I've made a lot of landings on roads, fields, dirt strips, gravel space, and other such places in the course of my work, on a regular basis. I've also had occasion to make forced landings over the years, and have experienced in the order of 40 or so engine failures (11, I believe, in single engine airplanes). The last one occured last year in a turbine powered single engine tailwheel airplane, in a very mountainous area, inside a narrow canyon. It resulted in a forced landing on a hillside.
What I teach students regarding forced landings is first and foremost, fly the airplane. Don't get so caught up in what you land on that you don't make it to the landing. That happens more often than you might think. Right in that same vein are the folks that decide too low to change their chosen landing site when they get close enough to see that it isn't as glorious a place as they thought.
With the airplane under control, pick the best option for the landing. It may be a road, it may not; don't limit yourself Remember that any straight line you see on the ground will almost invariably have a powerline or fence or ditch alongside it, and almost always, intersecting it. Remember that most fields are not perfectly flat, and if it's got crops, can be very dangerous (tends to turn airplanes upside down, rip off gear, etc).
Get in the habit of staying current with simulated engine failures, and get in the habit of seeing up close what you've picked out from far above. Learn to judge a surface by the color of the crop or grass, the nature of a plowed field, softness, etc.
I very firmly believe that students who have only ever been given practice engine-out's to a landing on a runway, have been done a grave injustice. It's a crime to instruct a student, and send that student out into the world, that unprepared. No pilot should experience an engine failure and subsequent forced landing for the first time on their own. It should be familiar, having been there many times before under the guidance of a competent teacher. I like to take students into the fields at low altitude so they can see the obstacles that were invisible at altitude; it's an eye opener.
Students should learn that rough fields are invariably short, and all too often have obstacles. Therefore, a soft landing and a short field landing are really the same thing...though they're always taught as two different techniques. Likewise, most of the time a short field is a soft field, especially in rough conditions...and the airplane should be flown accordingly.
Pilots are all too infrequently shows the difference between minimum sink airspeed, and maximum glide airspeed; both are important, but most often I see instructors only teaching maximum glide. One should touch down at minimum sink to minimize vertical forces on landing. One should touch down in water at minimum sink too...but all too often I hear pilots describng their idea of a water landing...holding it off and stalling into the water. Anyone who has any water landing experience understands the fallacy of this, and a few glassy water landings to the prospective emergency student would make this abundantly clear, and why one should maintain a minimum speed and rate of descent all the way to impact.
How about landing in trees? I hear pilots telling me they'll stall an airplane into the trees, which is a great way to really hurt yourself. Rather than trying for those soft looking tops (they're not), try flying the airplane to the ground at the treeline and letting the wings take the impact forces; put the fuselage between the tree trunks in order to survive. Stop your energy at the tree tops, and you fall vertically. If you're in a pine forest or other tall trees, this means you get dropped from tree top height, which is an excellent way to be seriously injured or killed.
Don't restrict yourself to one surface or another. You may want to intentionally use a fence or a wingtip or water or tall grass or even corn to prevent going too far when the forced landing space is very limited; better to damage the airplane than damage you. Deploying flaps before landing and leaving the gear up may keep you upright and let the flaps take some of the energy; a good tradeoff for your life. Open up your mind and consider all the possibilities. Is the surface uphill, or downhill? Is one nearer help than another? Is there road access if fire or rescue personnel need to get to you?
Every time you fly, practice evaluating the ground beneath you as you enjoy the view, and review these elements in your mind to make it a habit. Picking a forced landing site may be limited to only one choice. If so, then take it. But where you may have more than one option, choose according to the bigger picture. It's in your best interest.