New Mexico
ModerateTrans-America Trail — Lordsburg to Hachita via Playas Valley and the Pyramid Mountains
New Mexico bootheel desert — flat, empty, and honest.
Difficulty: Moderate
Level 2
North Carolina
ModerateTrans-America Trail — Waterville to Asheville via the Pisgah National Forest Backdoor and Black Mountains
Pisgah clay, creek crossings, and Black Mountain skies.
Baja California Sur
ModerateTranspeninsularBaja Sur — Guerrero Negro to La Paz via Loreto and the Sierra de la Giganta Canyon Roads
A thousand miles of cactus, dust, and Cortez light.
USA
ModerateTrans-America Trail — Clifton Forge to Wytheville via the Virginia Highlands Connector
Virginia forest two-track where the pavement quits for days.
Australia
ModerateOodnadatta Track — Oodnadatta to Marla via the Old Ghan Railway Corridor and Finke River Country
Old Ghan ghosts and artesian springs in Australia's dead heart.
Argentina
ModerateMeseta del Lago Buenos Aires — Perito Moreno to Los Antiguos via the Patagonian Wind Plateau (Ruta Provincial 43)
Wind, basalt, hand prints, and glacial turquoise.
California
ModerateMojave Road — Piute Valley to Fort Piute via Piute Gorge Wash and Lanfair Valley (Eastern Approach)
Fort Piute: the post too brutal for the frontier Army.
China
ModerateSichuan–Tibet Highway — Kangding to Litang via Zheduo La and Xinduqiao Valley (G318 High Plateau Segment)
Tibetan plateau at 4,300 metres. Paved. Still dangerous.
Namibia
ModerateSossusvlei Salt Pan to Naukluft Mountain Plateau — Hardap High Desert Crossing via Solitaire and Tsaris Pass
Dunes to desert plateau, Namibia's finest contrast.
Canada
ModerateLiard Trail — Fort Simpson to Nahanni Butte via the Liard River Valley and Mackenzie Mountains Fringe
End of the road — literally — in Canada's subarctic.