Colorado
DifficultSlumgullion Pass to Silverton — Alpine Loop High Spine via Cinnamon and Engineer Passes
Two 12,000-foot passes. Ghost towns. Real exposure.
Surface: Gravel
Australia
ModerateFlinders Ranges Brachina Gorge Geological Trail — Wilpena Pound to Blinman via the Pound Wall and Brachina Creek
Drive through 600 million years in an afternoon.
Algeria
ExtremePiste du Hoggar Ouest — Tamanrasset to In Salah via the Atakor Volcanic Plateau Western Descent
The Sahara's western descent — unforgiving and vast.
British Columbia
ModerateLiard Highway — Fort Nelson to Watson Lake via the Muskwa River and Coal River Hot Springs
Canada's loneliest wilderness highway.
Kenya
ModerateNairobi to Isiolo — Northern Kenya Transition Road via Nanyuki and the Laikipia Plateau
Where Kenya's tarmac ends and Africa begins.
Argentina
ExpertPaso de Agua Negra — Rodeo to Vicuña via the Andes High Desert Crossing
4,765 m of volcanic Andean desert and thin air.
Australia
DifficultGibb River Road — Adcock Gorge to Barnett River Gorge via Kimberley Plateau Interior
Corrugations, gorges, and Kimberley grit.
Montana
ModerateBeartooth Highway — Red Lodge to Cooke City via the Montana–Wyoming High Plateau
11,000 ft of open tundra, switchbacks, and zero mercy.
Morocco
ModerateTizi n’Test Pass Road — Marrakech to Taroudant via the High Atlas Southern Spine
High Atlas death-drop road with an ancient mosque in the clouds.
Argentina
DifficultRuta del Libertador — San Juan to Uspallata via Barreal and the Calingasta Valley
Pre-Andean canyon country. Rivers, red rock, zero traffic.