California
ModerateMojave Road West — Afton Canyon to Rock Springs via Mojave Desert Historic Trail
Old Army road across the Mojave's raw heart.
Trail Type: Overland Route
Texas
ModerateLonesome Highway — Davis Mountains Loop to Marfa via the Highland Desert Rim
Texas sky island solitude — Davis to Marfa the hard way.
Oregon
DifficultSawmill Road to Sunflower Flat — Owyhee Canyonlands Desert Rim via Battle Creek
Owyhee canyon rims — isolation by the mile.
Idaho
ModerateLonesome Highway — Centennial Range Divide to Macks Inn via Targhee Plateau Back Road
The only east-west range in the lower 48 — mostly ignored.
New Mexico
ModeratePecos River Canyon Road — Santa Rosa to Puerto de Luna via the Canadian Escarpment
Spanish canyon gateway carved by the Pecos River.
Texas
ModerateCallahan Divide Road — San Angelo to Big Spring via the Edwards Plateau Rim
West Texas caliche spine above the Permian Basin.
California
ModerateBowman Lake Road to Gold Run Creek — Plumas National Forest Northern Sierra Divide
Glacier lakes and gold-scarred granite above the Yuba.
Colorado
EasyLonesome Highway — Pawnee National Grassland to Crow Butte via the South Platte High Plains Back Road
Big sky, no crowds, and Oligocene badlands on the plains.
Montana
DifficultLonesome Highway — Centennial Range Divide Road to Elk Lake via Red Rock Pass
Grizzly country on the Continental Divide.
California
ModerateCoyote Dry Lake to Soggy Dry Lake — Lucerne Valley High Desert Playa Circuit via Deadman Lake
Mojave playas nobody's fighting over.