Distance: 18.3 out and back Elevation gain: 1680 ft
This is a fairly generic ride—pleasant rolling along a wide, well-surfaced two-lane road past a long grassy meadow, then up and over a noticeable hill through nice, unremarkable Norcal forest. Well worth doing if you’re in the area, not worth driving out of your way to do. It has two selling points: it’s only 8 miles off Hwy 5, so it makes for a nice break in the drive if you’re traveling between Oregon and lower California, and it has one striking vista, of Mt. Shasta looming over the meadow (see photos below). It’s a short ride with a moderate work load (3 miles of moderate climbing), but you can keep riding beyond our turn-around point if you want more miles (see Adding Miles).
Drive to the small town of McCloud and park on Squaw Valley Rd., a road whose name is surely not long for this world. This being a real rural small town, there is plenty of dirt shoulder. Ride 9.1 miles to Lake McCloud; return.
The first 5 miles are along a long, pretty meadow that was still mostly green when I rode it in mid-August. The road is basically straight and imperceptibly downhill, so it’s an easy warm-up.
Basic Normal forest
When the meadow ends, you enter solld Norcal forest and you do the one hill, 1.5 miles at a noticeable pitch (6-8%), then a nice 1.5-mile descent (again, 6-8%) to the lake.
Typically in a ride to a lake the lake itself is the high point, but Lake McCloud is the ugliest lake I’ve ever seen, so arriving there isn’t uplifting.
At the lake the road forks, and each fork follows one of the lake’s shorelines. The L fork (east side of the lake) immediately turns to well-maintained dirt and is blocked by a gate and a sign reading “road closed.” I didn’t ride it but it looks inviting, for dirt. The R fork (west side of the lake) remains paved and immediately climbs for a mile, then returns to the lake shore. I did a couple of miles, none of it remarkable, and turned around. I got no views of the lake, but you wouldn’t want them anyway. According to street view the road continues to the southern end of the lake on sketchy pavement, then crosses the dam and rejoins the east-shore dirt road, which continues south for miles and connects to an endless warren of other dirt roads.
The meadow, with Mt. Shasta behind
The ride back to McCloud is as you would expect—1.5 miles of moderate climbing, 1.5 miles of nice descending, then an imperceptible climb along the meadow—with one lovely surprise: When you get to the meadow you see that, unbeknownst to you on the ride out, Mt. Shasta has been dramatically dominating the skyline to the north. Enjoy the view and return to your car. By the way, halfway down the descent on the return ride is the mother of all cattle guards, which you’ll hit at 35 mph if you don’t see it coming, which you don’t want to do.
Shortening the ride: for a completely effortless outing, ride to the end of the meadow and turn around.
Adding miles: Ride to the dam at the southern end of the lake (4.3 miles from the turn-around one way, 1 mile of climbing) . Add as much of the dirt road continuing south as you wish. It’s all pretty much the same.
This isn’t a life-changing ride—just a sweet little lollipop with a varied contour through nice Clear Lake woods, past a lot of unpretentious ranches, and (briefly) along a charming creek. I’d be more enthusiastic if the road surface were better—it’s only OK, but a very worthy little hour’s outing nonetheless. The elevation total is mild, but the ride is mostly rollers and you’ll have the chance to work some. It’s nowhere near as swell as our Clear Lake to Cobb ride, which is just down the road, so do that one first, then this, unless you’re trying to avoid climbing.
Start at the intersection of Kelsey Creek Rd. an Hwy 29. There’s dirt shoulder parking.
A short stretch into the ride you’ll see Wight Rd. prominently forking off to the R. Our loop ends there.
Kelsey Creek Road
At some point in the ride the road changes its name to Adobe Creek Rd.
Turn R onto Wight Rd. and ride Wight back to the Wight/KCR intersection. Return to your car on KCR.
There are at least two ways to make the ride longer by enlarging the loop: instead of turning on Wight, continue north and turn R on Bell Hill Rd. or (still further) Merritt Rd. Both routes have substantially less interesting road contour/scenery and I don’t recommend them.
