The Morongo Basin is one of the most culturally rich, naturally stunning regions in California… and one of the hardest to get around without a car.
Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and 29 Palms are connected by roads built for high-speed traffic, with no safe space for cyclists, pedestrians, or anyone who can’t or doesn’t want to drive.
Why does the Morongo Basin need this bike path?
Every day, cyclists and pedestrians share narrow shoulders with high-speed traffic on Highway 62 and surrounding roads. People have been hurt. People have been killed. A dedicated path removes that risk, giving everyone a safe way to move through the Basin without fear.
Not everyone drives. Not everyone can. Young people, seniors, lower-income residents, and people with disabilities are effectively cut off from jobs, markets, and community spaces without a car. The bike path creates a real transportation alternative: expanding freedom of movement for the people who need it most.
When people can walk and bike safely, they do. Active transportation reduces rates of chronic illness, improves mental health, and builds the kind of daily physical activity that healthcare systems can’t provide. A bike path isn’t just good infrastructure, it’s a public health investment.
Bike-accessible communities see measurable increases in local spending. Cyclists stop. They shop, eat, and explore. A connected path opens new foot traffic corridors for local businesses… and positions the Basin as a destination for cycling tourism from across Southern California and beyond.
The desert ecosystem is fragile and irreplaceable. Every car trip replaced by a bike ride means less emissions, less noise, and less strain on the land we love. The Basin Bike Path is part of a larger vision for sustainable, low-impact living: one that honors what makes this place worth protecting.
The Morongo Basin has always attracted people who do things differently: artists, activists, seekers, and multi-generational locals who know this land deeply. A bike path reflects that identity. It says: we are a community that chooses connection over isolation, sustainability over convenience, and people over cars.
Interview from the Highway 62 podcast
