The Honda Ridgeline: The Midsize Truck Built for How Walla Walla Actually Uses a Truck

The Honda Ridgeline is a midsize pickup that does the work most people actually need a truck for, then drives home like something far more comfortable. Standard all-wheel drive, a 280-horsepower V6, 5,000 pounds of towing and a bed with a lockable trunk built into it cover the weekend hauling, the trip up into the Blue Mountains and the Monday commute. For drivers around Walla Walla, College Place, Dayton and Milton-Freewater, it is worth a closer look. You can browse the Ridgeline at Underriner Honda of Walla Walla.

Most pickups are built body-on-frame, with the cab and bed bolted to a separate ladder frame. The Ridgeline uses unibody construction, where the body and frame are a single structure. Roughly 45 percent of it is high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel.

That one decision shapes everything else about the truck. It rides on a fully independent front and rear suspension rather than a solid rear axle, which is why it drives more like an SUV than a work truck on the highway. It is quieter, it isolates better from road vibration, and it does not get skittish over washboard when the bed is empty.

The trade-off is honest: this is not the truck for 10,000-pound trailers or heavy commercial duty. It is the truck for the loads most people actually carry.

Two features here are genuinely unusual, and they are the reason Ridgeline owners tend to stay Ridgeline owners.

The tailgate drops down like any pickup tailgate. It also swings open to the side, like a door. That sounds like a gimmick until you are standing at the back of the truck trying to reach something in the middle of the bed, or loading from a tight spot where a dropped tailgate has nowhere to go.

Under the bed floor sits a 7.3-cubic-foot locking compartment with a drain plug in the bottom. Load it with ice and it is cooler. Fill it with wet waders or muddy boots and hose it out afterward. Lock it and it is secure storage that nobody walking past the truck even knows is there.

For wine country weekends, hunting season, or anything where you want some of your gear out of sight, it is the single most useful thing on the vehicle.

The bed itself is a lay-flat composite design, UV-stabilized and scratch-resistant, with minimal wheel well intrusion so it takes 4-by-8-foot sheets of plywood flat. An available 150-watt or 400-watt outlet in the bed wall runs power tools at a job site or a setup at a campsite.

Every Ridgeline comes with the i-VTM4 all-wheel-drive system. Not available, not an upgrade on higher trims. Standard.

It pairs with Intelligent Traction Management, which offers four modes: Normal, Snow, Sand and Mud. For a Walla Walla winter, or a gravel road up toward the Blues after a wet week, having a dedicated snow mode on a button is more useful than it sounds.

Honda tested that system at its facility in Baudette, Minnesota, which sees some of the harshest weather in the country.

A 3.5-liter V6 makes 280 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque, paired with a 9-speed automatic with shift-by-wire and paddle shifters.

Towing is rated up to 5,000 pounds when properly equipped, and a Class III trailer hitch with a 7-pin connector is integrated and standard across the lineup. That covers a pair of dirt bikes on a trailer, a small boat, a utility trailer of yard debris or a side-by-side.

The rearview camera includes dynamic guidelines with wide, normal and top-down views, which makes backing to a hitch considerably less of a two-person job.

Sport is the foundation. It already has the all-wheel drive, the V6, the dual-action tailgate, the In-Bed Trunk and the Class III hitch. Nothing about the capability is held back for higher trims.

RTL adds comfort: leather-trimmed seats, heated front seats, a power moonroof, power front seats with driver memory and a power sliding rear window.

TrailSport is the off-road one. Off-road tuned suspension with retuned springs, dampers and stabilizer bars, all-terrain tires, a skid plate, a standard oil pan guard and a heated leather-wrapped steering wheel. If your weekends leave the pavement regularly, this is the one to drive. TrailSport with HPD Wheels adds 18-inch HPD black alloys.

Black Edition is the loaded one, with ventilated front seats, heated rear outboard seats, red ambient lighting and a 540-watt 8-speaker audio system. Black Edition Two-Tone adds a contrasting black roof.

Seating for up to five, with 60/40 split lift-up rear seats that fold up rather than down, opening a tall space behind the front seats for a bike, a dog crate or anything that will not lie flat in the bed.

Tri-zone automatic climate control is standard, so front and rear passengers set their own temperature. So is the remote engine start, which earns its keep on a frosty College Place morning. A 9-inch Display Audio touchscreen handles wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there is a wireless phone charger.

Honda Sensing is standard across the lineup: Collision Mitigation Braking, Road Departure Mitigation, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist, and Blind Spot Information with Cross Traffic Monitor.

It fits well if:

Specifications only go so far. Open the tailgate both ways, lift the In-Bed Trunk lid, fold the rear seats up and put your actual gear in it. Ten minutes in the parking lot tells you more than any spec sheet.

Browse the Ridgeline at Underriner Honda of Walla Walla, 1240 Southeast Commercial Drive in College Place, or contact our team to set up a test drive. You can also value your trade and apply for financing before you arrive, and check current offers while you are at it.

How much can the Honda Ridgeline tow?
Up to 5,000 pounds when properly equipped. A Class III trailer hitch with a 7-pin connector is integrated and standard on every trim.

Does the Ridgeline come with all-wheel drive?
Yes, on every trim. The i-VTM4 all-wheel-drive system is standard, along with Intelligent Traction Management offering Normal, Snow, Sand and Mud modes.

What is the In-Bed Trunk?
A lockable 7.3-cubic-foot compartment built into the floor of the bed, with a drain plug so it can be used as a cooler or for wet gear and then rinsed out.

Why is the Ridgeline unibody instead of body-on-frame?
The unibody structure, combined with fully independent front and rear suspension, gives it a smoother, quieter ride than a traditional pickup. The trade-off is that it is built for moderate towing and hauling rather than heavy commercial duty.

Which Ridgeline trim is best for off-road driving?
TrailSport. It adds off-road tuned suspension, all-terrain tires, a skid plate and a standard oil pan guard. TrailSport with HPD Wheels adds 18-inch HPD black alloy wheels.

Can the Ridgeline carry a sheet of plywood flat?
Yes. The lay-flat bed was designed with minimal wheel well housings so 4-by-8-foot sheets fit flat on the bed floor.