Derek and I rode up to Eureka Peak in Joshua Tree National Park. Our ride was 22.6 miles with 2316′ of climbing up to 5469′ of climbing. This out and back was all on sand/gravel road starting from the corner of La Contenta and Alta Loma in Yucca Valley.
After passing plenty of funky ranches and assorted residential conglomerations we turned off on Covington Flats. This remote dirt road into the park offers access to some of the park’s largest Joshua trees, junipers, and pinyon pines. We passed a park ranger and one jeep and that’s it. The big desert views are impressive as the road climbs up. There are some sandy sections and we were happy to be on our mountain bikes. After turning off at a sign pointing that the picnic area is straight or the hikes to the right, the road narrows and gets steeper. On up we went through a few turns and finally to the peak.
Views of Palm Springs, the surrounding mountains, and the Morongo Basin spread out below and we stopped to snap some pictures. There are some hiking trails up here and a backcountry trailhead. We weren’t here to hike though, so we hopped back on a rode back to the start. It’s nice that at the turnaround up at the peak, it is almost all downhill on the way back.
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