Arizona
DifficultCinder Hills Overlook Road to Painted Desert Rim — Petrified Forest North Backcountry via Blue Mesa Loop
225 million years of geology under your tires.
Trail Type: Backcountry
California
ModerateSawmill Road to Mount Pinos Summit — Los Padres National Forest Transverse Range High Approach
SoCal's secret high country above 8,800 feet.
USA
ModerateLonesome Highway — Centennial Road to Tensleep Canyon via the Cloud Peak Wilderness Edge
Bighorn's limestone walls on an empty road.
USA
ModerateCoyote Gulch to Wolverine Petrified Wood Area — Grand Staircase Desert Bench via Horse Canyon
Petrified logs on a clay bench nobody visits.
USA
ModerateHatfield McCoy Trails — Pocahontas County Burnsville Circuit via Cranberry Backcountry
Appalachian mud, rock, and rhododendron — the real deal.
Arizona
ModerateCoyote Buttes North — The Wave Approach Road via Wire Pass Trailhead
Sandy wash road into lottery-permit canyon country.
USA
ModerateLonesome Highway — Bighorn National Forest Battle Park Road to Hazelton via Red Wall Country and Dry Fork Ridge
Red walls, open sage, and zero other rigs.
California
ModerateJawbone to Dove Springs — El Paso Mountains Full Desert Traverse via Red Rock Canyon State Park Backdoor
Volcanic badlands, slot canyons, zero pavement.
USA
DifficultDoris Lake Road to Duck Creek — Bridger-Teton National Forest Wyoming Range Back Road via LaBarge Creek
More elk than overlanders in Wyoming's forgotten range.
California
ModerateLime Creek Road to Sweeney Pass — Cuyamaca Mountains Desert Divide via Laguna Mountains
San Diego's forgotten high-country desert divide.