Adobe Creek Road
Shortening the ride: Not much need to, but the best miles are the loop, so you could start at the Kelsey Creek Rd./Wight Rd. intersection.
Adding miles: From our starting point it’s about 4 miles of flat to Clear Lake State Park, a lovely park and campground where you can pick up Soda Bay Rd., a pleasant 9-mi. (one-way) stroll along the lake shore and through some classic old Clear Lake settlements to an intersection with Hwy 29.
Distance: 13.5-mile out and back Elevation gain: 460 ft
This is possibly the easiest, most low-key ride in Bestrides. It’s short and essentially flat. It’s a haven for casual riders on rental cruisers, and the population of walkers and their dogs on leashes is high.
So why is it in Bestrides? Because it’s the only place I know of where you can ride your bike on a paved trail along the magnificent Northern California headlands and watch the waves crashing against the seastacks below you, the harbor seals basking on the rocks, the pelicans heading in single file to their mysterious destinations to the south or north, and the seagulls wheeling overhead. It’s more a meditation than a ride, and I love it. In addition to the natural wonders of sea and headland, the ride offers a grand old wooden railroad trestle, a world-famous bridge across the Noyo River, a postcard-perfect beach and wooden boardwalk across marshes to Seal Rock (both in MacKerricher State Park), a second beach composed of glass pebbles, a marine biology interpretive center, enough informational placards scattered along the path to satiate the most info-hungry among us, and Fort Bragg’s state-of-the-art water treatment plant.
It’s a mere 13.5 miles, but you can’t ride it fast (too many walkers), and you want to enjoy the ambiance, so it’s a solid one-hour ride.
This ride traverses the shoreline just to the west of Fort Bragg. In past years the riding here consisted solely of the Old Haul Road, a rail-to-trail conversion that ran from about a mile north of MacKerricher State Park a few miles north of town southward until it crossed the grand trestle spanning Pudding Creek at the north edge of town. It was a mostly straight, fairly boring ride on poor pavement, worth doing once for Mackerricher itself and the simple joy of being on a bike by the sea. But in recent years the massive lumber mill complex that occupied the entire west side of the town, everything between Hwy 1 and the sea, was torn down and carted away, the land was turned into Noyo Headlands Park, and our lovely trail was cut along the lip of the cliff from the south end of town to the north and connecting to the Old Haul Road.
The trail itself isn’t all eye candy. Much of the time you’re riding through open grassland, with the good stuff—the lip of the cliff and the crashing waves below—out of sight a short distance to the west. But the trail has a nice meandering contour, and it’s usually only a matter of hiking (or illegally riding) 30 ft off the trail to get those matchless vistas.
The main southern trailhead, with bathrooms and maps, is at the west end of Cypress St., but you don’t want to start there. Instead, drive to Pomo Bluffs Park on the south side of Noyo Bay. This allows you to ride the leg of the trail along the south side of the Bay and cross the Noyo River Bridge. The road surface here is a little rough, but the views of the bay are great (you can see the trail continuing on the northern shore), the informational placards are interesting, and you’ll have the trail to yourself. Be sure to read the placard detailing the history of bridges over the river (there have been several) and the multiple awards the current bridge has won.
Pomo Bluffs Park, looking across Noyo Bay to the next leg of our trail
Cross the Noyo River Bridge on the clean and comfy separated bike lane and immediately pick up the trail (unsigned, but it looks just like a trail, with a bollard and a “mi. 0” painted on the pavement) at the north end—oddly, the mileage markers seem to go to 1/2 mi. and stop). Btw if you’re riding the trail backwards, picking up the trail at the south end of the bridge is challenging. It begins in the parking lot for the Noyo River Grill and wraps tightly around the back side of the restaurant. The trail entrance is small and looks like a back entrance to a trailer park.
Back on our mapped route, ride to the southern trail head parking lot, where there are bathrooms and a large map of the Noyo Headlands Park area informing you that you are on the Ka Kahleh Trail. The Pomo Indians were centrally involved in the development of the area, and you’ll see their influence throughout the ride—most notably on a harrowing trailside placard detailing the awful treatment they received at the hands of the white settlers.
