Alberta
ModerateHighwood Pass Road — Kananaskis Country High Alpine Traverse via Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
Canada's highest road. No guardrails. No crowds.
Trail Type: Scenic Drive
Alaska
ModerateChilkoot Pass Road — Skagway to the Yukon Interior via White Pass Summit
Gold Rush corridor. The pass still bites.
Peru
DifficultHuaraz to Pastoruri Glacier — Cordillera Blanca High Road via Pachacoto Valley
Driving to a dying tropical glacier at 16,700 ft.
Alaska
ModerateDenali Highway – Paxson to Cantwell via the Alaska Range Tundra Spine
Alaska's forgotten highway. Denali straight ahead.
China
ModerateKarakoram Highway – Kashgar to Khunjerab Pass via Gez Canyon and Karakul Lake
Built on bones. The Karakoram's Chinese spine.
Baja California
ModerateTranspeninsular Baja Desert Interior — El Rosario to Cataviña via Valle de los Cirios
Boojum trees and boulders. Pure Baja magic.
Colorado
ModerateCottonwood Pass Road — Buena Vista to Crested Butte via the Collegiate Peaks High Crossing
12,126 feet of Continental Divide gravel.
Namibia
EasyNamib Desert Welwitschia Drive — Swakopmund to Welwitschia Washplain via Moon Landscape and Swakop River Gorge
Alien terrain, ancient plants, zero crowds.
China
ModerateTibetan Friendship Highway — Lhasa to Shigatse via Yamdrok Lake and Karo La Glacier
Glacier at the roadside. Turquoise lake below. 5,000 m up.
Namibia
ModerateSossusvlei Desert Circuit — Sesriem to Deadvlei and Hidden Vlei via the Namib Dune Sea
900-year-old dead trees in the world's oldest desert.