Palm Springs and Big Bear Motorcycle Tour

Desert one day, mountains the next, and back to Los Angeles on the third. This short loop covers around 550 miles in three days and manages more variety than most week-long trips.

Day one takes the Ortega Highway, a twisting run inland from the coast past Lake Elsinore, then climbs to the alpine village of Idyllwild high in the San Jacinto Mountains before dropping to Palm Springs and the desert floor. It is 185 miles and the altitude swing is considerable.

The middle day is the longest at 225 miles, heading east into Joshua Tree National Park, where the trees themselves look faintly prehistoric and the boulder fields draw climbers from all over the world, then turning north and climbing again to Big Bear Lake at around 6,750 feet. The final morning comes down through the San Bernardino Mountains and crosses the Angeles National Forest, which is some of the best motorcycle road within reach of the city.

EAGLERIDER supplies the bike and books both nights, with Harley-Davidson touring models alongside Triumph and BMW sport machines. Fuel, meals and insurance are handled separately. Three days of self-guided riding with no group to keep pace with, starting and finishing in Los Angeles, which keeps the flights and the hire arrangements about as simple as they get. The route notes mean no time is lost at junctions working out where the good road went. For riders who want desert, national park and mountain lake inside a single weekend, this loop is unusually well judged.