The off road community is a community.

It's your getaway.

It's your paradise.

You know.

It's your limitless world.

(ethereal synth tones) (droning ambient music) (wind blowing) People are quick to judge.

All they see is danger.

But I see beauty.

I was born here.

I know how to survive here.

(engine revving) The desert is my paradise.

(intense music) - Nice!

Nice!

Nice!

(fireworks popping) (spectators cheering) (singer vocalizing in Spanish) - Yeah!

(group cheering) (fire crackling) (energetic reggaeton music) (engine revving) (droning ambient music) (distant animal calls) (droning ambient music continues) (wind blowing) (traffic flowing) (man speaking over loudspeaker) (birds chirping) - I have to get in.

I was raised in Juarez until I was 30 years old, and now I live in El Paso, Texas, since 1994.

When people think of El Paso, they think drugs, immigrants, narcos.

They think of a small bordertown that doesn't have anything.

But for me, it means home.

It's that big Texan culture plus that Mexican culture.

(reflective Latin music) It's what makes us, us.

The Red Sands type of person.

We started our own little community in the dunes, and from this Red Sands was born.

We were the pioneers going over there in the early '70s.

When we came, in those days, we were the only guys here around.

Instead of going to church, we went to Red Sands to play.

When I met my wife, I brought her here.

And then when I had my kids, I brought them over there too.

I taught all them how to drive on the off-road.

(truck rumbling) Back then, we were just... free.

In Juárez, we were the first ones.

There were very few 4x4s.

Everyone wanted cars, but I wanted a truck.

Not just any truck, the biggest truck.

(truck rumbling) It's been 50 years and three generations now.

(music softens) (music fades) - Family.

Family is the biggest thing.

Which one?

You have one or what?

It doesn't even have to be your family.

It's just like the people around you.

This feels good.

Look, there's one right here.

I am from El Paso, Texas.

(power saw buzzing) So I'm Mexican American or American Mexican because I was born over here, but my roots are Mexican.

- I'll take it from the neighbors.

- [Woman] They're gonna be like, "I need that two by four."

(Omar laughs) - Most of my childhood, I was raised by my mother and my grandmother.

And then I had some at the rancho.

My uncles are the ones that took me under their wing.

And they're the ones that showed me the off-road life, like, you know, the outdoor life.

(dog barking) I've been going to Red Sands since I was a little kid.

(reflective ambient music) (birds chirping) Red Sands is a place to escape the real world for a little bit.

Shorty's the one that taught me the routes.

He's had more time off-roading than me, but me and him learned together, you know.

I mean, if he doesn't go to Red Sands, I don't go to Red Sands.

When I get there, it's like something just comes over me.

My head gets in the zone, and everything just starts flowing for me.

(rhythmic music) (singer speaking Spanish) (upbeat reggaeton music) - [Omar] And if you tell someone from El Paso, "Hey, meet me at Red Sands," where are they going to meet you?

The pit.

The pit is the heart of Red Sands.

This is the main area where people just like to hang out, bonfire, drink, have fun with their friends.

It's literally the heart because everybody gathers there.

(group chattering and laughing) And out there is no man's land.

Because honestly, you can get lost if you don't know what you're doing.

It's dangerous, man.

Like, you drive 100 miles an hour, adrenaline kicks in, and then you gotta be aware of your surroundings, of course, because you're going to see what bump you're going to hit next or what turn's coming.

If you hit a bump and you don't know what you're doing, you can flip.

And that's where mistakes are made.

(music ends) (wind blowing) (droning ambient music) - [Radio Voice] You know, Red Sands is not an official off-highway vehicle park.

There's no management.

There's no security.

- [Radio Voice] It's challenging just due to the remote terrain and the inaccessibility.

- [Radio Voice] Frequented for off-roading, it grows substantially on weekends and holidays.

But so does the likelihood that an unfortunate accident, sometimes deadly, is right around some of those red dunes.

(uneasy ambient music) - [Omar] You kind of become desensitized to the danger.

It's like the elephant in the room.

You always know it's there.

Your engine's revving at a high RPM, trying not to get stuck in the sand.

There are a lot of things that can go wrong.

So you have to stay focused, or else you could hurt yourself or hurt somebody else.

(pulsating music) I was driving towards the sun, and then it came out of a hill.

I almost went head-on with him.

I mean, it would've been a bad day if I didn't make the quick adjustment that I had to do right there.

So that's why you gotta be very alert if you're a driver, you know.

And this is why you need someone with you.

Okay, go!

(engine revving) That's why Shorty is my boy.

He's always there when I get stuck or when I need a belt.

(energetic music playing over stereo) He never lets you down.

And I'm the same way.

If he has a flat or he needs a belt, I'm there, you know what I mean?

(energetic reggaeton music) And then we get back on and just ride again.

(singer speaking Spanish) That's what it is.

I mean, to just go hang out with you and your other two buddies and live life on the edge.

♪ Losing control ♪ (engine revving) (group cheering) But I'm telling you, when you're there, you don't think about anything.

You're not thinking about stress.

You're not thinking of bills.

You're not thinking about life.

You're just in the moment.

(engine revving) It's dangerous, but I think to us, it's just very peaceful.

(fireworks bursting) It's your own world.

You just gotta blank everything out, and go.

(engine revving) (birds chirping) (engine idling) (truck chimes) - I've always liked lifted trucks.

(engine stops) My truck is an F-250 Limited diesel.

We have a 21-inch lift on it with 30-inch rims, named Aztlan, for my Mexican culture.

