New Mexico
ModerateTrans-America Trail — Lordsburg to Hachita via Playas Valley and the Pyramid Mountains
New Mexico bootheel desert — flat, empty, and honest.
Surface: Mixed
North Carolina
ModerateTrans-America Trail — Waterville to Asheville via the Pisgah National Forest Backdoor and Black Mountains
Pisgah clay, creek crossings, and Black Mountain skies.
Arusha Region
DifficultNgorongoro to Lake Natron — Rift Valley Floor Track via Ol Doinyo Lengai and Engaruka Ruins
Active volcano, soda lake, flamingos — real Africa.
Baja California Sur
ModerateTranspeninsularBaja Sur — Guerrero Negro to La Paz via Loreto and the Sierra de la Giganta Canyon Roads
A thousand miles of cactus, dust, and Cortez light.
USA
ModerateTrans-America Trail — Clifton Forge to Wytheville via the Virginia Highlands Connector
Virginia forest two-track where the pavement quits for days.
Kyrgyzstan
DifficultTian Shan Celestial Mountains — Naryn to Torugart Pass via Chatyr-Kul Lake
Roof of Kyrgyzstan — wind, ibex, and no easy way out.
Kunene Region
ExpertHuab River Conservancy Track — Sesfontein to Purros via the Kaokoland Desert Gorge
Elephant country, soft sand, no maps that help.
Australia
ModerateOodnadatta Track — Oodnadatta to Marla via the Old Ghan Railway Corridor and Finke River Country
Old Ghan ghosts and artesian springs in Australia's dead heart.
Argentina
ModerateMeseta del Lago Buenos Aires — Perito Moreno to Los Antiguos via the Patagonian Wind Plateau (Ruta Provincial 43)
Wind, basalt, hand prints, and glacial turquoise.
India
ExpertLeh to Tso Kar — Rupshu Plateau Salt Lake Crossing via Pang and Thukje
Salt, silence, and 15,000 feet of Rupshu plateau.