California
ModerateNacimiento-Ferguson Road — Coast Range Divide to Plaskett Creek via Santa Lucia Crest
Big Sur's sharpest ridgeline — no rails, no mercy.
Trail Type: Scenic Drive
New Mexico
ModerateGila Cliff Dwellings Back Road — Silver City to Gila Hot Springs via NM-15 and Inner Loop Road
Ancient cliff rooms, hot springs, real canyon country.
Oregon
ModerateLonesome Highway — Steens Mountain Loop Road via Kiger Gorge Overlook and Blitzen Valley
Oregon's highest drive, wild horses included.
Arizona
DifficultSawmill Road to Superstition Wilderness — Tonto National Forest Apache Trail Backdoor via Fish Creek Hill
A crumbling shelf above a 1,500-foot drop.
Colorado
ModerateBackcountry Byway — Owl Creek Pass to Cimarron via the Uncompahgre High Basin
The San Juan pass the Skyway crowd misses.
California
EasyCrowley Lake Road to Benton Crossing — Long Valley Caldera Desert Basin Traverse
Volcanic basin drive most Mammoth visitors never find.
Texas
ModerateSawmill Road to Mount Locke — Davis Mountains High Desert Observatory Approach via Limpia Creek
Texas sky island — dark skies, thin air, wide open.
Idaho
ModerateGalena Summit Road to Stanley Basin — Sawtooth Valley High Approach via the Wood River Divide
The Sawtooth reveal that hits you like a wall.
Colorado
EasyLonesome Highway — Centennial Range Rim to Island Park via Targhee National Forest Back Road
Kremmling to Steamboat the way Colorado intended.
Arizona
ModerateLonesome Highway — Breaks of the Big Bend Ranch to Solitario Overlook via Fresno Canyon
The road that built Roosevelt Dam — still demands respect.