Coachella Road Trip, 2026 Edition

 

I'm writing this in October, which is a shame, since I've forgotten most of the details about this 1,200 mile drive to Coachella and back in April. But, as usual, it was a spectacular drive, maybe even more fun than the music festival! 

My Miata remains a deliriously fun and reliable steed. Even when a jaunt up into the mountains up from the high desert to Big Pines delivered a sudden snowstorm out of the blue! Yes, I had to slow down and put the top up, but what a memorable bit of unexpected weather drama! 

After having done this several times, the path I chose down this time was pretty routine. SF to Skyline to Soquel San Jose Road down to Santa Cruz. Then Highway 1 to Castroville, 183 to Salinas, then 68 toward Laguna Seca, over Laureles Grade to Carmel Valley, then my absolute favorite roads in all of California (East Carmel Valley Road to the Arroyo Seco River Bridge, Elm to Central to 101, then Jolon Road to Fort Hunter Liggett to Bee Rock to Lake Nacimiento) to Paso Robles, then on 101 to Pismo Beach and Santa Maria. 

Day two was east on 166, then south on 33 (always a blast) to Ojai, then 126 to Santa Clarita and into the LA basin to overnight in Highland Park. Day three took me to the Marriott Desert Springs. 

Coming home, I tried something new by dodging LA entirely (note to self, leave earlier, because post-Coachella traffic is awful) in favor of detouring north into the high desert, taking 62 north to Yucca Valley, then 247 an 18 to Hesperia, then a detour into the mountains on 2 to Big Pines (snow storm!!) and back down on Big Pines Highway to Valyermo, Little Rock, and Palmdale (looks more like Oklahoma than California!). Then on the very beautiful Elizabeth Lake Road (this is where all the rich people are, apparently) all the way back to I-5 and immediately back into the mountains to Pine Mountain Club and through Bitter Water National Wildlife Refuge. From there, my usual ride north on 33 through Taft, the oil fields, and overnight in Coalinga. 

The final day had me leaving Coalinga via the ever-changing Los Gatos Creek Road/Coalinga Road, which always leaves me wanting to buy a ranch back in these hills. This leads directly to Airline Highway (25) up to Hollister, then the familiar 101 to 280 back to SF. 



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