierra 2500 4WD Crew Cab SLT and the 2018 Canyon 4WD Crew Denali.
Because of our ranching business, I regularly have the opportunity to drive a variety of pickup trucks with different trim levels by different makers, but this was an opportunity to drive brand-new and fully loaded GMC trucks — count me in!
When the option to drive the 2018 Sierra that was to pull a trailer holding two of the 4-wheelers we’d be using later in the day was offered, I eagerly snagged it for my driving partner, Jeff Zurschmeide, and me. Jeff drove first, while I got to enjoy the smooth ride through the town of St. George as we made our way to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.
2018 Sierra 2500 4WD Crew Cab SLT
Our loaded, gas-powered VORTEC 6L V-8 engine truck was equipped with the All-Terrain package which includes the Z71 off-road suspension with twin-tube Rancho shocks, an underbody shield, hill-descent control, spray-on bedliner, front and rear park assist, center console with a wireless charging mat, and the All-Terrain X Package which includes 18″ black-painted wheels, mud-rated Goodyear tires, power sunroof, a power-sliding rear window, power folding mirrors, camper/5th wheel trailer wiring, and a fancy sport bar on the back.
I’ve had quite a bit of experience pulling trailers on trucks, and while this one was loaded with much less weight than I’m used to pulling when our 32′ gooseneck is full of calves or goats, it was still quite long.
Long story short, I was pleased with how well the truck handled while towing. On our way to the park from St. George we had to drive on both asphalt and the Utah version of caliche — the crushed limestone so many of our Texas ranch roads are made of. The truck never wanted for power, and it was a quiet ride inside.
Once it was my turn to drive, I got to see for myself how easy it was to handle the truck with a load. After pulling up to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes Park, I soon had to maneuver the truck with its 25’+ trailer through the campground’s narrow and twisty roads. Making sharp turns while pulling a trailer is never easy, but it was relatively painless in the Sierra.
The retail price for the fully loaded 2018 Sierra 2500 4WD Crew Cab SLT was $59,910 including a $1295 destination charge.
One of the first things that we did once we got to Coral Pink Sand Dunes Park was watch a demonstration with a Sierra Denali truck that had been fully outfitted with a snowplow. Since there was no snow to be had, the demonstration was done with sand!
That was pretty impressive.
While we were at the park, we got to make use of the 4-wheelers Jeff and I had towed. We followed a guide who took us all over the sand dunes, sometimes at crazy angles as we looped across their tops.
GMC had Jake Vedder on hand for fun on the sand dunes too. Jake was the 2016 Youth Olympics gold medalist for boarder-cross. Jake’s been skiing since he was 2 years old; he’s the youngest competitor on the US National Team by 6 years, and he is currently qualifying for the upcoming Winter Olympics. So what does Jake do when he’s not on a snowboard? Well on this particular day, he was showing a bunch of auto-writers how to sandboard.
Sandboarding lessons from Jake Vedder.
I’ve never skied or snowboarded, so needless to say I wasn’t very good. It was a great experience, though! I was still finding sand in my clothes hours later, though. The bonus here is that when I watch the Winter Olympics, I’ll (hopefully) have someone I’ve actually met to watch; I can’t wait!
Our last activity at Coral Pink Sand Dunes Park was to drive off-road through the sand trails. This seemed like a crazy idea because it looked like a perfect spot to get stuck! A GMC rep rode with Jeff and me, and he told us the best way to get the truck ready for cruising through the soft, deep sand — 4WD high on, and traction control off. I’m guessing that they had let some of the air out of the tires before we got in — because that just seems prudent.
Jeff and I were instructed to go as fast as we felt comfortable because we were less likely to sink if we did. Fair enough! So we went fast.
Some of the ruts in the sand were over a foot deep — Jeff and I took turns going up and down the sand strip, and I was impressed by how well the truck handled. We didn’t get stuck once!
The rest of our day was spent driving a dark slate metallic 2018 Sierra Denali 1500 4WD Crew Cab through Zion National Park. This was my first time to Zion, and I want to go back! Everything about the park was gorgeous and grand; the 1.1 mile long Mount Carmel Tunnel through the mountain with the regularly spaced rock “windows” showing the mountain on the other side of the canyon was breathtaking. But I digress.
This truck had all of the bells and whistles — including 20″ aluminum wheels, an EZ lift and lower tailgate, and automatic running boards that would pop out every time the truck was stopped and a door was opened. I’m going to admit that 9 times out of 10, I stepped right over the running boards; while they would likely be very handy for a shorter person, I had no trouble getting in and out of the truck.
I put the charging mat in the center console to good use topping off my Note8; the only issue that I ran into was that the phablet was a smidge too wide to lie in the charging well unless I removed its case.
The thing I love about GMC trucks is that you can drive one without looking like a show-off. Do you know what I mean?
Chevy trucks to me are work trucks — and even though I know they can come completely loaded out, I think of them as more utilitarian. Cadillac Escalade trucks, on the other hand, are simply too showy — unless you’re a celebrity. GMC trucks look like something you could drive to a job site without looking out of place, yet they have interiors that are every bit as nice as you would expect from a luxury vehicle.
When you get the Denali trim package, the ante is really upped — you may have what looks like a “normal” truck on the outside, but on the inside you’ve got a spaceship full of safety and security features like low-speed FWD auto-braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, forward collision alert, and all the interior bells and whistles like leather bucket seats, wireless charging, heated and vented front seats, remote vehicle start, power adjustable pedals, a customizable driver display, heated steering wheel, 8″ infotainment center with rear vision and navigation (compatible with Apple CarPlay), and a Bose system that sounds excellent.
This truck had the Denali Ultimate Package, which includes 6.2L V8 Ecotec engine with 22″ wheels, a power sunroof, trailer brake control, and the tri-mode power steps that I kept forgetting to use.
The 2018 Sierra Denali 1500 4WD Crew Cab sells for $64,345 including a $1295 destination charge.
Disclosure: GMC paid for my travel, room, and meals; there were no conditions or expectations made regarding what I chose to write about with regard to my experience.