Volcanoes & Passes Motorcycle Tour - Part 2 (Guided)

If the Volcanoes half is about mountains you look at, this one is about mountains you ride over. Ten days from San Francisco to Los Angeles, nine nights and around 1,500 miles, guided throughout, crossing at least nine named Sierra Nevada passes with a full day in Yosemite.

It opens unhurried, with a free day in San Francisco and the bikes collected before the riding starts properly. Napa’s vineyards and Clearlake fill the first day out, then Yuba Pass, Donner Pass and Spooner Summit carry the route over the mountains to Lake Tahoe and Carson City. Donner Pass carries a grim history, the place an 1846 wagon party was trapped by snow for the winter, and the road over it is magnificent.

Then they arrive in sequence. Daggett, Luther and Carson Passes lead to Sonora, with the Calaveras Big Trees along the way, then Sonora Pass and Tioga Pass climb into Yosemite. A full day in the park takes in Yosemite Falls, Half Dome and Glacier Point. Walker, Tehachapi and Tejon Passes bring the route down to Highway 1 and Malibu.

EAGLERIDER provides the motorcycle, the tour leader, all nine nights and the group dinners. Fuel, most meals and insurance are separate. Riding days run from 150 to 265 miles, weighted so the shortest falls where Yosemite deserves the time. For riders who judge a trip by the quality of the roads rather than the names of the destinations, this is the densest run of mountain passes anywhere in the range.