9 All-Terrain Mobility Scooter Facts (Outdoor Enthusiasts Need to Know)
An all-terrain mobility scooter can get you out in the fresh air and sunshine if you are struggling to get out of the home. It is the type of mobility scooter that reduces your safely puts you in fun’s way.
Fun things stopped for me when I was eight years old. My spinal condition took away my sports and all physical activity.
Now that I’m retired, I want to learn how to have fun again. Since I discovered all-terrain mobility scooters, I know what I want to do, and “all-terrain” is part of the plan.
I plan to buy the Baja Wrangler all-terrain scooter to go camping!
There are three types of mobility scooters:
- Compact
- Full-size
- Heavy-duty
Within the heavy-duty and full-size categories, you will find the all-terrain mobility scooters!
I had considered getting an ATV, but I wouldn’t say I like noisy, gas-powered vehicles, so I forgot about it.
It hadn’t occurred to me that I could buy a silent, battery-powered ATV!
If this sounds as fun to you as it does to me, then an all-terrain mobility scooter might be right for you.
In this article, I’ll explain the reasons for buying an all-terrain model and the reasons not to.
Key Takeaways:
Facts to know about the all-terrain mobility scooter:
- It comes in full-size (medium) and heavy-duty (large) sizes.
- It is not portable by car or plane.
- It is for outdoors use only.
- It has a strong battery for long trips.
- It has a powerful motor for traveling up hills.
- It has a high ground clearance for driving over tree roots and obstacles.
- It has a suspension system to soften the ride.
- It has a large, comfortable seat for your comfort.
- It has lights for safety.
What Are Important All-Terrain Mobility Scooter Facts
1. Size Options
Fact: All-terrain mobility scooters come in full-size (medium) and heavy-duty (large) sizes. This variety allows users to choose a model that best suits their needs and the terrain they plan to navigate. Full-size models offer a balance of maneuverability and off-road capability, while heavy-duty versions provide maximum power and stability for the most challenging environments.
2. Limited Portability
Fact: All-terrain mobility scooters are not designed for easy portability by car or plane. Their robust construction and larger size make them challenging to transport without specialized equipment. Users should consider this limitation when planning outings or trips, as it may require a vehicle with a lift or ramp for transportation.
3. Outdoor-Focused Design
Fact: These scooters are specifically engineered for outdoor use. Their design prioritizes performance on various terrains such as grass, gravel, and packed sand. While some full-size models might be usable indoors, most all-terrain scooters are too large and powerful for typical indoor environments.
4. Extended Battery Life
Fact: All-terrain mobility scooters are equipped with strong batteries to enable long trips. These high-capacity batteries often allow for several hours of continuous use or extended mileage between charges. This feature is crucial for users who want to explore outdoor areas without worrying about running out of power.
5. Powerful Motors
Fact: These scooters boast powerful motors capable of tackling hills and challenging terrain. The increased motor power allows for better performance on inclines and rough surfaces. This feature is essential for navigating outdoor environments that may include slopes or uneven ground.
6. High Ground Clearance
Fact: All-terrain mobility scooters have higher ground clearance compared to standard models. This increased height allows the scooter to clear obstacles like tree roots, rocks, and uneven surfaces. The enhanced clearance is a key factor in the scooter’s ability to navigate rough outdoor terrain safely.
7. Advanced Suspension Systems
Fact: These scooters are equipped with robust suspension systems to soften the ride over bumpy terrain. The suspension helps absorb shocks and vibrations, providing a smoother and more comfortable experience for the user. This feature is particularly important when traversing uneven surfaces or obstacles commonly found in outdoor settings.
8. Comfortable Seating
Fact: All-terrain mobility scooters typically feature large, comfortable seats designed for extended use. These seats often include additional padding, adjustable backrests, and sometimes headrests. The enhanced comfort is crucial for users who plan to spend significant time exploring outdoor areas.
