Montana
DifficultLonesome Highway — Centennial Range Divide Road to Elk Lake via Red Rock Pass
Grizzly country on the Continental Divide.
Surface: Dirt
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.
Colorado
DifficultTincup Pass Road — St. Elmo to Tincup via the Sawatch-Elk Range Divide
Two ghost towns, one brutal alpine divide.
Montana
ExpertSchafer Meadows Road — Bob Marshall Wilderness South Fork Flathead River Drive
The Bob Marshall's back door — river fords and grizzlies.
Nevada
ModerateLonesome Highway — Sheldon Wildlife Refuge Road to Thousand Creek Gorge via Virgin Valley
Opals, wild horses, and 80 miles of nobody.