Southwest Motorcycle Tour - 3

This morning you should rise very early as you are in for the majestic Grand Canyon; be prepared for one of the greatest sights man has ever seen! Spend the morning at the Grand Canyon to get some fantastic views and perhaps catch one of the first helicopter flights over the Canyon. Cruise along the South Rim for a few miles and leave Grand Canyon National Park at the East entrance. Now it’s off to the incredible Monument Valley. You are travelling through Navajo Country here. The classic Wild West landscape of stark sandstone buttes and forbidding pinnacles of rock, poking from an endless expanse of drifting red sands, has an archetypal image. Only when you arrive at Monument Valley you will come to realize how much your perception of the West has in fact been shaped by this one spot. Such scenery does exist elsewhere, of course, but nowhere is it so perfectly distilled. Ride over to Kayenta, where you overnight.

From sleepy Kayenta, briefly a frenzied gold-mining camp, continue to the Valley of the Gods, where much of the movie “Thelma and Louise” was filmed, and cross the Colorado River where it pours into Lake Powell. Lake Powell has 1960 miles of shoreline, which is more than the entire Pacific Coast and 96 water-filled side canyons. Ride along the southern tip of Capitol Reef National Park, on to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and roar on up to the Devil’s Backbone through the Escalante Wilderness en route to Bryce Canyon, where you overnight.

This morning take time to visit the amazing Bryce Canyon before you continue to Zion National Park. Besides seeing the most beautiful rock formations found anywhere on earth, you are in for a most challenging ride here – the switchbacks of Zion! Compared to Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, Zion exudes a stronger sense of nature. From Zion it is only a short ride into the neon and gambling oasis of Las Vegas. Overnight.

This day is for relaxing, gambling, exploring or whatever your heart desires. Keep in mind you will have an early start on the following day!

You are leaving Las Vegas and head west - across Death Valley – the hottest place on earth! It’s almost entirely devoid of shade and its sculpted rock layers form deeply shadowed, eroded crevices at the foot of sharply silhouetted hills, their exotic mineral content turning ancient mudflats into rainbows of sunlit iridescence. After riding a series of mountain curves, you’ve fallen hundreds of feet below sea level and find yourself right in the basin of Death Valley. Continue west and ride along Sequoia National Park up to Mammoth Lakes, a place that is famous for skiing in the winter and mountain biking in summer. Overnight.

Leaving Mammoth Lakes continue a little further north and then enter the infamous Tioga Pass to cross Yosemite National Park. You push your Harley through the winding granite canyons…muscle flexing turns are rampant for the first several miles, and the road demands attention as you enter the mother of the mother of all National Parks. Yosemite conjures up thousands of images and raises expectations to dizzying heights and when you are there it is just as beautiful, wild, tame, rich, and sublime as you’d expect. You overnight at the West Entrance of the park.

The morning sun’s rays cast a golden shimmer on the meadows and you ride along Yosemite National Park for a while and then head west towards San Francisco. You cross San Rafael Bridge, which will take you into Marin County, an unabashed introduction to Californian self-indulgence: a pleasure zone of conspicuous luxury and abundant natural beauty, with sunshine, sandy beaches, high mountains, and thick redwood forests, often ranked the wealthiest county in the US. Ride south to pretty, smug little Sausalito, a quaint seaside town, once a hotspot for drunken sailors, bawdy saloons, today a very refined place that makes you feel like being at the Cote d’Azur. Cross the Golden Gate Bridge and arrive in San Francisco, your stop for the next two nights.

This day is at leisure to enjoy the beautiful city of San Francisco, a funky, individualistic, surprisingly small place – certainly the most liberal city in the US. San Francisco has a European flair and lots of opportunities to do some sightseeing. How about a trip to Alcatraz, a Bay Cruise, Cable Car rides, or a Napa Valley wine tour?

Today you ride along the rugged coast and get a first taste of one of the best motorcycle rides in the world, as you head down south on legendary PCH (Hwy 1) along the Pacific Ocean. Breathtaking views of the coves and inlets of the Pacific are yours en route to Monterey. Monterey is home to the world famous Laguna Seca Automobile and Motorcycle Racetrack and the spectacular “Aquarium of the Sea. The coastline here is simply spectacular and there are plenty of opportunities for great photo stops. You overnight in Monterey.

Your journey continues on scenic Hwy 1, along the edge of the cliffs of the Big Sur Coast – 90 wild and undeveloped miles of rocky cliffs form a sublime landscape where redwood groves line river canyons and the Santa Lucia Mountains rise out of the blue-green Pacific. Roughly midway along the Big Sur Coast you come to Esalen, which is named for the long gone native tribes who once enjoyed its natural hot spring, situated on a cliff top high above the raging Pacific surf. Cruise past San Simeon, Cambria and into Morro Bay where you stay for the night.

Take Hwy 101 and head towards Los Angeles. At Santa Maria you cut inland to enjoy the great back roads and scenery there. In Santa Barbara we recommend a stop at the pier before cruising straight into Malibu, the infamous beach colony. Twenty miles from here you will come to Santa Monica and Venice. Santa Monica is LA’s oldest and biggest resort – once a wild beachfront playground, it’s now a self-consciously liberal and healthy community. Venice Beach is probably the reason why most people come to Venice – nowhere else does LA parade itself quite so openly as along the wide pathway of Venice Boardwalk. From here you ride over to Hawthorne, where EagleRider’s headquarters are located. Now it’s time to return your motorcycle and transfer to your hotel. Overnight.

Today your tour will come to an end with your departure flight back home.