9. Safety Lighting
Fact: Most all-terrain mobility scooters come equipped with comprehensive lighting systems for safety. These often include bright headlights, taillights, and sometimes turn signals. The lighting enhances visibility in low-light conditions and helps alert others to the scooter’s presence, which is especially important when used in outdoor settings.
What is an All-Terrain Mobility Scooter?
An all-terrain mobility scooter is a powerful, reinforced, cushioned mobility scooter designed to drive off-road.
It has large, wide tires, a powerful battery, suspension coils, and high ground clearance to cross tree roots and obstacles.
A heavy-duty all-terrain mobility scooter is too large for use indoors. However, some full-size mobility scooters have all-terrain features, but you can also use them inside the home.
If you’re buying an all-terrain, it’s not for assistance getting around your home.
It’s a big toy you take to the beach, the lake, and the woods. It’s like an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) but uses quiet electric power rather than a noisy, gas-powered engine.
Types of All-Terrain Mobility Scooters
You can go full-size or heavy-duty to get an all-terrain mobility scooter.
The full-size all-terrain models will not have every possible off-road feature, whereas most heavy-duty all-terrain mobility scooters will include the bells and whistles that allow them to go off-road.
1. Heavy-Duty All-Terrain
A heavy-duty all-terrain mobility scooter has off-road tires, a suspension package, fast speeds, a lighting package, a long driving range, and a high weight capacity.
This type breaks the barrier between you and wooded trails and sandy beaches (approach with caution; even all-terrain scooters can get stuck in sand).
You can drive it on grass, mud, and gravel.
A heavy-duty all-terrain will go miles between charges, climb steep hills, and eat tree roots for breakfast.
2. Full-Size All-Terrain
An all-terrain full-size mobility scooter has some off-road features in the heavy-duty type.
It has larger tires, a suspension system, and higher ground clearance.
The Baja Bandit, for example, is a full-size off-road mobility scooter.
You can take it on the trails and camping, but you can also take it apart for portability.
Look for These All-Terrain Benefits and Features
Look for these features that make a scooter more comfortable:
- Seat: Cushioned
- Seat Adjustments: Up and down, optional forward and backward, and rotation
- Arm Rests: Width adjustable, flip up/down, removable
- Throttle: Decide if you want right-hand or ambidextrous (either hand can drive)
- Tiller Adjustments: Up and down, and angles
- Tires: Pneumatic/air for comfort
- Suspension: Under wheels and seat
- Streaming: Bluetooth connectivity and speaker
- Phone Charging: USB port
- Holders: For cup and phone
- Storage: Baskets and lockable storage
An all-terrain mobility scooter isn’t meant to be portable, but you can get some portability from full-size off-road models. Look for:
- Disassembles: into multiple parts for travel
- Heaviest Piece: What can you pick up? The heaviest piece is usually in the 30-40 lb. range. It might be much higher in a full-size all-terrain scooter.
Look for these features that help the scooter over rough terrain:
- Ground Clearance: at least 4 inches
- Tire Type: solid to avoid flats, air for comfort
- Lights: front lights
- Driving Range: at least 10 miles
- Suspension: coils under wheels, optionally under seat
- Incline Rating: at least 6 degrees
- Maximum Speed: at least 8 mph
Look for these stability features:
- Tire Size: minimum 9 in. diameter and 2 in. width
- Tire Type: Solid to prevent flats, or pneumatic for more comfort
- Suspension: front and back wheels, optional under seat
- Incline Rating: At least 8 degrees.
Should a Disabled Person Use an All-Terrain Mobility Scooter?
A heavy-duty all-terrain mobility scooter is heavy and large but also comfortable to ride. It doesn’t fit in the house unless you’re in a spacious mansion.
The full-size all-terrain might fit in the house, but only bring it in if you don’t mind treaded tires inside. The heavy-duty all-terrain is too large to use indoors.
