California
ModerateVolcanic Legacy Scenic Byway Backcountry — Medicine Lake Highlands to Lava Beds
Alien lava country north of Shasta.
Trail Type: Scenic Drive
Oregon
ModerateBuckhorn Drive — John Day Fossil Beds High Desert Circuit
Painted badlands and fossil rimrock, zero crowds.
Oregon
EasyAlkali Flat Road — Summer Lake Basin to Christmas Valley via Silver Lake Desert Floor
Sixty miles of alkali silence in Oregon's outback.
California
ModerateMendocino Ridge Road — Fort Bragg Ridgeline to Boonville via Pygmy Forest Summit
Coastal ridge solitude above the Mendocino fog.
Oregon
ModerateHells Canyon Reservoir Road — Oxbow to Hells Canyon Dam via Homestead
Deeper than the Grand Canyon — and nobody's here.
USA
ModerateSoldier Creek Road — Fishlake National Forest High Plateau to Richfield via Tushar Mountains
Utah's forgotten alpine — Tushar Mountains high and wide.
Oregon
ModerateLakeview to Plush — Abert Rim to Hart Mountain High Desert Connector
Big sky, pronghorn country, and zero interruptions.
California
ModerateFlume Trail — Lake Tahoe East Shore Historic Water Route
Tahoe from above, the way the miners saw it.
California
ModerateOnyx Peak to Big Bear — San Bernardino Mountains Crest Road
9,000 feet and two seas in one view.
Oregon
ModerateAbert Rim Access Road — Lake Abert to Warner Valley Desert Escarpment
Stand on Oregon's biggest fault scarp.