Class IV Town Road 4 (Devil’s Washbowl Road)

Devil’s Washbowl Road cuts through some of Vermont’s most unforgiving terrain, where granite ledges the size of school buses block the path and water bars turn into truck-swallowing trenches after every spring thaw. This Class IV town road starts innocuously near Granville Gulf but quickly becomes a rock-crawling nightmare as it climbs toward the Devil’s Washbowl gorge, with the infamous “Stairway” ledge system that’s claimed more oil pans and differentials than any stretch of Vermont dirt.

This is expert-level territory requiring serious skid plates, rock sliders, and a spotter for the technical sections. Spring through early summer brings impassable washouts, making late summer through fall the only realistic window. No permits required, but you’re on your own out here—cell service vanishes after the first mile, and the nearest tow truck is hours away. The payoff is standing at Devil’s Washbowl itself, a granite gorge carved by glacial meltwater that few people ever see.