But how about riding one? Is it OK for a disabled person to ride an all-terrain mobility scooter?
It depends on the disability, so I made this table to give you an idea of what disabilities will and won’t work with this size scooter.
| If the issue is… | Then… |
|---|---|
| Arm or hand weakness | All-terrain mobility scooters have one- or two-handed controls. If your weakness is on the left side, you should be fine with all scooters, since the one-handed controls are aways on the right side. Look for ambidextrous controls for using either hand. |
| Leg weakness | Consider only a 4-wheel all-terrain for stability. |
| Pain | The all-terrain is second only to recreational scooter for having cushioned comfort and protection from the road’s bumps. A typical all-terrain scooter has multiple comfort and cushioning features in the seat and suspension, making this a good choice for people with pain. The only option offering more comfort features is a recreational mobility scooter. |
Where Can You Ride an All-Terrain Mobility Scooter?
The full-size all-terrain mobility scooter might be sized small enough to use indoors. A heavy-duty all-terrain is too large to use inside.
Places to go on either size all-terrain mobility scooter:
- Parks
- Beaches
- Lakes
- Woods (including trails)
- Outdoor festivals
- Theme parks
- Gardening
- Farming
- Yard work
- Backyard parties
- Fishing
- Mountains
- Outdoor photography
- Bird watching
- Flea markets
- Farmers’ Markets
- Parades
- Campus navigation
- Shopping mall common area navigation
- Outdoor concerts
- Rail trails
- Camping
But you probably won’t use them here:
- Indoors
Pros and Cons of All-Terrain Mobility Scooters
The heavy-duty all-terrain mobility scooter is a beast. It’s heavy and powerful to ride through rough trails and muddy grass. That’s why it’s unsuitable for indoor or travel use.
All-Terrain Pros
- Fun, comfortable rides
- Safely drive at beaches, lakes, mountains, rough trails, and muddy grass.
- Cushioned, full-size seat
- Adjustable seating and tiller.
- LED packages provide lights for dark woods and evening drives.
- Swivel seats allow easier mounting and dismounting
- High weight capacity for larger users
- There are many miles between battery charges
All-Terrain Cons
- Not very portable (use a pickup truck or van)
- Difficult to store
- The size might be intimidating for some users
- It is more costly than full-size and compact mobility scooters.
All-Terrain Pros
All-terrain mobility scooters are fun!
You can camp for days without recharging your battery. They have the highest weight capacity of all mobility scooter types, so they’re good as bariatric scooters for larger users. Weight capacities go up to 600 lb.
All-Terrain Cons
All-terrain scooters are huge and heavy.
They don’t work indoors and cost more than full-size and compact models.
My Favorite All-Terrain Mobility Scooters
Pride Mobility Baja Wrangler
- Mobility Scooter Type: Heavy-Duty All-Terrain
- Best for: Grass, sand, gravel, woods and trails.
- Weight Capacity: 450 lb.
Portable Transportation Features:
- Car Trunk Transport Without Lift: No
- Airline Friendly: No
- Folds: No
- Disassembles: No
- Heaviest Piece: 274 lb.
- Weight: 274 lb.
- Wheels: 4
Outdoor Features:
- Max Speed: 11.4 mph
- Range: 20/26 miles (small/large battery)
- Ground Clearance: 8.25 in.
- Suspension: Front and rear coils
- Front Lights: Yes
- Back Lights: Yes
- Turn Signals: Yes
- Incline Rating: 10 degrees
- Tire Size: 14.5 in.
