Four states, four segments, 23 to 44 days, 324 waypoints, 2,400 miles. That’s what overlanders can expect out of the most remote off-roading route in the contiguous 48 states: the Great American Outback Trail. The overlanding track stretches across Oregon, California, Nevada, and Idaho and showcases the backcountry beauty of the American West to drivers with a keen sense of adventure — and all-wheel drive. The trail loops around an area comprising southeastern Oregon, northeastern California, northwestern Nevada, and southwestern Idaho. Guides recommend splitting the 2,400 miles into four segments, each taking between five and 12 days to travel. Following that recommendation, off-roaders would start and end in the pioneer town of Cedarville, California.
Cedarville is a tiny community in the northeast corner of the state, tucked into Surprise Valley in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. The town is a three-hour drive from Redding Regional Airport, but anyone looking to drive the Great American Outback Trail would likely want to haul their rigs from wherever it is they call home. Guides recommend traveling the route in an AWD vehicle with all-terrain tires. Some — but not all — segments are suitable for vans popular in the van-life movement, like the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4×4.
Broadly, the best time to drive the trail is summer to mid-fall, but some segments have narrower times for ideal off-roading. If you’re trying to do it all in one go, September and October are the safest months to both avoid heat in the desert sections and avoid winter conditions in the higher altitudes.
From forest to desert on the Great American Overlook Trail
The first segment, climbing from northern California into Oregon, is also the shortest at 583 miles. Overlanders start by driving up into the Warner Mountains before entering the Modoc Plateau, a volcanic table where wild mustangs roam among volcanic rocks. Guides recommend that off-roaders detour to Lava Beds National Monument, where volcanic eruptions created rugged terrain with more than 800 caves. Overland Trail Guides suggests driving Cave Loop, a 3-mile trail where visitors can stop and see the entrances to 14 lava tunnels. “The number and variety of caves and the freedom you have to explore them is really quite incredible,” one visitor wrote on Tripadvisor…