What's not to like about roaming the backcountry free from traffic jams, exhaust fumes and road rage? In Arizona, thanks to the Back Country Byways project, you can do just that. Whether you drive a classic '57 Chevy, a 2003 SUV, a bare-bones four-wheel drive Jeep or a low-end Honda, there's a scenic back road ready to surprise and delight.

The Back Country Byways project, an offshoot of the 1989 President's Commission on American Outdoors, was conducted by The Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for managing 270 million acres of public land in the western United States. The idea was to designate off-the-beaten-path, low-standard roads and trails that pass through public lands of scenic and historic interest, allowing travelers to experience America's back roads and remote areas.

Former Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan described these as "adventure routes" into some of America's last wide-open spaces. In Arizona these designated scenic backwoods range from a portion of perhaps America's most famous road, Route 66, to Grand Canyon overlooks that few ever see.

Back Country Byways are divided into four categories, based on level of difficulty, road surface and type of vehicle required.

Type I roads are all-weather paved roads that can be negotiated by any vehicle. However, they are usually narrow secondary roads with slower speed limits and can be challenging for those driving larger motor homes.

Type II roads are usually unpaved, though most have some type of surfacing. While a four-wheel-drive might come in handy, high-clearance two-wheel-drive vehicles, like SUVs, can negotiate these with relative ease.

Type III roads are definitely for the four-wheel-drive or all-terrain-vehicle set. These roads also call to dirt bikers. They are usually not surfaced and have grades, surfaces and other characteristics that require specialized vehicles.

Type IV are single-track trails that are suitable only for dirt bikes, mountain bikes, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles.

Tootling along Route 66, a Type I road, it's enough to make even the least sentimental wax rhapsodic about the good old days when families took to the road for their annual vacation. A 42-mile portion of Arizona's "Mother Road" is a designated Back Country Byway. From Kingman to the Colorado River it winds through mountainous desert landscape, including a climb over Sitgreaves Pass, the steep and twisty section of road that presented the most problems for the original drivers of Arizona's Route 66.

Midway along this route is the eccentric former gold mining town of Oatman. It was tourism that saved it from becoming just another ghost town, and so it is perhaps fitting that Oatman shamelessly puts its name on, and sells, any tourist item you can think of, from T-shirts to salt and pepper shakers. They even have a band of burros that wander up and down the main street, rivaling the historic and made-to-look-historic buildings and raised wooden sidewalks as the town's main tourist attraction.

Another road that can be accessed by all vehicles is the Parker Dam National Back Country Byway. This road snakes for 11 miles along the Colorado River near the California-Arizona border. A trip down this off-the-beaten-path road provides a quiet respite from the frenetic activity of nearby Lake Havasu City. The area, loaded with recreational possibilities, is unquestionably vacation central. All ages flock here to camp, swim, boat, fish, rock hound, hike, off-road, party and just plain relax.

Bouncing past grazing cows, around sharp corners and down grades, with plenty of desert scenery and a Gila River crossing, make the Black Hills Back Country Byway a great way to see Arizona's backcountry up close and personal.

This 21-mile, Type II road, located in the southeastern part of the state, can be negotiated in a high-clearance vehicle, though those venturing onto the side roads will need a four-wheel-drive.

The unpaved but well-maintained high-desert road gains 1,700 feet in elevation as it passes through 65,000 acres of ranch land. The flora ranges from prickly pear cactus and desert grasses to junipers, pinyon pines and oaks. As far as critters, besides the cows, there's a chance of spotting coyotes, bighorn sheep, roadrunners and red-tail hawks.

In the northwestern corner of the state, the Arizona Strip offers backcountry adventures for every kind of vehicle. The Strip is a 2.8 million-acre area that includes eight wilderness areas on BLM land.

For Type I vehicle owners, the Vermillion Cliffs Highway runs for 277 miles through small rural communities to the Navajo Indian Reservation, while adventurous four-wheel-drivers can enjoy spectacular Grand Canyon overlooks. These overlooks are reached via rough, unpaved roads that can be treacherous when wet and muddy, but seeing the canyon free from the usual crush of tourists is a real thrill.

Its name alone, El Camino del Diablo (The Road of the Devil), alerts drivers that this is a Type III road reserved for four-wheel-drive vehicles only. A rough, unpaved route that crosses the Barry M. Goldwater Range in southwestern Arizona, the scenery ranges from the Gila and Tinajas Altas Mountain ranges to the low desert and sand dunes of the Yuma and Lechuguilla Deserts.

It's wise to check before starting off across BLM land to see what kind of services are available, if any, and whether any special permits are required. And it goes without saying that going into the backcountry without plenty of water and proper tools to fix any vehicle problems would be extremely foolhardy.

Arizona's beauty and variety can't be better appreciated than on its back roads and through its public lands. Getting off the main highway offers a look at this amazingly diverse and beautiful state that can't be seen any other way.

IF YOU GO

Arizona Office of Tourism, 1110 West Washington, Suite 155, Phoenix. Phone 866-275-5816, www.arizonaguide.com.

Arizona Bureau of Land Management, Arizona State Office, One North Central Ave., Suite 800, Phoenix. Phone 602-417-9200, www.blm.gov/az/outrec/ohv/bcb.htm.

Visit Copley News Service at www.copleynews.com.

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