Oregon
ModerateLonesome Highway — Owyhee Uplands to Jordan Craters via the Duck Valley Back Road
Lava craters and open desert with zero company.
Surface: Dirt
South Dakota
ModerateCuster Peak Road — Black Hills High Country Drive to Fire Lookout via Deadwood Backcountry
Northern Black Hills summit with 360-degree payoff.
Colorado
ModerateHalfmoon Road to Mount Massive Trailhead — Sawatch Range Subalpine Approach via East Fork
Base camp road for the Sawatch giants.
Montana
DifficultLonesome Highway — Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range to Crooked Creek via Bighorn River Benchlands
Wild mustangs, limestone canyons, and zero crowds.
USA
ModerateSkyline Drive to Big Meadows — Shenandoah Backcountry Spine via Rapidan Camp and Swift Run Gap
A president's hidden fishing camp in the Blue Ridge.
California
ModerateCoyote Hills to Lassen Peak Backdoor — Lassen Volcanic Backcountry via Butte Lake Road
Volcanic backdoor most Lassen visitors never find.
Arizona
DifficultGold Basin Road to Sugarloaf Mountain — Tonto National Forest Mazatzal Wilderness Edge
Mazatzal basalt and zero guardrails.
Alabama
ModerateWilderness Road to Breaks of the Sandy Creek — Bankhead National Forest Canyon Rim via Sipsey Fork
Alabama slot canyons nobody's talking about.
New Mexico
ModerateBrokeoff Mountains Rim Road — Jemez to Valles Caldera via Redondo Peak Divide
Volcanic caldera rim on loose Jemez gravel.
USA
ModerateLonesome Highway — Bighorn Basin Desert Floor to Meeteetse via Kirby Creek and Oregon Basin Road
Wyoming badlands, oil country, zero crowds.