On the otherwise-impeccable map, the trail is shown to have a large gap in its center. This seems to be old news—the trail is now flawless pavement all the way to Glass Beach.
Trailside scenery is a bit bland away from the water
The bathrooms sit at the southern end of the old sawmill airplane runway, unmissable and open to cars and bikes if you’re of a mind to do some dead flat, dead straight riding. Take a moment to imagine what it must have been like to land a plane alongside the cliffs on one of those typical Fort Bragg days with heavy fog or strong crosswinds.
Immediately past the bathrooms is a grand sinkhole on your L, Skip’s Punchbowl. For the best views, get off your bike and walk around it.
Halfway down the trail you encounter the Noyo Center for Marine Science’s Crow’s Nest Interpretive Center, complete with exhibits, tours, and a 73-ft whale carcass made from dirt. Well worth a stop.
At the northern end of the trail you pass the steps to Glass Beach, a local mecca. The beach was used as a dump for glass bottles for decades. The surge smashed the bottles and wore the shards down to smooth beads. Worth a visit if you like colored glass. You’re asked not to remove samples.
At the northern end of the trail you pass the Glass Beach parking lot. At its eastern end (by the bathrooms), take the bike path north to the Pudding Creek Trestle and cross it.
From the Coastal Trail looking back at the Noyo Harbor entrance and the Noyo River Bridge
From here to MacKerricher State Park you’re on the Old Haul Road. It’s straighter, rougher of road surface, and much less scenic than what you’ve already ridden, and if you want to turn around so be it, but I encourage you to persist, because the OHR takes you to MacKerricher, which is a lovely spot. Once there, gaze at or walk on the pristine beach and walk the wooden boardwalk out to Seal Rock for a grand view of the coastline. The park is free to everyone—when the MacKerricher family gave the land to the State they mandated that no one would ever have to pay.
The trail debouches on to the MacKerricher main road, and you’d think it was over, but there’s more. Ride north 150 yds on the road and pick the trail up again. It continues north amidst the sand dunes for some time, becoming sandier and wilder, until you turn around or you start pushing your bike up and down the dunes. The benefits of riding past Mackerricher are views (the shore is in constant sight) and (relative) solitude.
Retrace your steps.
Shortening the ride: Hard to imagine wanting to, but the plumb miles are clearly those between the sinkhole and Glass Beach.
Adding miles: A sweet little loop that actually touches our route is
I know of no other good riding in Fort Bragg proper. Our Mendocino Coastal ride is 15 minutes to the south in Mendocino. See the Adding Miles notes of the Mendocino/Comptche ride for good riding further afield.
Hwy 1 north of Fort Bragg from town to Ten Mile Beach is a particularly beautiful stretch of Hwy 1, but it’s very trafficky and without shoulder.
Distance: 12.6-mile out and back Elevation gain: 425 ft
As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context.
This is not a great or thrilling ride, but it’s perfectly pleasant, a short, flat stroll through the Owens Valley fields with nice Sierra mountains as a backdrop to the west. I include it because our Eastern Sierra riding is short on recovery-day rides, and this is an ideal one. If you want to add on to it, there are two harder rides at its turn-around point (see Adding Rides below).
Turn off Hwy 395 onto Saw Mill Rd.—yes, to my surprise, if you’re coming from the south you can cross the divided highway. Park in the large dirt parking lot at the intersection of South Round Valley Rd. and Saw Mill. Ride SRVR to its intersection with Pine Creek Rd. Return. Other than the prison you pass, there’s not much to talk about.
Shortening the ride: Not imaginable.
Adding Miles: Your turn-around point is on Pine Creek Rd., which is one of the better climbs in our By Regions list of area rides if you go left. If you go right on PCR, in a stone’s throw you hit the southern terminus of Rock Creek Rd., also in By Regions. Either will satisfy any climbing jones you may be having. If you want more easy riding, cross Pine Creek Rd. and continue on North Round Valley Rd., which will about double your mileage—see Robert’s comment below for details.
Distance: 38.3-mile out and back Elevation gain: 6015 ft
As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context.
