Preservationists say governments at all levels have failed to prevent authorized and illegal off-road racers from driving through giant figures of animals, humans and objects.

Within the vast, sun-scorched sands of the Atacama Desert lie ancient geoglyphs—carvings etched into the hillsides more than 1,000 years ago by Indigenous groups in northern Chile. But now, these archaeological wonders are threatened by the wheels of off-road vehicles,

Unfortunately, the privilege to drive anywhere and respect for the outdoors don’t always go hand in hand. Across the Americas, off-roaders have caused headaches by trashing the environment, then making their recklessness other people’s problems when they get stuck.

"This landscape has stayed the same for 25 million years," says archaeologist Gonzálo Pimentel of Chile's Atacama Desert. The blistering sun and scant rain have left the desert little changed until about a thousand years ago,