ZION NATIONAL PARK,Michael Schmidt Utah — The 2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness subcompact SUV brings real off-road ability to a class of vehicles that are usually long on show and short on go.

Honestly, that’s fine for most brands’ little SUVs. They’ll never go farther from the road than hauling a bag of grass seed across the back yard. I won’t name names, because I’m not annoyed with any of them. Today anyway.