Anunpaved road is a type ofroad whose surface has not beensealed with a pavement treatment,^[1] such asconcrete orbitumen. An unpaved road can be adirt road, whose surface is the native material of the land surface (known assubgrade material), or it could be agravel road, where the subgrade material has been covered by gravel but not sealed. There are approximately 13 million km (8.1 million mi) of unpaved road in the world, making up 57% of the total road length.^[2]

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A forest road is a type of rudimentary access road, built by private companies, or government entities such as theUnited States Forest Service to access remote undeveloped areas. These roads are built mainly for the purposes of forest management,timber harvest, andlivestock grazing,^[3] although in some cases they are also used forbackcountry recreation access.

Typically, a high-clearance four-wheel drive vehicle is required to travel effectively on a forest road, especially where largepotholes and/orwaterbars are present.Switchbacks are employed to make the road passable through steep terrain.

These roads rapidly fall into disrepair and quickly become impassable. Remnants of old roads can exist for decades. They are eventually erased bywashout,erosion, andecological succession.

For logging roads, the choice ofroad designstandards is a tradeoff between construction costs and haul costs (which the road is designed to reduce). A road that serves only a few stands will be used by relatively few trucks over its lifetime and so it makes sense to save construction costs with a narrow, winding, unpaved road that adds to the time (and haul costs) of the few trips. A main haul road serving a large area, however, will be used by many trucks each day, and each trip will be shorter (saving time and money) if the road is straighter and wider, with a smoother surface.

Logging trucks are generally given right of way. In areas that the practice is regulated, on non-highway roads with heavy logging traffic may be "radio-controlled", meaning that aCB radio on board any vehicle on the road is advised for safety reasons.

According to theBritish Columbia Ministry of Forests, resource roads are typically "one- or two-lane gravel roads built for industrial purposes to access natural resources in remote areas".^[4] They may be used by industrial vehicles or the general public, and as a link to rural communities.^[4] Driving on resource roads can be hazardous for many reasons, including limitedvisibility, unusualroad geometry, and the presence ofwildlife.^[4] Disused resource roads can pose a danger to both drivers and passersby, due to the danger oflandslides forming on unstable,poorly-drained ground.^[5]

A primitive road is aminor road system, used for travel or transportation that is generally not maintained or paved.^[6] Primitive roads primarily occur in rural farmlands, deserts, or forests rather than in developed areas.

There is no universal definition of primitive road. According toWashington (state) law, an unpaved road is a primitive road if:

1. It is not part of the county'sprimary road system
2. It has an average annual daily traffic of one hundred or fewer vehicles.^[7]

Road maintenance on primitive roads is optional for the county in Washington.^[7]

While most gravel roads are all-weather roads and can be used by ordinarycars, dirt roads may only be passable bytrucks orfour-wheel drivevehicles, especially in wet weather, or on rocky or very sandy sections. It is as easy to become bogged in sand as it is in mud; a high clearance under the vehicle may be required for rocky sections.^{[citation needed]}

Driving on unpaved roads presents hazards often not present on paved or sealed roads:

• Dust can be thrown up from a passing vehicle reducing visibility.^[8]
• Washboard corrugations cause loss of control due to lack of tire contact.^[9] These are most often found near intersections as stopping or braking causes them to form.^[10]
• Skidding on mud after rain^[11]
• Vehiclefishtailing as a result of ruts in the surface. Often found on frequently traveled roads.
• In higher rainfall areas, the increased camber required to drain water, and open drainage ditches at the sides of the road, often cause vehicles with a highcentre of gravity, such as trucks and off-road vehicles, to overturn if they do not keep close to the crown of the road.
• Many unpaved roads are onlyone lane wide or slightly larger, thus requiring special attention when driving at higher speeds.

The CIA Worldbook provides an estimate of the total length of unpaved roads per country for most, but not all countries in the world. The top 10 countries with the largest amount of roads is shown in the table, below:^[12]

• Types of roads

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