Texas
ModerateCallahan Divide Road — San Angelo to Big Spring via the Edwards Plateau Rim
West Texas caliche spine above the Permian Basin.
Feature: Scenic
California
ModerateBowman Lake Road to Gold Run Creek — Plumas National Forest Northern Sierra Divide
Glacier lakes and gold-scarred granite above the Yuba.
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.
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.