Unless you want a special PRO color or money is no object, get the TRD OFF ROAD. I’d go for premium to get softex and smart key system (2020+). 2021s have LED headlights and fog lights which are FAR superior to the halogens of the 2020 and previous model years.

Here’s the breakdown of the trims:

Limited: not ideal for anything other than dirt roads as bumpers and side skirts are lower to the ground. Quite capable, just more susceptible to trail damage.

SR5/2021 Trail Edition: capable off road but does not have a rear locker or crawl control/Multi terrain Select (MTS).

Trail (2010-2016), TRD off road (2017-2021) and Venture (2020-2021): Has crawl, MTS and most importantly a rear locker. As others said, it shouldn’t be required 99% of the time for the type of off roading you described but if you do need it, it can be the difference between continuing and turning back. KDSS is available and is a good option if you don’t plan to lift more than 2”.

PRO: same features as off road, but with upgraded shocks/springs/wheels/tires out of the box. Special exclusive Colors. Holds its value best, but most expensive to purchase by far especially these days.

Pretty much my exact thoughts that led me to picking up an ORP in March. I personally feel like the Pro and OR are the same aside from color and price.

I think there is one scenario in town where the Limited is superior to the others. When you have constant changes in traction from slippery to dry. Letting the vehicle auto-magically decide when to transfer power as opposed to manual shifting in and out, in and out, in and out of 2ed aka rear wheel drive.

Ex. Winter commute to work. Side streets need 4wd, main street maybe, maybe not, freeway needs 2wd, off free way back into 4wd.

If you don't live in snow country, disregard.

A 4x4 Off Road, Off Road Premium, or Venture would be my recommendation. I'm off road almost every weekend and use my locking rear differential all the time.

The current Trail model is a SR5, which doesn't have the locking rear differential.

You really want a locker for water crossings as there is the potential for hidden obstacles under the water. The rear locker allows me to slowly crawl over obstacles vs using momentum that can break things.

Jump to 15 minutes in this video of mine.
The Greer Family Wrangler Rubicon Takes on Glade Top Trail - YouTube

The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon ahead of me struggles in a rock climb. He has 2 things going against him. 1. He didn't have his lockers turned on. 2. The short wheel base. He made it over, it just wasn't pretty.

I had no problem going slow over that same section with my locking rear differential engaged and my longer wheelbase.

Edited to add. There is a $2k-$3k difference in price between the Trail and the Off Road. Get the Off Road.

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Absolutely true. I live in Canada and wish my TRDORP had the limited’s AWD setup but paired with the crawl/mts and rear locker TRDOR setup.

In my opinion, the only reason to get a Pro is if you really wanted one of the Pro only colors.

I would have been fine with an SR5, but I wanted the piece of mind of having a manual shift transfer case with the Off Road.

Where can I find a TRD Off Road for 40k starting? All the TRD Offroad in SoCal start at 47k lol