USA
ModerateLonesome Highway — Centennial Plateau to Bryce Valley via Skutumpah Road and Johnsons Canyon
Red-rock clay road through Grand Staircase's core.
Surface: Dirt
California
ModerateCougar Buttes Road — Johnson Valley Desert Basin to Pioneertown via Bessemer Mine
Empty Mojave basin, granite, mine scars.
USA
DifficultLonesome Highway — Centennial Road to Tensleep Canyon via Hazelton Road and Red Wall Country
Red Wall badlands. No traffic. No mercy.
Colorado
ModerateRims Road — Echo Park Desert Circuit via Yampa Bench
Clay roads, canyon walls, two rivers.
USA
EasySawmill Road to Mount St. Helens Windy Ridge — Gifford Pinchot Volcanic Blast Zone via FR 99
Drive into the blast zone. It still hasn't forgiven.
Colorado
ModerateTaylor Park to Pitkin — Quartz Creek Road and Ohio Creek Backcountry via Cumberland Pass
12,000-foot pass through Colorado ghost country.
Arizona
DifficultMojave Road — Needles to Afton Canyon via Mojave Desert Historic Cross-Country Trail (East Segment)
Miners' shelf road to the sky.
Alabama
EasyForest Road 376 to Dome Rock — Talladega National Forest Hillabee Divide via Hillabee Creek
Alabama's quiet granite ridge nobody drives.
USA
ModerateLonesome Highway — Bighorn Mountains Powder River Pass to Bull Creek via Hazelton Road
Wyoming ridgeline with zero crowds.
California
ModerateBodie and Benton Crossing — Mono Basin High Desert Circuit via Masonic Mountain
Ghost towns, mines, and alkali flats.