Wild Wild West

Welcome to the city that never sleeps…Las Vegas, Nevada! Take the free shuttle from the airport to our welcome hotel. Check in and if you have some time, enjoy all Las Vegas has to offer. At the welcome desk introduce yourself to your tour guides and then enjoy a complimentary welcome dinner. Here you’ll meet your fellow riders as well as get a tour briefing from your guides. Get some rest tonight, our adventure begins first thing tomorrow morning! Here’s to a fantastic Wild Wild West canyons & California motorcycle tour.

Enjoy a good breakfast and after loading the support vehicle with luggage, we’ll collect our Harley-Davidson motorcycles. You’ll get a chance to familiarise yourself with your ‘steed’ before heading out of town. To begin we’ll ride along the western shoreline of Lake Mead, created by the Hoover dam. Continuing north we will ride through the Valley of Fire’s brilliant red sandstone mountains and valleys. Interstate 15 then takes us through the scenic Virgin River gorge and up into southern Utah. Before long we arrive at our hotel in Springdale, Utah, the gateway to Zion National Park. This evening, enjoy the numerous restaurants and shops, then get a good night’s rest – a fantastic day on the Wild West canyons & California motorcycle tour awaits us tomorrow.

Today is all about amazing scenery! Rising early we’ll catch the morning light on the spectacular multi-coloured cliffs, mountains and valleys of Zion National Parks. There’ll be plenty of time to stop, wonder at the views and take lots of photographs. Twisting ‘switchbacks’ curve their way through the park to an amazing tunnel carved through the sandstone and granite mountain. Afterwards we make our way north, head up to nearly 3000m, and then east through the vibrant colours of aptly named Red Canyon. A few more miles on, we reach our destination of Bryce Canyon National Park. We’ll have time to ride throughout the park to its various viewpoints before checking in to our hotel for the evening. Make sure to have a good dinner and get a good night’s sleep, tomorrow is the longest day of the tour!

An early start this morning but it will be well worth it! Today will be a ride through some of the most spectacular scenery and amazing roads to be found anywhere in the world. We’ll climb the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, traverse Escalante mountain, see the natural splendor of Capitol Reef National Park and ride along the “devil’s backbone”. After a quick lunch, we head into the sensational roads and vistas of Glen Canyon National Recreational area’s twisting canyons and mountains, alongside the Colorado river. Next we head south again and carefully make our way down the Mokee Dugway, located in the Valley of the Gods. Our final ride of the day takes us to our hotel in picturesque Bluff. After a long day on your Wild Wild West motorycle tour there’s nothing better than a nice dinner, a couple of drinks and a soft bed!

Another early morning start today in order to catch the morning light as we ride along the classic Wild West landscape of sandstone buttes and towering rock pinnacles above an endless expanse of drifting red sands and sagebrush. This is iconic Monument Valley! We’ll stop along the way for some spectacular photos before arriving at the Tribal Park for a break and the fantastic views, backdrop to numerous old western films. We’ll learn more about this magical ‘valley’ and Navajo culture, and grab some lunch. You can almost see John Wayne riding across the red and green valley, surrounded by ancient monoliths. After stopping at one of the famous trading posts for a break and a bit of souvenir shopping we’ll head towards one of the seven wonders of the world, the magnificent Grand Canyon. Once at the canyon we’ll take our time to enjoy the various breath taking views  – all created by the carving out of the Kaibab Plateau by the Colorado River over Millions of years. Our hotel is nearby so we can take advantage of sunset views before checking in and getting some dinner.

First thing you’ll have the opportunity to take an optional (but highly recommended) helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon and truly comprehend it enormity. We’ll then head south to Williams, where we start riding the world’s most famous road, Historic Route 66! After taking a little while to look around town and have some lunch, we ride west to Seligman for another opportunity to look around this quirky Route 66 tourist town. If you want a great Route 66 souvenir this is the place, or maybe just have an ice cream cone at the Sno-cap drive-in. Continuing west down this historic road we will pass through the Hulapai tribal lands and the towns of Peach Springs and Truxton before stopping for a break at the Hackberry General store. It’s only a short ride to our hotel in Kingman, considered the “Heart of 66” in Arizona.

Continuing our journey down the “Mother Road” we soon get to the curviest and most dramatic section of Route 66, the Oatman Highway. Turning, twisting and winding through the black mountains and over Sitgreaves pass to the historic old west mining town of Oatman the scenery is just as much fun as the road itself. We’ll take a rest break and the opportunity to feed the town’s wild donkeys, descendants of those abandoned by the miners when they left town. Afterwards we make our way north again towards Las Vegas. Before getting back to Vegas we’ll stop to have a good look at the Hoover Dam, and then ride into town along scenic lakeshore drive. Finally, it’s time to make our way to the hotel.