- Tire Type: Air
- Mirrors: Yes
Comfort Features:
- Backrest: Yes
- Headrest: Yes
- Cup Holder: Optional
- Seat Type: Captain’s Seat
- Seat Height Adjustable: Yes
- Seat Rotates: Yes
- Seat Recline: Yes
- Seat Slider: Yes
- Armrests: Yes
- Armrests Flip Up: Yes
- Armrests Width Adjustable: Yes
- Tiller Height Adjustable: No
- Tiller Angle Adjustable: Yes
- Throttle: Ambidextrous
Luxury Features:
- Front Basket: Optional
- Under Seat Storage: No
- Rear Basket: Optional
- Rear Lockable Storage: No
- USB Charging Port: Yes
- Bluetooth Streaming Speaker: No
Are you aching to go mountain climbing when your friends take off without you?
Do you want to ride on rough terrain without feeling every bump in your aching back?
Would you like to take a spin on the beach, or drive on the wooded trail behind your home.
The Wrangler is the comfortable, powerful flagship of Pride Mobility’s Baja brand.
If the solid tires of a solid-wheel mobility scooter transfer every bump and rock into back pain, you might be ready to upgrade to the Baja Wrangler’s Captain’s seat, air tires and comfort trac suspension.
The Wrangler is on my list, too. I’ll be buying one soon!
The Baja Wrangler is available at Mobility Scooters Direct, Scooters n Chairs, and on Amazon.
Pride Mobility Pursuit 2
- Mobility Scooter Type: Heavy-Duty All-Terrain
- Best for: Grass, sand, gravel, woods and trails.
- Weight Capacity: 400 lb.
Portable Transportation Features:
- Car Trunk Transport Without Lift: No
- Airline Friendly: No
- Folds: No
- Disassembles: No
- Heaviest Piece: 242.6 lb.
- Weight: 242.6 lb.
- Wheels: 4
Outdoor Features:
- Max Speed: 9.3 mph
- Range: 14/40 miles (small/large battery)
- Ground Clearance: 3.8 in.
- Suspension: Front and rear coils
- Front Lights: Yes
- Back Lights: No
- Turn Signals: No
- Incline Rating: 10 degrees
- Tire Size: 13 in.
- Mirrors: Optional
Comfort Features:
- Backrest: Yes
- Headrest: Yes
- Cup Holder: Optional
- Seat Type: Captain’s Seat
- Seat Height Adjustable: Yes
- Seat Rotates: Yes
- Seat Recline: Yes
- Seat Slider: Yes
- Armrests: Yes
- Armrests Flip Up: Yes
- Armrests Width Adjustable: Yes
- Tiller Height Adjustable: No
- Tiller Angle Adjustable: Yes
- Throttle: Ambidextrous
Luxury Features:
- Front basket: Yes
- Under Seat Storage: No
- Rear Basket: No
- Rear Lockable Storage: No
- USB Charging Port: Yes
- Bluetooth Streaming Speaker: No
The Pride Mobility Pursuit has the power and tires for off-road, and the comfortable adjustments for recreation. The seat has a backrest, headrest and armrests.
It has a comfortable seat and a long range and carries up to 400 lb.
It has huge, air-filled tires which make the ride more comfortable but need re-filling.
With the battery upgrade, the Pursuit goes 49 miles without a charge.
I would love to take the Pursuit to the potholes at the camping grounds, to see how it handles that road.
That bright yellow model is exactly the one I want to drive.
The Pursuit is available at Mobility Scooters Direct, Scooters n Chairs, and on Amazon.
Conclusion
Facts you should know about the all-terrain mobility scooter.
- All-terrain scooters are available in mid-size and large models
- They require specialized transport due to their size and weight
- They are designed primarily for outdoor adventures and rough terrain
- They are equipped with long-lasting batteries for extended excursions
- They feature high-performance motors to conquer challenging landscapes
- Their chassis is elevated for obstacle clearance
- They incorporate advanced shock absorption for a smoother ride
- They offer ergonomic seating for all-day comfort
- They include comprehensive lighting for safer operation
- They lend recreational features with mobility assistance
The all-terrain mobility scooter jumps into the fun pool without apologies or excuses. While technically a medical scooter for mobility, the all-terrain is an adult’s excuse to have fun!
