Eurupean seeking advise re trip from LA to Texas
 

Hello!
Will be arriving in Los Angeles mid April coming from Panama. Thereafter I have 5 weeks time until I have to be in Corpus Christi Tx around May 20th.
So far I have not decided if I go south again to Mexico, e.g. Baja, or drive west and spend some time in Moab etc.
I'm driving a KTM 1290 and am open to drive non technical offroad. Equipped with camping stuff but most of the time looking for B&Bs.
Great ideas how to spend the five weeks most welcomed. Also open to spend some time together with another biker for some time.
Looking forward to get your input!

You have a lot of choices. 5 weeks is good amount of time to explore.
Mid April still cool enough to go through Arizona out to Utah and Colorado. The Colorado passes won't be open but still a worth while ride. Fantastic roads and sites to see, National Parks and MORE. Two of our best riding states. Research.

Do two weeks in Utah and Colorado, seeing Arizona and New Mexico on your way there and back. Then around mid May, head WEST out through Nevada (Black Rock Desert) and to Northern California (some of the BEST roads in ALL of USA). Continue North to Oregon, Idaho. Lots of beautiful country to explore. Fantastic roads. More Research.

Allow about 4 or 5 days to ride from N. California to Corpus. Do a bee line on Freeway once you reach L.A. area. Not many good alternatives to Texas ... so just do a straight shot on fastest routes to the Hell Hole that is Corpus Christi, Texas. Riding in Texas is a riders nightmare. No fun.
Grin and bear it. Texas is HUGE. Put your head down and go go go.

So, you will get 4 weeks of joy, one week of misery. :oops2:

Ride safe, watch for Deer in Texas.

Thanks Mollydog, was't aware that Texas is as bad!

As per the suggested trip, this sounds fantastic. Being Swiss, I'm a bit concerned re distances (Switzerland is a bit larger then the black rock desert park)! Also I will be coming from Panama and will have just made aprox 10000kms.

So maybe I skip North California and Oregon and just go East? I will further investigate.

In case you have more detailed recommendations, most welcomed

Follow the Easy Rider route. Watch the movie or look st the Eaglerider website for their route. I did this last year; brilliant.

Texas isn't all as dreary as mollydog suggests, although some of it is. To me, the interesting parts are mostly in the hill country and Big Bend. Picture a 150 mile diameter circle with Austin at the east edge and San Antonio at the south edge, that is the hill country. There is a loop known locally as the three sisters, made up of highways 335, 336, and 337 that is some excellent pavement riding, also a nice little museum on the route, Lone Star Motorcycle Museum. Look up Butler maps, they have a good moto specific map of the area.


The Big Bend region is mostly known for the National park there, but hwy 170 along the Rio Grande west of the park is my favorite road in Texas. Lots of dual sporting in the park on old mining roads. You can go over to Mexico in the park to the little town of Boquillas which is kind of interesting. Lots of TexMex history in the area.


https://andyt.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...100_0268-M.jpg


Off of Hwy 170 west of Big Bend NP. The hills on the right are in Mexico. No need for Donald Trump to build a wall here, mother nature put up a 400 foot high wall for him.


Lots of info on the web on both these areas. Be sure to tour the USS Lexington in Corpus, a WWII aircraft carrier permanently docked there as a museum.

Grüezi Castlehe:

I rode from Los Angeles to Houston last year. It is a long distance, about equivalent to Zürich to Casablanca. But, due to the nature of the interstate highways, you can cover a lot of ground in one day - imagine spending the whole day on a road that is more or less the same as the A1 south of Lake Neuchâtel, that will give you a good idea of what to expect.

But, if you take the interstate highway (in particular, I-10), you will die of boredom before you get to your destination. But, you should not ever need to ride the interstates, 5 weeks is more than sufficient time for a relaxing, meandering, interesting tour along secondary roadways.

Be aware that the land rises to quite a height (1,500 to 2,000 metres) as you move east (take a look at this image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...SA_topo_en.jpg), that means it can get quite cold at times along your route, even though you plan to ride in April and May. Do not underestimate how cold and windy it can get.

Lastly, the Americans have a rule that permits their immigration officers to stop any vehicle traffic that is within 160 km (as the crow flies) from the US border of Mexico. When I rode the above-mentioned route, I was stopped about 5 times along the way and asked to provide my passport and answer questions, etc. The law is such that if you are not an American citizen, these 'inland' checks are allowed to be as thorough as the check you would encounter entering the USA. So, have your passport handy (not buried in all your gear), and be sure all your papers are in order, you will get stopped. Most of the time, the officers are polite, but not always.

Michael

Many thanks for the various interesting inputs.

Michael; You seem to know Switzerland quite well!

Andy: Glad you give me some hope re Texas!

Hughes: Easyrider rode - interesting option!


I will further research. In the meantime, additional recommendations welcomed.
Jan

Death Valley
 

Good points from all. But I would sugest that you make a point of seeing Death Valley in general and Scotty's Castle in particular. Then maybe an overnight in Vegas on the way to the North rim of the Grand Canyon, Utah etc.. Guys from over the pond don't often see such things. Mike:D

Big Plus One on Death Valley, Scotty's Castle and Grand Canyon.

Take the tour at Scotty's ... fascinating bit of engineering and invention. The early Miners and explorers of the area were simply amazing.
No words for Grand Canyon. You can camp in the area on North Rim.

:D:D:D:D