Khruangbin and Lord Huron to headline Outside Festival. From hairpin turns to boulder fields, driving these routes requires skill, the right weather, adequate preparation, and helluva lotta gumption. Do it right, and the panoramic payoff is huge.
New perk: Easily find new routes and hidden gems, upcoming running events, and more near you. Your weekly Local Running Newsletter has everything you need to lace up! I bought my first car when I was 24 years old during a move to Boulder, Colorado, for a job. She was a metallic-blue Honda Fitβa subcompact I could actually affordβand I was psyched to have wheels for mountain adventures.
Being an avid angler, backpacker, trail runner, and snowboarder, I made her my second home for high-alpine pursuits. She was a fuel-economy champion on a tight budget, a cozy bed in lightning storms, and a reliable- ish rig to reach hidden trailheads, camp spots, and rivers. She was a Honda freaking Fit. It broke my heart to let her go, but I opted for an SUV with all-wheel drive, higher clearance, and better safety specs. For adventurers like myself, cruising backcountry roads and off-grid highways comes with a major payoff: breathtaking vistas, zero crowds, and miles of solitude with prime access to wilderness.
Yet, it also carries caveats, like having the proper skills , essential gear , and the right rig. Outside of human error, some roads are simply trickier to navigate by nature. Bob Wilson, statewide communications manager for Colorado Department of Transportation CDOT , says obstacles like weather, hairpin turns, steep climbs, missing or confusing signage, shoulder-edge drop offs, debris, potholes, and wildlife add complexity to backcountry driving.
The U. Here are eight stunners, from extreme tracks that switchback thousands of vertical feet to remote highways with no one else around. Others are on my maybe list.
