California
ModerateLonesome Highway — Tioga Pass to Mono Lake via Saddlebag Lake Road and Lee Vining Canyon
Sierra crest to ancient sea in 75 miles.
Surface: Mixed
Texas
DifficultLonesome Highway — Trans-Pecos Desert Floor to Presidio via Pinto Canyon Road
Fifty miles of volcanic solitude in the Trans-Pecos.
Montana
DifficultSheldon Lake Road to Beach Creek Lookout — Hells Canyon Wilderness Edge via Imnaha Rim
Tundra, shale, and sky above 10,000 feet.
Oklahoma
ModerateCalhoun County Road — Ouachita Plateau to Muddy Boggy Creek via Potato Hills Back Road
Oklahoma hill country with teeth.
Idaho
DifficultSwamp Creek Road to Wilderness Gateway — Clearwater River Canyon Rim via Selway Corridor
Rim of the largest wilderness left in the Lower 48.
New Mexico
ModerateGila Cliff Dwellings Back Road — Silver City to Gila Hot Springs via NM-15 and Inner Loop Road
Ancient cliff rooms, hot springs, real canyon country.
California
ModerateNacimiento Road to Pozo Summit — Los Padres Central Coast Range High Divide
Coast Range grit, cold beer at the end.
Arkansas
ModerateOuachita National Recreation Trail — Athens to Talihina via the Arkansas-Oklahoma Ridgeline
The South's forgotten mountain spine.
California
ExtremeRubicon Trail — Georgetown to Tahoe City via the Sierra Nevada Granite Spine
The trail that built the 4x4 hobby.
USA
DifficultHatfield McCoy Trails — Logan County Backbone Circuit via Rockhouse Creek
Feud country. Real dirt. No shortcuts.