Colorado
EasyLonesome Highway — Pawnee National Grassland to Crow Butte via the South Platte High Plains Back Road
Big sky, no crowds, and Oligocene badlands on the plains.
Feature: Remote
Arizona
DifficultCentennial Wash Road to Harquahala Peak — Hassayampa Desert Basin High Traverse
Smithsonian ruins at 5,681 feet above the Sonoran floor.
Oregon
DifficultSawmill Road to Cornucopia Ghost Town — Wallowa Mountains Mining Spine via Pine Creek Canyon
Oregon's ghost town the canyon wants to keep.
Montana
DifficultLonesome Highway — Centennial Range Divide Road to Elk Lake via Red Rock Pass
Grizzly country on the Continental Divide.
California
ModerateCoyote Dry Lake to Soggy Dry Lake — Lucerne Valley High Desert Playa Circuit via Deadman Lake
Mojave playas nobody's fighting over.
Arizona
ModerateBloody Basin Road to Table Mesa — Agua Fria National Monument Desert Rim Loop
Ancient ruins, zero crowds, one hour from Phoenix.
California
ExpertWaucoba-Saline Valley Road South — Inyo Mountains to Saline Valley Floor via Steel Pass
Steel Pass down to warm springs in Death Valley's loneliest valley.
USA
ModerateCoyote Gulch to Chimney Rock — Capitol Reef North Desert Circuit via Hartnet Road
Cathedral Valley monoliths, real river ford, real solitude.
USA
ModerateLonesome Highway — Finger Lakes Upland to Big Piney via the Wyoming Range Back Road
Wyoming's loneliest range, wide open and yours.
Arizona
ModerateToroweap Road — Fredonia to Toroweap Overlook via Tuweep Ranger Station
The Grand Canyon's raw, unguarded edge.