Montana
ModerateLonesome Highway — Garnet Range Divide to Missoula via the Blackfoot River Benchlands
Montana's most intact ghost town on a ridge road.
Surface: Rock
California
DifficultLonesome Highway — Owens Valley to White Mountain Peak via Barcroft Road
Highest drivable road in the lower 48.
Colorado
DifficultPoverty Flat Road to Idarado Mine — Uncompahgre Gorge Rim to Red Mountain Pass Backdoor
Mining ruins and shelf roads above Ouray's box canyon.
Montana
ModerateSawmill Road to Black Canyon of the Yellowstone — Paradise Valley Rim to Yellowstone River Gorge via Mill Creek Summit
The canyon most Paradise Valley drivers never see.
USA
DifficultCoyote Hills to Comb Ridge — Abajo Mountains Desert Spine via Bears Ears Corridor
Jurassic spine, zero crowds, zero mercy.
Colorado
DifficultRims Road — Dinosaur National Monument Echo Park Desert Circuit
Two rivers. One brutal clay descent.
USA
DifficultCoyote Gulch Loop — Grand Staircase-Escalante Slickrock and Arch Circuit
Utah canyon country at its most raw.
USA
ExpertElephant Hill to Chesler Park — Needles District Canyon Country Loop
Canyonlands' hardest 4x4 loop, earned.
New Mexico
ModerateZuni Mountains Loop — Cibola National Forest High Road via Oso Ridge and Agua Fria
Sky island loop above the Rio Puerco that nobody runs.
Montana
ModerateCoyote Corrals to Big Pryor Mountain — Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range High Road
Wild horses, limestone benches, no guardrails.