Like other carmakers, Honda has crafted some more capable versions of several of its vehicles, though the upcoming, fully revised 2026 Passport and its off-road TrailSport edition sound like they will be the real deal.

In the meantime, there’s still considerable interest in both the 2025 Honda Ridgeline, the company’s truck-styled rendition of the current Passport/Pilot SUVs, and its own Ridgeline TrailSport edition, which premiered in 2024.

You might remember when I drove the 2021 Ridgeline way, way outside of its comfort zone during an ill-advised outing between Idaho Springs and Central City. Still, the unibody pickup — that alone is unicorn material in the modern truck market — did way better than I expected.

The Ridgeline has now moved into the same territory as the 2023 Pilot TrailSport I drove last year, offering a more rugged and marginally more capable rendition that, like so many others we’ve recently discussed, is mostly about the tires.

I had two drives with this chunkier-looking, $46,775 Ridgeline TrailSport this year, and believe it might actually be better suited to locations with palm trees, as I found during a summertime junket to Honda’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California.

I burned through a handful of Hondas during a stats-and-specs trip but had a memorable afternoon in the Ridgeline TrailSport. Its chunkier rubber and stylish demeanor were mostly put to the test driving on the wildly battered section of Rancho Palos Verdes’ main drag, which is actively sliding into the ocean near Portuguese Bend.

Over Thanksgiving, I had a much longer time to see what the Ridgeline TrailSport was like at home, and quickly discovered a few things that were useful comparisons after driving some intensely off-road-capable competitors including the Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter and the GMC Canyon AT4X.

Firstly, the Ridgeline is no slouch when it comes to power and what will always be a smoother and more nuanced ride, given its platform. There’s no boost in power for the TrailSport edition, but the non-turbo 3.5-liter V6 produces 280 horsepower, and is also equipped with full-time all-wheel drive and brake-activated torque vectoring.

Do remember to disengage the large green Eco button if you’d like to access all of that power for highway acceleration — mine was barely off the delivery truck and the switch softened the take-off power by nearly 40%, until I switched it off.

But the Ridgeline’s smooth profile and its relatively low-to-the-ground character meant I was able to get 23 mpg while driving into the wind on I-25 north of Fort Collins, with on-road stability and simplicity that’s alien in other mid-sized trucks.

A little gravel was about as rough as things got here in Colorado, which is fine considering that Ridgeline’s only user-switchable stuff is its four drive modes — snow, mud, sand and normal. Underneath, the springs and damper valves have been beefed up and special stabilizer bars added, as well as a small underbody skid plate, but it’s still largely the same Ridgeline as its non-TrailSport variants.

As mentioned, the addition of General Grabber A/T Sport tires mean you’ll have better luck in the snow and mud, but they remain blessedly quiet and produce less bounce and jostle than big tires on other weekend off-roaders. Like that Pilot I drove, the overall TrailSport effect is good looks and better all-season versatility, just probably not aggressive rock crawling. Leave that for the new Passport.  

All of Ridgeline’s other unique features remain, including a dual-action tailgate that both flops and can be swung open horizontally, revealing a four-foot-wide bed that’s already been given a bedliner treatment. Tailgate down, the 5-foot-4 bed stretches to longer than seven feet. There’s also a hidden, washable and lockable in-bed trunk that has 7.3 cu-ft of storage, not to mention space in front for the spare tire and jack.

The cabin shares the same updated looks and features as its two SUV cousins, with a flat dash, a 7-inch digital instrument display and physical HVAC controls  

Inside, you also get a 9-inch touchscreen, a bigger unit found on higher-end Passport and Pilots, which features standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Mine also had its own built-in navigation system – and, blessedly, a volume knob. 

The Ridgeline cabin layout is pretty simple, with the exception of that still-awkward vertical strip of transmission buttons, plus a phone charging pad and an oversized center armrest box. A completely fold-up rear seat produces indoor cargo room, as well. 

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.