Grand Canyon to Joshua Tree to Los Angeles

[ohlukeson]

Hello everyone,

We are three cyclists on tour across the US and are trying to figure out the last part of our trip. At the moment we're in Gunnison, CO after having transitioned onto the Western Express after riding on the TransAm since Yorktown, VA. We plan to be in Cedar City, UT by November 1 or so and will then head south on the Grand Canyon connector trail.
Our plan was originally to take that trail all the way to the Southern Tier and then head west to San Diego and then go up the Pacific Coast trail to Los Angeles. Could we instead cut through from Grand Canyon to Joshua Tree and then on to Los Angeles? I've tried researching on this forum and elsewhere but haven't found anything. This may be a totally foolish/crazy idea but I just figured it might be worth a shot. Does anyone have any advice on this? Thanks!

-Luke
Slow Wheels 2012 slowwheels.tumblr.com

[rabbitoh]

Luke, have you tried searching on Crazy Guy On A Bike?

Here are a couple of links which migh be useful.

 http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/jabantik2006

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/betweenmylegs

You can do further searches on that website. There are plenty of results for Joshua Tree.

[jamawani]

Luke -

Gettin' cold, ain't it?
You've just hit the Rockies and it is late October.  You were lucky to have warm weather.
That is going to change this week - - big time.  40s for highs; teens for lows.

I would STRONGLY recommend that you get to lower elevation - not head straight for Cedar City.
There is an excellent straight shot from Bluff, Utah to Cameron, Ariz which will take you to Grand Canyon.
The North Rim is mostly closed now with few to no services - i.e. 45 miles away in Jacob Lake.

If you get to the South Rim, you can ride down to Williams - -
Then take Old Route 66 via Peach Springs, Oatman, and Needles to Amboy, Calif.
There is a remote, paved cutoff road from Amboy to Joshua Tree.

The direct, low route into L.A. is rather unpleasant along I-10 - sometimes even using I-10 - bleah!
If you are willing to suffer, head up into the San Gabriels via Big Bear.
The ride along the Angeles Crestcoming down into Glendale and head out to Santa Monica pier.
(Or, you can stay north of the San Gabriels and loop thru Santa Clarita via Soledad Canyon.)

[aggie]

Take a look at going to Flagstaff after visiting Grand Canyon.  You can then take 89 to the 71 to then join up with the Southern Tier hwy 60.  Once you get to Hope you can take the 72 up to Parker.  From Parker you can take 62 through Twenty Nine Palms onto the north part of Palm Springs.  Other than a small stretch of I10 you can then take surface streets into LA.  There isn't much in the way of services from Hope to Parker and then Parker to 29 Palms.  You can camp at Joshua Tree National Park.