Palms to Pines Scenic Highway

Nov 10/2018  Weather 82, low 59  Nice day for a ride.    About 10 miles down the Coachella Valley from where we are camped in Indio is Palm Desert.  You can start the scenic drive by taking hwy 74 up into the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains.  This 67 mile route will take you from the desert to mountain tops and back down to the valley.  The variety of ecosystems in the Lower Sonoran region will surprise you.  Dry cactus and palms to conifers up at 5000 feet.  You will come across Mountain Center where there are several horse ranches too.   

Starting up the San Jacinto Mountains

At the top of the first pass you have a great stop to look down on the ribbon of twisted highway

Saturday had all the bikers, and car clubs out.  We saw several McClaren's, Porsche's Ferrari's ...  zzzzzoom, zzzzzzooming by.   We kinda of caught them out go by!  And Harley's and crotch rockets.  It was that kind of day.

there goes another one, hey Rosey is that you in the mirror?

saw this slower ride in Idyllwild

Take the 243 hwy into Idyllwild, and feel transformed into a totally different eco system.  You will see so many hikers in this area.  It is part of the infamous Pacific Crest Trail; that was made even more popular from Cheryl Strayed who wrote the best seller Wild; From Lost to Found on the PCT.  And the movie with Reese Witherspoons.

 quaint little town of Idyllwild

Our lunch stop was at an Alpine feel village called Idyllwild.  It is very popular for hiking & biking.  Also popular with those going for a ride for the day to escape the heat.  The elevation is about 5400 feet, a mile high so if it is 80+ in the Valley, it is a crisp 60 up here.   A good hearty lunch and walk around town and back on the bike to descend back down to the Valley.

on our way back, the sky was perfectly clear blue

Palms to Pines

Jan 25/15 Sunday   High of 80 today and sunny so up in the mountains it will be about 60 (we hope).  Time to go for a ride.   In the side bags we load our leather jackets and chaps.... will need them up top.

Palm Springs and Desert Cities in the distance

Nice day for a ride

The Pines to Palms Hwy (hwy 74) from Palm Desert twists and climbs and switches back on itself till you find yourself at an overlook;  we pull over amongst a group of riders to see the view.  From the top you can look out on all the desert cities below.  Pretty nice view from about 6000 plus.    Time to put the leathers on before we head on to a small mountain town, Idyllwild .

Sat by the fireplace for a bowl of soup in Idyllwild

This highway is a beautiful ride and aptly named as you start out with palm trees and arid desert conditions then through ragged rocky terrain and climb to an area that is a conifer forest with many horse ranches in the San Bernadino National Forest.

Road is cut through the rock

Even snow capped higher peaks can be seen as you look beyond.
After leaving Idyllwild we catch another scenic drive the Banning Idyllwild Panoramic Hwy (hwy 243).   We were once again twisting and hanging on the sides of the range along Mount San Jacinto State Park.   The peak tops out at 10,834 feet.  When we come down into Banning we head east and loop back to Palm Springs.   The ride is about 120 miles and a great ride.   It's amazing we leave the RV park in a t-shirt and jeans and with in an hour we add our jackets and chaps and leave them on for the remainder of the high part of the ride; and glad we had them!!!