My wife and I are considering taking a vacation out west to go riding in the middle of our winter. We would be hauling the bikes on a trailer from MT. I am wondering what location would be best in terms of the right weather and best roads for late Dec- early Jan.

Does anyone have suggestions? We have flown into San Diego for conferences a couple of times, but have spent no time in CA otherwise.

I am assuming we need to go to southern CA to assure good riding weather that time of year...? Palm Springs was recommended by a friend, but I figured I would ask around since we have a lot of time to plan it still. We would also consider Vegas area or AZ, we just want to go wherever we can get the best riding!

 

Lots of good roads in so cal. I like the roads around palomar, julian, palm springs, idyllwild, borrego springs.

 

Well weather in general is sporadic.

I can tell you that a ride through wine country; Napa/Sonoma, or along the Northern coastal region / upper HWY 1 is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. If you google Muir Beach, CA you can see the general area I'm talking about.

 

Angeles Crest Highway (HWY 2) from La Canada Flintridge to Wrightwood.

And then there is the famous Mulholland Hwy. I definitely recommend visiting the Rock Store at the bottom of Mulholland during a Sunday. Huge motorcycle scene! To get there, exit off Kanan on the 101 and go towards the beach. Make a left on Mulholland and go down the canyon and the Rock Store will be on your right hand side.

From there, I'm sure you will get many suggestions of roads to ride as there are a lot of good roads! Try visiting Stunt Road after the Rock Store. Excellent view of Malibu and LA from on top of a mountain!

 

Awesome thanks for the suggestions guys. Do you think going to stay in Palm Springs is a good choice in terms of a "home base" so to speak? There are a lot of condos/houses for rent when I look online, so that is a plus. Also, the other people going can fly in there cheaply and easily (I will be responsible for towing the bikes ~1500 miles each way).

I was advised that the weather in NorCal is not conducive to a riding vacation in late Dec/early Jan, but I would love to get there too, eventually.

 

Weather in general is sporadic across the state, we got hit by like a 2month storm across the entire state from mid january to mid-late march, and then again in April last year. North or South, the weather is wonderful but in winter it isn't all that predictable, but I guess the South is a little less random.

 

I like the suggestions but watch the weather! I've been stuck riding up on Angeles Crest Highway (a favorite) over snow and ice. No fun.

 

What he said. ANGELES CREST.best in the northern hemisphere

 

Part of that stretch of Angeles Crest Hwy is closed last I checked; still closed from the fires and mud slides a year ago. You have to get on for farther west or start from the east side.

However, the time of year you're thinking about going, the mountains are covered in snow. So not such a good idea on the bike.

The canyons north of Malibu may be doable, but they occassionally get ice/frost on the roads that time of year too. The only safe bet would be PCH that just runs along the ocean. Anything up in the mountains may have snow.