Gravel roads are popular recently in much of the US, and part of the draw I guess is less cars.

I'm a roadie for life though and fortunately the roads are pretty safe here. But I have definitely seen some regions in the US where I would not want to ride my bike on the roads.

but plenty of pesky trees ;)

They'll only hit you once, and not again when you've stopped moving. So as long as you don't land on top of a tiger snake, you'll be good. :)

Source: Have hit plenty of trees MTB riding, and seen snakes, but fortunately not both at the same time.