Granted, I didn't read this whole thread. Started skimming on page 2, skipped page 3, and skimmed page 4. But, it sounds like there are 2 sides that keep arguing, with out any actual experience.

Here's my actual experience with Geico:
It was a warm late winter day at the end of a week of warm days and below freezing nights. I decided to go back-country skiing and head up NF-275 (National Forest Road). While the road is considered "maintained" it is a gravel road and then a dirt road.
On one of the corners of the road, I hit a sheet of ice covered in water and started to fishtail. Ended up nosing my 1984 Bronco II off the {15ish foot} embankment and down into the creek.
I climbed out and after a while flagged a snowmobiler down. Got a ride to my place and was back to my car less than 4 hours later. In that time, someone else came down the road, saw my vehicle, drove out to cell reception, and called the police. The sheriff came out, inspected the scene, called the fire department and search & rescue. They pulled the Bronco out and towed it back to the impound lot.
I show back up to where my vehicle used to be and can't find it. I had gathered everything that I needed to self (with help) rescue. We searched for a couple hours and then headed home. I called the police to report my vehicle stolen and they informed me that it was in impound. The next day I got it out of impound for $470. They wanted me to pay for search & rescue and didn't like the fact that I fled the scene. And this several miles up a Forest Service road.

I called Geico to get some advise. They negotiated the search & rescue to $0 and reimbursed my out of pocket for the impound fee. I questioned them about the fact that it was on a forest service road and they said that they'd still cover it.

I know that this is only 1 story, but that was my experience. You can argue about theory for days, weeks, or months, but you won't really know until you have some experience.
I didn't even ask for them to pay me back, all I wanted was some advise and to see if they could help with the search & rescue part.

My advice:
If you want to drive trails, have the money to pay for damages to your vehicle. If insurance pays for it, great! If not, then you had fun and have a great story to tell.