The drive from Carlsbad to the California desert is a beautiful trip of a little over 2 hours. You canmake a day trip out of it but there is so much to see and do in the desert that it makes a good weekend jaunt and stayover.
While you can take the freeway, the drive out through Temecula on Route 74 and through the mountains to the California desert cities is spectacular, with beautiful mountain views, thousands of acres of open land, agricultural land, and much more.
There is a wonderful view point at about 4000 ft. above sea level in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Forest where you can take in most of the California desert and cities (e.g., Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio) before you begin the 9 mile or so drive down the mountain with multiple switchbacks, many of which are 180 degrees (see below - this is only part of the road and I lost track of the number of switchbacks), and no guard rails, perfect for a sportscar but tough on those with motion sickness...a road known as the Palms to Pines Highway. It's a fun road to drive at 50 - 60 mph, if you dare!
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