Texas
ModerateLonesome Highway — Palo Duro Canyon South Rim to Silverton via the Caprock Escarpment Back Road
Texas Panhandle breaks — nobody else out here.
Trail Type: High Clearance
USA
ModerateCoyote Gulch to Hackberry Canyon — Grand Staircase Cottonwood Circuit via Skutumpah Road
Clay, canyons, and zero margin for rain.
Colorado
ModerateSunwapta Falls Road to Poboktan Pass — Jasper Backcountry South via Brazeau River Divide
Lava caps and elk country above the Yampa.
California
ModerateBunny Flat to Deadfall Lakes — Trinity Alps High Road via Scott Mountain Summit
Granite, cold lakes, zero crowds — Trinity Alps.
USA
ModerateDalton Well Road to Tower Ruin — Moab’s Canyon Country Desert Mesa via Sevenmile Canyon
Hidden ruins and rim views north of Moab.
Colorado
ModerateLonesome Highway — Ouray County Road 10 to Owl Creek Pass via Cimarron River Canyon
The San Juan pass the crowds forgot exists.
South Dakota
ModerateCactus Flat to Big Horn Mountains Summit — Badlands Interior Road via Sage Creek Wilderness
Bison, bentonite, and no signal whatsoever.
Tennessee
ModerateCalhoun Mountain to Ocoee Gorge — Cherokee National Forest Copper Basin Back Road via Turtletown Creek
Red hills, copper ghosts, and a wild Tennessee gorge.
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.
Arizona
ModerateCoyote Mountains to Swansea Ruins — Bill Williams River Desert Bench via Planet Ranch Road
Copper ghosts and desert silence in western AZ.