Because we’d both done this run multiple times (including during summer) over the course of our years in the desert, we decided to take advantage of the Monday 5th of July holiday and head down to La Quinta and do the cove run. It’s got a special place in both of our hearts as the run turns around at Lake Cuihilla – the former home of the Desert Triathlon (one of our firsts). Anyway, after a late start (which I’d really recommend avoiding if you’re going to run in July), we got down there to start at about 9:45 am – truly too late. But, we had three liters of water on board and it was relatively mild so we pressed on.
Here are the stats:
- Distance: 11.32 km / 7.03 mi
- Moving Time: 1:41
- Elevation: 313 metres / 1026 feet
- Temperature: 36.12° C / 97° F
- Humidity: 12%
Cove trailhead from the parking lot on the south side of the cove. From here you turn left and head through the flats to the base of the hills. In general Cove to Lake veers to the left past a water tank and then to the base of the hills.
No dogs on the trails. Although I’m not sure what dog would want to be out here in the heat.
This is the signage after you pass over the berm about halfway up the flats. The flats are essentially two (or more) drainage basins. There’s an obvious one by the parking lot and then a berm further up. There’s a road on top of the berm that connects the three major trailheads and leads to the Palm Oasis. Cross over the berm and veer to the left to head to Cove to Lake. It’s well signposted.
This is really the start of the run. You head up a small ridge and then into a small valley. The trail above is along the edge of the ridge. Shortly after this you drop down a decently steep hill (save some for coming back up what has been affectionately called “murder hill”) with some loose dusty trail. Looks like it got washed out and rebuilt over the last year or so.
Down the hill into the major part of the run. It starts out in a dry river bed with loose sand. Think soft sand beach run but with no water. From there you have the first of two sections that take you out of the river bed and onto the hillside on the left. They are not too bad but be prepared if it’s hot and be careful with the footing. There’s a golf course to the right side of the trail so it’s not like you’re in the middle of nowhere but close enough.
Passing over the first trail section you drop back into the river bed then onto the second trail section. Following that one you drop into the river for the final time before heading into Lake Cahuilla – a Riverside County park.
Halfway done, desperate for shade and looking like a crazy person with a sunscreen problem and a hat with a tail. I’d cross to the other side of the street if I saw me…for sure.
No truer words. The soft sand sections are…well…exposed and hot. At this point it was a bit too late in the day to be running (still before noon) but we needed to get home. All along the river bed bed stop and grab any of the shade possible – usually under those scraggly trees you can see here.
Apparently, this is the Morrow Trail but it’s also part of the Cove to Lake trail and is also the end of Boo Hoff…which is a pretty difficult, remote run on it’s own.
Heading back up the canyon, this is the trail section closest to the lake and the golf course is off to the left. The “peak” in the center of the picture is where we’re headed (but there’s a pass in there).
Second trail section heading home. I turned around to get this shot so it’s actually facing towards the lake. Not sure what this sculpture is or why it’s there (it’s across a dry river bed from the golf course so….?) but it makes me laugh every time. Maybe it’s because the golfers can see this dramatic scene up on the hillside from the course?
This is pretty much standard view in the river bed headed home. It’s in a canyon so you really can’t get lost but there are vertical plastic posts that are trail markers so it’s well signposted.
View over the top of “murder hill” down to the oasis and – although you can’t see it from here – the car park. You can see one of the brown plastic trail markers on the right of the shot.
We really struggled to complete this run. It got way too hot for us. We planned for this to be a problem and I can’t stress enough how important it is to plan ahead and leave a lot of room for things to go wrong or the run to be more difficult than it is. The desert is a spectacular place to run but can also be a dangerous one. This is a great run but do it early, avoid summer, take lots of water and be conservative.