Alaska
DifficultDalton Highway — Fairbanks to Deadhorse via the Brooks Range and Arctic Tundra
414 miles to the top of North America.
Feature: High Altitude
Italy
ModerateSibillini Mountains High Ridge Track — Castelluccio to Forca di Presta via the Piano Grande
The Apennines' forgotten high plateau run.
Mongolia
ExpertTrans-Mongolian Steppe Route — Ulaanbaatar to Khövsgöl Lake via Tariat and the Orkhon Valley
No roads. No signs. Just 1,000 km of steppe.
KwaZulu-Natal
ExpertLesotho Highlands Traverse — Sani Pass to Mokhotlong via Senqu River Valley
Roof of Africa — where tracks replace roads.
Gorno-Badakhshan
ExpertPamir Highway — Osh to Ishkashim via the Wakhan Corridor Junction (M41)
The roof of the world has a road. It barely qualifies.
Australia
ExpertArkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary Ridge Top Tour — Arkaroola Village to Freeling Heights via the Northern Flinders Ranges
1.5 billion years old and it'll still eat your rig.
India
ExtremeZanskar Valley Winter Road — Padum to Nimmu via the Frozen Chadar
The road only exists when the river freezes.
Niger
ExtremePiste du Djado — Dirkou to Djado Plateau via the Saharan Erg de Bilma
Medieval ruins at the edge of the known world.
China
DifficultKarakoram Highway — Kashgar to Gilgit via Khunjerab Pass
Highest international highway on earth.
Algeria
ExtremeHoggar–Tassili Trans-Saharan Link — In Amenas to Djanet via Illizi Corridor
Eastern Sahara. No margin. No mercy.