Today is your opportunity to venture around this amazing city. Check out the wide variety of attractions at the numerous casinos, or perhaps take in one of the many live shows. With great restaurants you’re sure to find something to tickle your taste buds, almost every type of cuisine can be found somewhere in town. Be sure to check out the Freemont Street experience after dark for the amazing lightshow canopy that covers this section of “old” Las Vegas. Have a great time, but don’t over-do it, tomorrow it’s back on the road for the second half of our Wild Wild West canyons & California motorcycle tour.

Our relaxing ride today begins northward out of town and into the desert. With Death Valley on our left and the old Nevada nuclear test range to our right, it’s a good idea to stay on the road. Keep your eyes out for U.F.O.’s too, the infamous Area 51 is just to the northeast. Soon we turn west and head toward the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada range and the Owens valley, and finally to our hotel in the ski resort town of Mammoth Lakes.

Today we begin our ride by heading north towards Tioga pass, the entrance to America’s most-visited National Park, Yosemite. The towering mountains and canyons surround us as we near the almost 3000m summit. We’ll take our time going down the western slope, stopping occasionally to see the amazing vistas of granite domes and beautiful waterfalls that dominate the park. Yosemite is just as beautiful, wild, rich and sublime as you’d expect, and more so! The riding fun isn’t over yet, as we head through the towering redwood, cedar and sequoia forests and the California goldfields to Sonora.

Starting northwards, we cross the Melones reservoir on our way to San Andreas. Here we head towards the Pacific Coast. After traversing California’s Central Valley, we reach the wine regions of Napa and Sonoma valleys. Hopefully, we’ll have time for a winery stop or two. Once at the Pacific Ocean we pick up Highway 1.  A little detour takes us to pretty Sausalito with beautiful bay views – think Cote d’Azur. Our day’s ride ends crossing iconic Golden Gate Bridge and riding into the metropolis nicknamed the “Paris of the west”, San Francisco!

Today is yours to explore everything funky San Francisco has to offer. Head down to the embarcadero and fisherman’s wharf, or over to Chinatown, and don’t forget to ride the famous cable cars! We can book you a sunset cruise across the bay. There’s also the option to take a tour of the infamous Alcatraz Island Prison – just be sure to book it before coming over to the U.S. as it fills up very quickly. Whatever you want to do today there are plenty of options for exploration and enjoyment of this unique and vibrant city.

We roll out of San Francisco by way of beautiful, winding Skyline Boulevard and a coffee stop at Alice’s Restaurant. We then wind our way west through the hills to the famous Pacific Coast Highway, Route 1. We’ll cruise along the cliffs and beaches of the Pacific Ocean, curving, twisting, rising and falling along beautiful views until we stop for a break just outside of Santa Cruz. Yet another great ride, and we have the coastal grandeur of the Monterey Peninsula, whose crescent shaped bay and cypress groves have been celebrated by poets, authors and artists. We’ll stop for lunch, take in the shops, Steinbeck’s Cannery Row and the great ambience before our incredible afternoon ride through Big Sur. This 90-mile cliff edge stretch, is widely considered one of the best sections of Highway 1. Rocky cliffs form a sublime landscape, redwood and cedar groves line river canyons and the Santa Lucia Mountains contrast with the blue-green Pacific. The twists and turns seem never ending until we arrive at our next rest break at Ragged Point. Then we cruise up to Hearst Castle, where you can take an optional guided tour of this grand mansion. Finally, it’s a relaxing ride along the ocean to our overnight in San Simeon.

We set off through small seaside communities and along miles of sandy beaches to Morro Bay. Heading inland we now take the Cabrillo Highway across mountains and farmland to Bakersfield, country music capital of California. From here we head up into the hills, following the Kern River to Lake Isabella and Sequoia National forest’s towering trees, the largest in the world. Both Isabella and Kernville towns were relocated following the damming of the Kern River and the creation of the reservoir in the 1960s. Like many of our back roads on this tour, this area is a haven for wildlife and nature lovers. Absent of major industries or businesses, the area is almost completely reliant on tourism. Our day’s ride ends with a descent to Lone Pine. We hope there’s time to visit the local film museum and Alabama Hills.

Well, we’re nearly there, but we have one more spectacular ride for you today. We descend down switchbacks zigzagging their way into Death Valley – the spaces are immense and the views are like looking across a multicoloured sea of sand and stone. After lunch at Furnace Creek (aptly named!) we climb out of the valley floor to over 600m elevation at the once thriving Death Valley Junction, current population 4! From here, it is an easy ride into Las Vegas. If there is enough time we’ll visit Red Rock Canyon before returning our motorcycles! Tonight it’s your final opportunity to share your experiences with your fellow riders, enjoy our farewell dinner and say a fond goodbye to everyone on this Wild Wild West canyons & California motorcycle tour.

Hopefully you’ve got plenty of stunning photos and a whole lot of fantastic memories to bring home! Before your flight back, this is your last opportunity to have a final look around Las Vegas. Make your way to the airport in time and have a safe journey home. We hope you’ve really enjoyed your Wild Wild West canyons &  California motorycle tour. And we’re looking forward to seeing you again for another motorcycling adventure with Orange & Black!