It is my empire, and it's about 10 feet tall.

I've been going to Red Sands since I was young.

For the longest time, I was one of the only women driving one of the tallest trucks out there.

I love just driving and people looking at, like, "Oh my God, you know," and especially knowing that it's a girl driving.

(Rosa laughs) It is a powerful trip.

The truck scene is not just for boys.

(Rosa chuckles) We are headed to my brother's ranch.

The kids spend some of the time on the weekends, you know, and go out there and ride horses.

(upbeat Latin music playing over stereo) Family means everything to me and to us.

You know, we actually see each other, my brothers, my sisters, at least twice a week.

Hello, brother.

- [Brother] Hello.

(woman speaking Spanish) - My father comes from a ranch in Mexico.

(people conversing) He's taught us the ropes as far as what he knows and passed it on to us so that we can pass it on to our children.

(cattle lowing) He also taught me how to off-road.

(goats bleating) El Paso is known for the desert.

So the off-roading scene is a major part of our lives.

(upbeat Latin music) (people conversing and laughing) Family and tradition, to us, is very important.

My dad loves the fact that he brought his tradition over and that we keep that rich culture going.

(singer vocalizing in Spanish) (reflective ambient music) - I love the desert.

It's a very peaceful place.

(insects buzzing) My grandparents, they were Natives.

They were Mescalero Apaches.

This is my ancestral land.

(wind blowing) Red Sands was our second home, our backyard.

This was our imprint on the land when we went to Red Sands.

But El Paso is changing a lot, and most of the land is private.

- [Radio Voice] And the majority of the property owners quite honestly don't want people there.

- [Radio Voice] Can those property owners shut it down and say, "Too much is going on.

I'm being held liable.

We're closing this off to the public"?

Can they do that?

- [Radio Voice] Oh, absolutely.

Any property owner can secure their property and prevent anybody from entering there.

So that can happen at any time.

(uneasy ambient music) (engine revving) (energetic music) - [Omar] If the private owners were to try and take it down, we would all find a way to try and fight it, to be like, "No, we can't let you do that and let you just take away tradition, years and years of tradition, and just take it away like that."

They're not going to go down without a fight.

(music fades) - [Girl] You guys look tired.

(man speaking Spanish) - [Rosa] We're going to a truck show in Odessa.

(man shouting in Spanish) - Just this way a little bit.

I started the truck scene about four years ago.

Just a tiny bit this way, and then straight.

And every show is different, but awards will be handed out.

Just a tiny little bit to the... yeah, to the side.

In the past, I have won Extreme Lifted and for the color.

And for being one of the females that drives extremely lifted trucks.

There, that's good.

- Big truck.

- My kids love off-roading.

My kids love trucks.

I do have two boys.

Nice!

So for me, it's a very important thing.

Let's go!

(man chattering) Team Amigo is a truck and an off-road club.

I'm part of both of them.

- [Man] Tanya, are you gonna be unemployed or what?

- [Rosa] I definitely feel supported by my team.

We've become like a family.

- [Jimmy] I've started just getting together a bunch of people in El Paso.

So that's when I ended up making the Team Amigo.

From there, we just started getting bigger, and now we're around 60 trucks.

(engine rumbling) (upbeat music) We try to be the best in the 915.

It's going to be one hell of a show.

- [Announcer] Welcome out once again to the official West Texas Truck Show Fest.

I go by the name of DJ Paul of HTX.

Welcome out, welcome out.

(engines revving) (people chattering) - [Rosa] They're basically expecting about 300 trucks.

You see the lifted trucks.

You see the dropped trucks, different types of ideas.

Everybody's so excited.

(relaxing Latin music) - [Announcer] Oh wow, ladies and gentlemen, make your way out, make your way out to the Coliseum for awards.

Thank you, thank you.

- I guess they are headed over there.

(audience chattering) - Next one's a silver Dodge Ram from Team Empire.

(audience applauding) The next one's the black and red King Ranch from Team Amigo.

(audience cheering) Best UTV/ATV was the El Amigo from Team Amigo.

(audience cheering) Best Female is next.

Best Female goes to the Aztlan F-250 from Team Amigo.

- Aztlan!

Aztlan!

- They're on fire!

- They're on fire!

- Club participation is Team Amigo as a whole.

(audience cheering) 432 and 915.

I guess El Paso brought the heat this weekend.

- Team Amigo!

(lively music) - [Group] Go!

Go!

Go!

(group cheering) (group cheering) (engine revving) (wind blowing) (flag snapping) (music fades) - [Omar] The off-road community is a community.

(people conversing) It's your getaway.

It's your paradise.

It's your limitless world.

(fireworks bursting) That's something I would like to pass down, the tradition.

Because I'm pretty sure everyone that's there right now, in their late thirties or late forties, have been going to Red Sands since they were younger.

(group singing) They're keeping that tradition going, showing their kids, showing their cousins, showing their peoples.

(upbeat music) - We do have a rich culture with our Mexican roots.

My parents were born in Mexico.

I was born in Mexico, but then my kids were born here.

We are both Mexican and American, and it's very important for my kids to be able to know our culture and where we come from, for them to pass it on to their kids and keep all our traditions going.

(energetic music) (fire crackling) (fireworks popping) - Aah!

(group cheering) (thunder rumbling) (engine revving) (engine revving) (fireworks popping) (ethereal synth tones) (music fades) - [Narrator] Funding for "Reel South" is brought to you by ETV Endowment of South Carolina, National Endowment for the Arts, and Wyncote Foundation.

(soothing music)