New Mexico
ModerateTrans-America Trail — Lordsburg to Hachita via Playas Valley and the Pyramid Mountains
New Mexico bootheel desert — flat, empty, and honest.
Feature: Camping
Australia
ExpertFlinders Ranges — Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary Ridge-Top Tour via Bararranna Gorge
Billion-year-old ridgeline with zero guardrails.
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.
Arusha Region
DifficultNgorongoro to Lake Natron — Rift Valley Floor Track via Ol Doinyo Lengai and Engaruka Ruins
Active volcano, soda lake, flamingos — real Africa.
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.
Kyrgyzstan
DifficultTian Shan Celestial Mountains — Naryn to Torugart Pass via Chatyr-Kul Lake
Roof of Kyrgyzstan — wind, ibex, and no easy way out.
Kunene Region
ExpertHuab River Conservancy Track — Sesfontein to Purros via the Kaokoland Desert Gorge
Elephant country, soft sand, no maps that help.
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.
Kunene Region
ExtremeSkeleton Coast Wilderness — Kunene River Mouth to Serra Cafema via the Far Northern Namib Shore
End of the Earth. Angola on one side, the Atlantic on the other.