Trail Descriptions
Kingston Mountain Trail offers a route from Jean, Nevada, near Las Vegas out to Old Spanish Trail around 50 miles west. This trail provides a mix of fast dirt roads with scenic views, especially useful for riders looking to combine speed with sightseeing. The trail requires riding through intermittent rocky patches, ensuring a moderate challenge.
Artist's Palette Trail is located approximately 8.5 miles south of the intersection of Highway 190 and Badwater Road in Death Valley. It's characterized by a paved, one-way route of about 8 miles. Its suitability for any vehicles makes it accessible, and the remarkable color contrasts in the geologic formations, created through volcanic activities, are ideal for leisurely rides.
Dante's View Trail is approached off Highway 190 within Death Valley National Park, spanning around 13 smooth, paved miles suitable for all rider levels. The journey climbs up where the sweeping views of the valley are among the trail's highlights – culminating in steep switchbacks closer to the end which test your handling as the elevation gain reaches a lookout point.
Cottonwood Valley Trail introduces riders to a mix of fast, rough, desert riding over 12.42 miles starting west of Las Vegas. The path, dotted with desert flora and featuring periodic hills, ensures a versatile trail surface that shifts from sandy washes to hard-packed dirt. Its close position to civilization makes it a go-to for quick day trips without straying too far into isolation.
Lovell Canyon Road promises approximately 27.88 miles of undulating terrain, which combines eleven miles of narrow paved paths followed by dirt roads winding through hilly topography dominated by pine forests. Scenery changes supply a refreshing ride that ascends to mountain overlooks before gently sloping to valleys, making any rider engrossed in each new twist and turn.
These off-road paths challenge riders with diverse aspects of terrain and riding demands while paving the way to see some curious spots at skill-level friendly terrains nestled on a conveyance as thrilling as an adventure motorcycle.
Vehicle Suitability
Adventure motorcycles, such as the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special and CVO™ Pan America®, are specifically designed to handle a variety of terrains, from paved roads to rugged off-road paths. The adaptability of these motorcycles is important when riders are negotiating the diverse conditions described in the trails above. While the smooth pavement of Dante's View Trail may be accommodating to most motorcycles, the rough, rocky patches of Kingston Mountain Trail might demand the robust suspension and durable tires featured in well-equipped adventure models.
The Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special, with its adaptive ride modes and suspension, offers an advantage on trails like Cottonwood Valley or Lovell Canyon Road, where variable terrain can switch from sandy washes to hard-packed dirt or rocky ascents. These features allow the motorcycle to adjust its performance, enhancing comfort and safety by stabilizing the ride according to ground conditions. The CVO™ Pan America® offers increased storage capacity for longer rides through scenic yet challenging landscapes.
Customizing your motorcycle for specific trail demands—from choosing the right tires to adjusting the suspension setup—is crucial for optimizing the riding experience and maintaining safety. Features like traction control, present in these adventure motorcycles, also help manage the bike's power output and improve grip on loose surfaces such as gravel or wet dirt encountered on some trails.
Preparing your motorcycle with suitable adjustments and having essential gear ensures a secure and enjoyable ride across any adventurous excursion into the wild. Each modification or enhancement to your adventure motorcycle boosts performance and increases your responsiveness to the varied demands of off-road riding terrain.
Safety and Preparation
Before embarking on any off-road adventure, ensuring your motorcycle is in peak condition is imperative. Regularly checking and maintaining your bike's primary systems such as brakes, tires, and engine can be the difference between a minor hiccup and a ride-ending malfunction in remote areas. Durable rider gear—helmet, gloves, jacket, pants, and boots—is essential for comfort and for protection against potential hazards like falls, flying debris, or sudden changes in weather.
Preparation extends beyond bike and gear to include emergency planning. Riders should carry a basic repair kit that complements their mechanical skills. This might include items for tire patching, spare fuses, and basic tools. Packing a first aid kit, sufficient water, and ready-to-eat meals enhances safety especially when riding trails like Kingston Mountain Trail or exploring the expansive landscapes offered by Cottonwood Valley Trail.
Recognizing the peculiar challenges posed by varied surfaces is important. Sand requires a loose grip and slightly higher speed to maintain balance, whereas riding through rocky routes demands precise throttle control and maintaining a steady, upright posture to avoid skidding.1 Adjusting to these technical aspects while on adventurous tracks secures safer rides and maximizes the enjoyment derived from handling your motorcycle successfully in challenging conditions.
Another critical aspect involves environmental preservation and adhering to legal requirements. Adventure riders are custodians of the landscapes they enjoy. Sticking to marked trails, refraining from veering into restricted areas, and understanding the local wildlife and habitat protections help in conserving these spaces. Ensuring your motorcycle meets emission standards and securing relevant permits where necessary are fundamental responsibilities that align with responsible and ethical riding practices.2
Always inform someone about your travel route and expected return time before departing. This safety measure guarantees that help can be quickly mobilized in case of an unforeseen emergency. By integrating these preparatory and precautionary practices, the allure of adventure riding can be embraced fully and safely, promising thrilling yet secure escapades across nature's settings.
Rider Experiences and Tips
Seasoned riders often recount the unique challenges and lessons learned along lesser-traveled paths such as Mule Team Trail or the stark terrains around Pisgah Crater. Their experiences form a repository of tips poised to bolster the confidence of newcomers.
The journey along Mule Team Trail summons narratives of tenacity. One rider recalls the trail's deep pockets of gravel, explaining:
"You really have to pay attention to your front wheel and handle bars. The gravel's loose depth makes it easy for your bike to skid, particularly as you're descending narrow stretches overseen by steep inclines."
This rider emphasizes the importance of reducing speed and maintaining a light clutch touch to ease the bike through such unstable surfaces, particularly apt advice for riders unaccustomed to the trail's sudden engagement of quiet yet formidable stretches.
Over at Pisgah Crater, the terrain switches completely. Riders venturing here speak of being intrigued yet slightly daunted by the undulating lava flows and scattered volcanic rock—a terrain presenting its own demands on both machine and method. One rider describes using a lower gear to manage power output steadily without overwhelming traction and "keep things even—too much throttle, and you're slipping back or, worse, tipping over on loose scoria." This insight is apt for riding the rough-hewn yet inspiring landscapes that sort the cautious from the cavalier.
Such paths are equally lauded for their beauty and touchstones in rider resilience. Lessons resonate in anecdotes like that of a seasoned motorcyclist who recounts a nearly botched crossing at Mule Team, where a hidden dip offered more downturn than anticipated. His advice cuts across experience levels:
"Always survey your immediate path forward. If something looks unsuitable, dismount. Check if it's doable first on foot. Pride recovers faster than bones."
This pragmatic approach underscores an ongoing learning curve in skill development and situational judgment calls, which can be pivotal.
As adventure motorcyclists, trading such experiences isn't simply about swapping stories by firelight nor crafting cautionary tales. They are vital breadcrumbs for the next traveler; guideposts endowed with the essence of past triumphs and follies. They foster a wisdom that advises, forewarns, and intertwines riders in shared trials and reveries across miles traversed solo but tethered by collective encounters.
These tales impress upon riders, stitching together a fabric of motorcycling culture underpinned by reverence for both journey and destination. Embracing these tales is less about bracing for the pitfalls and more about steeping oneself in a heritage that supports every tight corner turned, understanding that each ride, irrespective of its ruggedness, builds the temperament needed to revel in the joy motorcycle adventures promise.
- Bennett J. The essential guide to dual sport motorcycling. Whitehorse Press; 2003.
- Ryan S. The ultimate motorcycle adventure handbook. Ultimate Press; 2019.
