How to: Palm Canyon Epic
La Quinta Brewing Company and Desert Beer Company
How to: Palm Canyon Epic
Pines to palms, is what you hear. Somewhere around 28 miles from up top to down below, as the trails go. Snow-capped mountains sit in the long views. The sun shines high. Coyotes and desert big horn sheep live there. Juniper, chaparral, cacti, and palm trees, and sand, do not forget the sand, abound. It is the ancestral home of the Cahuilla people.
On a spectacular winter morning, I reveled in the glorious mountain biking experience that is the Palm Canyon Epic, starting up in Ribbonwood and ending at the Vons in Cathedral City. If you can find a “better” ride, well, I guess you never read Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The Palm Canyon Epic is mountain biking defined.
Twelve miles of fun is how the ride begins. You want jump lines? There are jump lines. You want flow? It’s there. You want precipitous characteristics in what feels like a remote canyon as you roll? Keep that smile on your face. And on and on you go, eventually coming in to the first of several washes, crisscrossing your way and finding more cross-country miles, the ups and downs ending at the slog.
Three miles of sand that has a gradual incline, one you can’t really see but will feel in your legs and lungs, sits before you. Fortunately, if you time it right, the sand is packed down from the seasonal rains. Put your head down and pedal. Get it over with, arriving at Dunn Road in some 30 minutes or maybe an hour later. Again, you have to pedal.
At the International Harvester oasis, refuel. Eat, drink, stretch. Take some photos. Breathe deep. Drink some more.
Across the way, pedal up Hahn-Buena Vista. Stop and enjoy the view and then drop in. More fun is there. More precipitous, remote-feeling, side canyon riding is in front of you. You might ask: does it get any better than this? No, is the answer. It is good. That’s all that matters.
Down in the wash, make like an Ewok and fly. Pedal hard. Pedal fast. Float your way over the sand and down to the junction, turning right, going straight up and then meandering your way. It gets confusing in here, but stay the course. If need be, follow the blue dot. When you are back on Dunn Rd, turn left and then look for the rock cairns that will be on your left in less than a mile. Turn left.
Read the landscape. Trails go this way and that way. Again, stay the course, which means that you need to get around Murray Hill by going west. Climb up to the trail junction and turn left, which means you won’t be going up to the Murray Hill summit. Hikers call this the Clara Burgess trail. Mountain bikers call it Wildhorse. Stay the course, which means you climb a saddle and then there are steep switchbacks going down. There is no shame in walking.
At the bottom, turn right on Garstin that then connects into the wide road/double track. Pedal in the direction of town, easily visible in the near distance. When you see single track, take it. These are the Goat trails. You’ll pop back out on the road. Then take more single track. Pop back out. When you get close to town, jump on more single track to your left and if it feels like you’re going down, you are. Stay the course. It will offer up some gulchy-like gnar before you end up where you parked your car by the Vons.
Four hours of mountains-to-desert, is the time frame for some. Others might end up making it a day. Most will fall into the 5-6 hour range. Mechanical or flat along the way? Be self-sufficient. Pack extra water/fluids. Perhaps carry a tracking device. Start early. Do not ride it in the summer. It’s a big ride, no doubt.
Camping: Pinyon Flat Campground has car camping spots, water, toilets. It’s close enough to the trail head in Ribbonwood. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/sbnf/recarea/?recid=26455
Considerations: It’s a shuttle ride. Plan accordingly. The ride is in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, jointly managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Do not ride on the land of The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. Signs are very obvious as to where you are to ride your bike.
Post-ride Beer: Not too far away in Palm Desert, you have two local breweries that are a mile apart: La Quinta Brewing Company and Desert Beer Company.
https://www.laquintabrewing.com/
https://www.desertbeercompany.com/
Both have grub by way of food trucks. Have a bite and pint. Growlers, crowlers and to-go packs are available. Visit both/spread the money around and if you need anything for your bike, Palm Desert Cyclery is right around the corner from Desert Beer Company.
