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Honda finally has a pickup, so I went off-roading and bought a new TV to celebrate.

The 2006 Ridgeline, on sale this month, has plenty of what you would expect from Honda and some surprises, too. The expected traits, such as great build quality and a marvelous V-6 engine, are the things that make this truck so good.

The surprises – how about a trunk, a tailgate that folds down or swings open sideways and standard safety features such as stability control and side-curtain air bags with a rollover sensor – are the things that make this truck great.

Drawbacks are few. One is that the Ridgeline

Drawbacks are few. One is that the Ridgeline only comes one way – four doors, four-wheel drive and V-6 – and truck buyers seem to love choices. Another is fuel economy, long a Honda hallmark, that at 16 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway is rather middle-of-the-(truck)-pack.

Oh, and that the exterior design comes from the love-it-or-hate-it school of styling. Some see neat and new when they see the high walls of the cargo bed and the angular connection between it and the passenger cabin. Others see the Ridgeline as the middle brother in an unpleasant family portrait that includes the bigger Chevy Avalanche and the smaller Subaru Baja.

But if you’re in the market for an innovative mid-size pickup, one that drives great on-road and can tow a bit and go off-road, too, the new Ridgeline is destined to rank high on your list. That’s especially true here in Silicon Valley, where Honda is the second-favorite brand after Toyota.

Ridgeline prices start at about $28,000. Three trim levels – RT, RTS and RTL – are offered, with the top-dog Ridgeline RTL complete with moonroof and navigation system selling for $35,155. The RTL that I drove was painted a shade of pea green. It had a window sticker of just over $32,000.

I had a chance to drive the Ridgeline at the always-fun Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area where even the tamest dirt paths were soft and slippery after this winter’s rains. Still, the Ridgeline was the smoothest of several mild off-road vehicles I tried that day. Its 17-inch all-season tires had lots of grip, and the 8.2 inches of ground clearance was enough to prevent scrapes.

Like other all-wheel-drive vehicles without low-range gearing, the Ridgeline motors along in front-wheel drive until its variable torque management (VTM-4) system senses the wheels are about to slip. Then it diverts some power to the rear wheels as needed. It’s all automatic, although a driver can elect to “lock” on VTM-4.

While acceptable on a mild dirt roads, the Ridgeline excels on the highway. The body is rock solid, and the four-wheel independent suspension gives it a supple feel. Combining unit-body construction with a light ladder frame greatly improves rigidity, Honda says. The 3.5-liter V-6, which makes 255 horsepower, is perfectly acceptable in moving this nearly 4,500-pound truck. The five-speed automatic was equally efficient.

A few days after getting it dirty, I took the Ridgeline to Costco and filled the trunk with sodas and snacks and birdseed. That’s right. I didn’t say “cargo bed.” I said “trunk.” The bed is steel-reinforced and coated with a durable composite material that mixes fiberglass and vinyl resin. It features six cargo hooks that can hold up to 350 pounds, making the back of the Ridgeline a perfect place for hauling a Honda motorcycle or ATV. (Aren’t these Honda folks clever?) It’s 60 inches long, 49.5 inches wide and 20.5 inches deep. That makes it longer than the bed of a Ford Explorer Sport Trac, wider than a Toyota Tacoma and deeper than a Dodge Dakota.

What those three rivals don’t offer, however, is a trunk. It’s located at the rear of the truck beneath the cargo-bed floor and measures 8.5 cubic feet – big enough for three golf bags or a 72-quart cooler. (Or lots of stuff from Costco.) It’s lockable and water doesn’t leak in.

Getting to it is easy, too, because the Ridgeline features a tailgate that falls down like a regular truck but also swings open to the side. That was handy when I pulled our new TV out of the cargo bed, and it would have been great when I needed to hose down the bed after carrying a load of dirt or making a dump run.

Honda, despite offering three hybrid models, isn’t an automaker that only offers high-mileage vehicles anymore. The Ridgeline gets 16 mpg in city driving and 21 mpg on the highway. That puts it in the middle of the pickup world as many small trucks and even the V-6 4WD Ford F-150 tops it (barely at 17/21). It does meet the EPA’s Tier 2, Bin 5 and California’s ULEV2 emissions standards, however.

Towing, at 5,000 pounds, tops what Toyota offers in its basic Tacoma models. However, Toyota offers a towing package that raises the Tacoma’s capability above the Ridgeline’s. Other models offer more towing, although Honda’s research shows that 84 percent of truck owners tow 5,000 pounds or less.

Outside, the Ridgeline tries hard. Its front end reminded me of a kid trying to look menacing – sort of tough, but not exactly intimidating anyone. Otherwise, it’s a design that favors functional over fanciful. That’s appropriate for a pickup. The weird bridge between cabin and cargo space is purposeful, in a “hey, we’re not a normal pickup” way. We get it.

The inside of the Ridgeline is pleasant enough. Only the big buttons on the radio and air conditioner and the rubber floor mats were truck cues. Storage spots abound – on the dash, on the doors, between the seats. The back seat of this five-passenger truck is comfortable. The seat bottoms flip up to make for more cargo room in the back seat.

Honda should easily sell the 50,000 Ridgelines it will make in its Canadian plant this year. That’s half the number of Dakotas sold by Dodge and a third of how many Tacomas that Toyota sells. And many of those will be parked in front of Bay Area houses.