Can you take the heat of these nine desert drives?
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Shimmering heat haze, mesmerising mirages and an endless vanishing point are just some of the disorientating distractions of desert driving. It requires real concentration – and hydration – to stay focused on these nine lonely drives in the badlands. Check your coolant levels and read on.
USA
Highway 50
Known as the Loneliest Road in America Route 50 through Nevada will see you driving 300 miles between signs of civilisation. Passing through a landscape of golden dunes it is a humbling journey that will give you plenty of time to ponder just how small and insignificant the incredible scale of the terrain makes you feel. Read more.
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Death Valley
Death Valley is quite simply the hottest place on the planet. It is the one place on earth you really don’t want to break down, with temperatures regularly rising to 50 degrees centigrade. So make sure your air conditioning is in tip-top condition before facing it. Read more.
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AUSTRALIA
Nullarbor Plain
Few people travel through the Red Centre of Australia. Anyone with any sense follows the coast between Perth and Sydney. But there is a way through that follows the route of the Indian-Pacific Railway, if you’re 4x4 equipped and brave enough to try it out. Read more.
Ian Dawson
Uluru to Alice Springs
The Lasseter Highway will take you straight (literally) from Uluru to Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory in five hours or so. For hardy explorers there’s also an off-road route that will take you through one of the world’s largest cattle ranches. It’ll take almost three times as long, but it will be time well spent. Read more.
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NAMIBIA
Swakopmund to Windhoek
It’s 200 miles from Swakopmund on the Skeleton Coast to Namibia’s capital Windhoek. Most people would take the paved B2, but for the brave the gravel C28 is the more adventurous way to cross the vast Namib desert. Much of the road is arrow straight, but watch your speed as the yumps and bumps can easily catch you out. Read more.
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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Jebel Hafeet
This incredible road to nowhere (well, a hotel and carpark) seems carved into the mountainside purely for the pleasure of drivers. It’s as smooth as a racetrack, wide enough for wannabe drifters and has no less than 60 direction changes in just seven miles. Read more.
Tom Salt
Jebel Jais
Not far north of Dubai is a mountain playground with some the fastest and longest zipwires in the world sending daredevils flying down to earth from the peak of Jebel Jais. Climbing that peak in a powerful car is no less thrilling, with wide corners, fast straights and stunning views. Read more.
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MOROCCO
Marrakesh to Tinfou
It’s a wild ride over the Atlas Mountains from the souks of Marrakesh to get to the northern part of the Sahara desert and the dunes of Tinfou. Climbing up through lush forest up and into the clouds and snow-covered peaks, you quickly descend into a much more parched landscape. The film studio town of Ouarzazate is an oasis in the desert before another mountain pass drops you out in the massive, moving dunes. On your way back don’t forget to take in the spectacular Dades Gorge and shoot some footage of your own.
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SPAIN
Puerto de Velefique
Europe’s answer to the UAE’s Jebel roads is found in southern Spain, and if it can’t quite match the intense Arabian heat it does hold a candle when it comes to offering driving thrills. Puerto de Velefique throws hairpin after hairpin at you on a road surface that’s silky smooth and light on traffic. Read more.
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