Taking a smaller SUV and adding off-road trim is an obvious win, particularly since such a high percentage of SUV drivers never actually go off road to test it out. It's the look, ya know, and that proves a draw for quite a lot of car buyers. Living in Colorado, the champ of this segment is the Subaru, where they all seem to have an off-road aesthetic and some, notably the Subaru Forester Wilderness, is a vehicle to beat in this category. Everyone, even my neighbor, has one of these rugged little sport 'utes.
When Nissan introduced the Rogue in 2007, it was an addition to the company's successful SUV lineup with both the Pathfinder and the now-discontinued Xterra. The Rogue was a compact SUV and, candidly, it was very utilitarian (that's code for "boring"). I didn't much like it, feeling that other vehicles in its category were much better. The company has had almost twenty years to refine its design and while there are still a few weirdly mundane features, it's become quite a popular vehicle with a very nice design and high curb appeal. It's also the top selling vehicle from Nissan, selling over 271,000 units in 2023 alone just in the USA. The Rock Creek trim finally gives it some off-road cred.
We can't talk about Nissan without at least a nod to the upcoming Nissan + Honda + Mitsubishi merger, since each brand has its own successful compact SUV on the market. That's a few years in the future, but if it's Nissan Rogue vs. Honda CR-V/HR-V vs. Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, which will emerge unscathed? Of interest is that the Outlander shares a platform with the Rogue (because Nissan owns almost 25% of Mitsubishi). The Honda CR-V sold almost 100K more than the Nissan Rogue in 2023, if you're curious.
Suffice to say, my interest in vehicles from all three companies is at an all-time high as we in the industry begin to contemplate a potential shakeup in the new conglomerate. When Nissan offered me a week behind the wheel of the 2025 Nissan Rogue Rock Creek AWD, it's no surprise that I was eager for a chance to experience this new, rugged, off-road version of the popular Rogue. They dropped off a "Baja Storm Metal" vehicle and it looked great!
As is immediately obvious, this is a vehicle design and trim package designed to compete head-to-head with other "ruggedized" compact SUV vehicles, including the aforementioned Subaru Forester Wilderness. It's a very appealing appearance and the red accents on the wheels and bumper just add to the personality of this compact SUV. Add some tough all terrain tires and a tubular roof rack and we're ready to hit the trail. Here's that roof rack at a better angle:
This model is powered by a 1.5L DOHC 12-valve turbocharged engine with Xtronic CVT transmission and while it's only putting out a modest 201hp, it's a peppy drive experience. The vehicle handles turns reasonably well, but, perhaps surprisingly, the ground clearance on the Rock Creek has not been increased from the standard Nissan Rogue model. It's 8.2-inches, and there's no skid plate with the Rock Creek package either, but this harkens back to what I mentioned earlier, that this might be an off-road vehicle for people who hit dirt roads but aren't ready to go into the deep wilderness.
Moving into the vehicle, the overall experience was quite pleasant, particular for a Rogue:
Critics have complained that the 8-inch infotainment system is too small, but I found it entirely adequate for the task and no problem at all for navigation, the main benefactor of larger display screens. The vehicle includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but not wireless, and supports SiriusXM+, along with the optional ability to serve as an wi-fi hotspot. I have mixed feelings about wireless CarPlay as an iPhone owner because it really does take over your phone every time you start the car, but it is convenient. It's certainly not a huge hassle to plug in a wire, of course, and that also charges faster than the Qi wireless charging pad that's just behind the gear shift.
Speaking of gear shifts, it's quite interesting to have a vehicle with paddle shifters and a continuously variable transmission. The drive experience was fairly seamless nonetheless when I did try the paddle shifters. 99.9% of the time, however, I expect drivers stick with the traditional forward/backward gear shift on the center console, as with most vehicles that include paddle shifters. Do you use them if they're part of your car's feature set?
