Colorado
ModerateColorado BDR North Segment — Walden to Steamboat Springs via Zirkel Wilderness Edge and Hahns Peak
North Park wide-open on the BDR's quiet end.
Feature: Camping
Argentina
DifficultPaso Vergara to Puerto Ramírez — Carretera Austral Backcountry via Río Palena
Patagonia before the tourists find it.
California
ModerateMojave Road — Government Holes to Piute Spring via Lanfair Valley and Fort Piute
An 1867 Army fort and a living spring, earned in sand.
New Mexico
ModerateTurquoise Trail — Tijeras to Taos via the Sandia Mountains and High Road
Ghost towns, pueblo missions, and high desert light.
Mali
DifficultPiste du Bandiagara — Mopti to Sangha via the Dogon Escarpment Cliff Villages
Cliff villages and deep sand at the edge of the Sahel.
Australia
ExtremeCanning Stock Route — Wiluna to Halls Creek via the Great Sandy Desert Full Traverse
1,850 km of desert. No margin. No shortcuts.
California
ModerateMojave Road — Needles to Barstow via Piute Spring, Government Holes, and Afton Canyon
Army camels, lava fields, 140 miles of honest desert.
North Carolina
DifficultTrans-America Trail — Robbinsville to Tellico Plains via Cherohala Skyway Backdoor and Unicoi Mountains
Rocky Appalachian spine — no easy miles here.
Alaska
DifficultDalton Highway — Fairbanks to Deadhorse via the Brooks Range, Atigun Pass, and Arctic Tundra (South to North Full Run)
Arctic Ocean or bust — 414 miles of no mercy.
Namibia
ExpertNaukluft Mountains 4×4 Trail — Tsauchab River Gorge to Büllsport via the Naukluft Plateau High Spine
Quartzite ledges and dead silence in the Namib.