diphthong

sorry, saw this too late to possibly help out.
ca hwy 74 from the bighorn country club at the extreme southern edge of palm desert is very winding and narrow for the first 5 miles or so. only a few places to pull over and poor sight lines for motorists. i say this as a socal cyclist that avoids only 4-5 roads in the region. there is plenty of fast, daily commuter (early morn and early afternoon construction trades traffic) during the weekdays. weekends best from sunrise to 9am if you must ride it. the descent is a blast.

from palm springs, there is scenic, flattish riding in town west of palm canyon rd/ca hwy 111. climbing up tram road to the guard house is a definite lung and leg buster if you need climbing…just watch that speed on the descent. making it out to dillon road on the north side of the 10 fwy finds a little bit less traffic and no stop lights. services few and far between out there so take two extra inner tubes and carry two water bottles. la quinta cove area is scenic and would be a roughly 75-80 mile loop from palm springs incorporating dillon road and ca hwy 111.

if the tram road climb whets the appetite, there is a shortish and stiff climb from the corner of ca hwy 111 and frank sinatra drive as well. prettiest road in the nearish coachella valley is the 1000 palms road connecting ramon rd/washington rd to dillon rd. it’s about 4 miles long and about a 4% grade up or down given your direction.

if you’ve got a car to transport the bike, joshua tree national park is approx an hour’s drive away (one way) and super scenic. weekdays best before 11am. can park about 4 miles north of the entrance near the corner of ca hwy 62/park blvd at ride up the 4-5% incline for approx 6 miles till things level out, get flattish and awesome. dunno what the exact charge is for cyclist entry is since i’ve got the annual pass but think it is $12.