Four Wheeler, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious four-wheel drive publication, has announced that the Jeep Grand Cherokee has been named the winner of its coveted Four Wheeler of the Year award for 2011. The in-depth street and trail test has been held annually since 1974, and the win marks Jeep’s tenth overall in the competition. To qualify for the award, a vehicle must be a four-wheel drive sport-utility model that is either entirely new or sporting substantial mechanical revisions from a previous model year.

This year’s Four Wheeler of the Year competition featured three extremely capable midsize SUVs in head-to-head-competition: the Grand Cherokee, the Land Rover LR4 HSE, and the Lexus GX 460. The test itself is a week-long evaluation covering over 1,000 miles and a variety of terrain, including pavement, gravel, dirt, sand, rocks, stream crossings and mud, at elevations ranging from sea level to over 9,000 feet.