Guides
Backroad itinerary building: how the process works
How a backroad itinerary is actually built: route designation first, then surface and season, then services, and only then the places you wanted to see.
What to take away
- Start with which routes are legally open to your vehicle, not with which look interesting.
- Route designations change. A plan is a living document, and so is your itinerary.
- Surface, season and services set the length of every day on an unpaved route.
- Build the itinerary outward from the places you can refuel, not inward from the scenery.
An itinerary on paved roads is a list of places. An itinerary on backroads is a sequence of constraints with places fitted into the gaps. The order in which you resolve those constraints is what separates a plan that works from one that quietly falls apart at the first closed gate.
Step one: what is open, and to what
Public land routes carry designations, and those designations are the product of a planning process rather than a map convention. The BLM's description of travel and transportation planning in Utah explains that comprehensive travel management plans determine why and how roads and trail systems are managed, that route evaluations and designations are analysed under the National Environmental Policy Act, and that every route within a travel management area receives a designation for its use types or use limitations.
The same page makes the point that matters for planning: these plans are dynamic, and designations can change after a plan is complete. So the route you drove three years ago is not automatically the route you may drive this year. Check the current designation before you build a day around it.
Step two: surface, season and vehicle
Only after you know a route is open does surface become the question. Read the agency's own wording about what kind of vehicle it expects, and treat the answer as a hard limit rather than a suggestion.
The BLM's page for the Snake River to Mormon Basin Back Country Byway in eastern Oregon is a good example. It describes 150 miles across Baker and Malheur counties suited to a high clearance two wheel drive vehicle, and says the byway includes a mix of remote paved, gravel and earthen surfaces, so travel should be planned with care after weather events and during the winter season.
A hundred and fifty miles with three surface types is not one day. Split it by surface, not by distance.
Step three: services set the day length
- Mark every confirmed fuel stop on the route.
- Mark every confirmed water source, and treat unconfirmed ones as absent.
- Note where phone service is expected to end.
- Identify the last town with a grocery store before the remote section.
The distance between fuel stops, not the mileage of the route, is what determines how many days you need.
Step four: place the sights
Only now do the things you actually wanted to see go into the plan. Put them where they fall along the corridor you have already established, and drop the ones that do not fit rather than bending the route around them.
| Order | Question | If unresolved |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is the route open to my vehicle? | Stop. Find another route. |
| 2 | What is the surface, and in this month? | Call the field office. |
| 3 | Where are fuel, water and food? | Shorten the day. |
| 4 | What do I want to see? | Cut it, not the margin. |
Where to go next
The general habits behind this, including daily distance and turnaround rules, are in the slow road travel guide. If your route is mostly paved with unpaved sections, the scenic drives planning guide covers the same ground at a gentler grade.
Common questions
Where do I find current route designations? Through the managing field office and its travel management materials. Phone the office if the map is ambiguous.
How much margin should a backroad day carry? At least a third. If the plan needs everything to go right, it is not a plan.
Can I rely on a mapping app for designations? No. Apps show tracks, not legal status or current conditions. Use them for navigation and the agency for permission.
What if a route is closed when I arrive? Take the alternative you identified during planning. Having one is the point of doing the steps in this order.
In this guide
- A photographer's field list for planning a backroad routePlanning a backroad route around photographs: where the light falls, which overlooks face which way, and how kiosks and road conditions shape the schedule.
- Backroad itinerary building: choices comparedComparing two shapes of backroad trip, the short paved loop and the long remote gravel run, and what each one demands of time, vehicle and preparation.
