Industry vendors, trail rides, off-road training and plenty of Jeeps all marked this year's annual Detroit 4Fest
by Matt Konkle
Managing Editor
HOLLY, Mich. — Come for the show; stay for the park.
While that may not be the official theme for the annual Detroit Fest at Holly Oaks ORV Park in Holly, Michigan, it seemed like plenty of people did just that during this year's verion.
The Detroit 4Fest event, now in its sixth season, recently set up in the park September 6-7 and saw record attendance for Saturday's gathering, as well as plenty of industry vendors, plus off-road seminars and Ultra 4 racing demonstrations. Jeep even brought several of its highly popular Easter Jeep Safari concept vehicles to show off — including Lowdown, Willys, Vacationeer, High Top and the two-door J6 truck. Those who didn’t want to take their own vehicle into the park could ride with professional drivers in one of many Rubicon Wrangler 4xe, Rubicon Gladiator truck or Rubicon 392 vehicles.
Holly Oaks is located just under an hour west of Detroit and consists of around 235 acres of reclaimed sand and gravel mine sites. As the park has evolved, administrators decided to create several 'Adventure Areas' throughout the park rather than just beefing up existing dirt routes. This allows riders to tailor their experience to their respective skill levels. There are also steep hill climbs and descents, mud areas, rock gardens and rutty dirt tracks.
One of the most popular spots is Mount Magna, a rocky hill climb that creatively mimics Moab, Utah’s iconic slickrock surface, thanks to about 25,000 square feet of shotcrete. This area includes ledge hill climbs reminiscent of Moab's Steelbender trail, and a generous crater off-roaders and roll down into and try to exit like Micky's Hot Tub on Hells Revenge.
When show attendees were not enjoying Holly Oaks' off-road trail system, they could park and walk through a vendor village featuring top industry vendors like Steer Smarts, Dana, Magnuson, Bilstein, AEV, Armorlite, Rock Krawler, TYRI Lighting, Rancho, Quake, JKS, Jeep Performance Products, and many others. All were available for questions and product demonstrations.
Quadratec also set up a display area featuring its prominent JTe two-door Gladiator concept, as well as many of its Red-Q recovery products and Generation II Stealth Interior Light Bar.
Finally, one of the returning features of this year’s event was the 4Fest ‘Passport', which allowed event attendees to capture a stamp at each vendor display and then turn it in for a chance at numerous raffle items. This year’s grand prize was an all-expenses paid trip to Moab.
Dates for the 2025 Detroit 4Fest will be announced soon. Additionally, the Detroit Winterfest, also at Holly Oaks, is January 18, 2005 and features a similar setup as 4Fest.
