Colorado
DifficultAlpine Loop — Cinnamon Pass to Engineer Pass via Animas Forks Ghost Town
Two 12,000-ft passes, one ghost town, zero guardrails.
Feature: Camping
Kenya
ExtremeTurkana Basin Jade Sea Road — Loiyangalani to Sibiloi via Lake Turkana’s Eastern Shore
Jade desert shore. Fossil beds. No rescue coming.
Australia
ExpertGibb River Road — El Questro to Mitchell Falls via Drysdale River and King Edward River Crossings
The Kimberley's deep north — earn Mitchell Falls.
Namibia
ModerateSossusvlei to Bullsport — Naukluft Desert Spine via Solitaire and Tsaris Pass
Empty Namib gravel between dunes and mountains.
China
ModerateSichuan–Tibet Highway — Kangding to Litang via the Tibetan Plateau High Spine (G318)
G318: where China ends and Tibet begins.
Australia
DifficultGibb River Road — El Questro to Home Valley via Pentecost River and Cockburn Range
Crocs, crossings, and Kimberley red rock.
Mpumalanga
EasyHighveld to Lowveld Escarpment — Abel Erasmus Pass to Blyde River Canyon via Graskop
Africa's green canyon on a knife-edge drop.
Australia
DifficultConrod Straight to Innamincka — Strzelecki Track Desert Crossing via Montecollina Bore
Burke and Wills didn't make it. You might.
Kunene Region
ModerateHuab River Conservancy Track — Palmwag to Twyfelfontein via Damaraland Volcanic Desert
Petroglyphs, elephants, and river sand.
Botswana
DifficultNxai Pan to Kudiakam Pan — Makgadikgadi Fossil Lakebed Desert Crossing via Baines’ Baobabs
Ancient baobabs on a fossil inland sea.