The elegant center console design includes a drive mode dial front-and-center, offering ECO, Sport, and various terrain driving options. I commonly moved into ECO to maximize fuel efficiency but might have used Sport a few times from a stop just to see what kind of acceleration the Rogue Rock Creek offered. It's... okay. Functional. You aren't, however, going to smoke anyone from a stop unless they're stuck with grannie's old junker.
Notice also the white accent light in the charging well. Why isn't it red to match the stitching (which looks more orange than red, not quite matching the exterior details)? It's possible you can change the lighting color, of course, in which case I'll chalk it up to aesthetic user error. On the plus side, I appreciated the centrally located USB-C, USB-A, and 12V plugs. At the above angle, the brushed black plastic looks very modern and appealing, but it also had a tendency to show fingerprints, leaving me to constantly wipe it down to retain a maximally attractive appearance. This might or might not bother you over years of ownership.
As mentioned earlier, the infotainment screen is relatively small for modern vehicles, but how much do you really need displayed on screen? This offers basic controls with physical buttons along the bottom, then a row of virtual buttons that help you control NissanConnect, then feature-specific controls. Above is SiriusmXM. The "Replay" button reveals that it's SiriusXM+, by the way.
The steering wheel controls were rather complex but reasonably symmetrical:
The iconography made it easy to understand all of these controls, but as with so many modern cars, there are controls all over the place. Notice the paddle shifters and, behind them, the complicated stick controls off the steering column. By contrast, the main gauge display was relatively simple, with less information than most vehicles in its class:
My 28.1mpg was spot on for fuel efficiency, with the Rock Creek rated for 27/32 and an average of 29mpg. On a long highway trip getting 30mpg or better would be delightful. This will be significantly impacted by towing something and the vehicle, as configured, has a modest towing capacity of 1,500 pounds. Jetski? No worries. Motorcycle or teardrop style min-trailer? Gotcha covered. But anything bigger is going to require, well, a bigger vehicle.
With a CVT, it's a bit odd to have a tachometer, though arguably it's helpful if you're driving with the paddle shifters. But this is an old school display, offering time, temperature, engine oil temp, gas tank level, and speed + engine rpm. Nissan could definitely redesign this aspect to offer more useful data and step away from the dull, old school gauges. It's hard to believe this is from the same company that offers the wildly futuristic Nissan Ariya dashboard gauge display, actually. (see my review of the 2024 Nissan Ariya to see what I mean).
Time to get out of the driver's seat. As with many compact SUVs, there just isn't much rear legroom:
I should mention while we're out of the vehicle that one thing I found really annoying was that while pushing the door handle button to lock the vehicle was quiet, using the remote produced a piercing beep as feedback. Loud enough that I felt it was too loud to use later in the evening so as not to annoy neighbors. This might be user configurable, but I didn't see a way to change this behavior.
There is a decent amount of cargo space to potentially compensate, as you can see:
All in all, there was a lot I really liked about the Rock Creek edition of the Nissan Rogue, so much so that I'm contemplating whether it'd be a good upgrade from my 2017 Mazda CX-5. It's got a great exterior design, nice sound system, comfortable ride, space for four or five adults as needed, cargo space, and an appealingly affordable price tag. It's a solid contender for off-road style compact SUV and while it might not be ready to take you to the furthest reaches of the local wilderness, it's more than ready for bad weather and dicey road conditions.
Even if you're not a big fan of the Nissan Rogue, the Rock Creek edition really does fix some issues and offer a solid alternative in its class.
2025 Nissan Rogue Rock Creek AWD in Baja Storm Metal, powered by a 1.5L DOCH 12V Turbocharged Engine and Xtronic CVT transmission. BASE PRICE (of the Nissan Rogue line): $30,630.00. Options included: Rock Creek Premium Package, Premium Paint. AS DRIVEN: $35,420.00.
Disclosure: Nissan loaned me the Rock Creek AWD Rogue for a week in return for this candid write-up. This article originally appeared on PlanetDave.com with the title "Lots to Love with the 2025 Nissan Rogue Rock Creek" and is republished with permission.