I also recommend you read this write-up in tandem with our Whitney Portal Road ride. They’re right next to each other geographically—in fact Horseshoe Meadows Rd. takes off from Whitney Portal Rd.,—and they’re almost identical in character, profile, rewards, and difficulty level. And so the write-ups for the two rides are identical as well.
I haven’t ridden either one of them. There are only three rides in Bestrides I haven’t ridden: these two and Bristlecone Pine Forest, a few miles north on Hwy 395. Because they’re too hard for me. But, if you like a grand climbing challenge, all three are bucket-list rides. Remember, the elevation makes all three rides much harder than the numbers would suggest.
Horseshoe Meadows is the longer of the two rides, by 15 miles, and it’s more overall gain, but the average pitch is a bit milder (though still nasty). One fan of Bestrides whose opinion I trust says Whitney Portal is better than Horseshoe Meadows. Tom (below) argues for Horseshoe Meadows. You’ll have to do both and decide for yourself.
Of all the rides that go west from Hwy 395 and climb into the Sierra (they’re listed in the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page), everyone agrees, these two are the best. What sets them apart from the others is that, while the others head up draws or canyons—essentially breaks in the cliff wall—these two switchback straight up the wall for a while, thus making the ride steeper, harder, and much more dramatic, with even grander views of the valley below and even faster descents. I would imagine that 45 mph would be easy to maintain, and, with no guardrails and a prodigious drop-off, I wouldn’t consider doing either of these rides without disc brakes (and zero acrophobia).
The switchbacks
Shortening the ride: I’m guessing, but I’d say for thrills, ride to the top of the switchbacks and return; for fewer thrills, drive to the top of the switchbacks and ride to the end of the road.
Adding miles: You’re kidding, right? For a few more miles, ride our Tuttle Creek Rd. ride, whose turn-around point you ride right past a couple of miles into this ride. For a lot more miles, ride our Whitney Portal Rd. ride—just ride to the start/finish of this ride and turn west.
Distance: 23.6 out and back Elevation gain: 4610 ft
As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context.
I also recommend you read this write-up in tandem with our Horseshoe Meadows Road ride. They’re right next to each other geographically—in fact Horseshoe Meadows Rd. takes off from Whitney Portal Rd.,—and they’re almost identical in character, profile, rewards, and difficulty level. And so the write-ups for the two rides are identical as well.
I haven’t ridden either one of them. There are only three rides in Bestrides I haven’t ridden: these two and Bristlecone Pine Forest, a few miles north on Hwy 395. Because they’re too hard for me. But, if you like a grand climbing challenge, all three are bucket-list rides. Remember, the elevation makes all three rides much harder than the numbers would suggest.
Horseshoe Meadows is the longer of the two rides, by 15 miles, and it’s more overall gain, but the average pitch is a bit milder (though still nasty). One fan of Bestrides whose opinion I trust says Whitney Portal is better than Horseshoe Meadows. Tom (in the comments after the Horseshoe Meadows post) argues for Horseshoe Meadows. You’ll have to do both and decide for yourself.
Of all the rides that go west from Hwy 395 and climb into the Sierra (they’re listed in the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page), everyone agrees, these two are the best. What sets them apart from the others is that, while the others head up draws or canyons—essentially breaks in the cliff wall—these two switchback straight up the wall for a while, thus making the ride steeper, harder, and much more dramatic, with even grander views of the valley below and even faster descents. I would imagine that 45 mph would be easy to maintain, and, with no guardrails and a prodigious drop-off, I wouldn’t consider doing either of these rides without disc brakes (and zero acrophobia).
Approaching the climb—note the switchbacks
For a death-defying drive to nowhere, Whitney Portal Rd. has quite a bit of traffic, because it’s the road everyone must take to reach Mt.-Whitney-area hiking and backpacking trailheads.
Looking down on the Owens Valley and Lone Pine from partway up the switchback
Shortening the ride: I’m guessing, but I’d say for thrills, ride to the top of the switchback and return; for fewer thrills, drive to the top of the switchback and ride to the end of the road.
Adding miles: You’re kidding, right? For a few more miles, ride our Tuttle Creek Rd. ride, whose starting point you rode right past at the start of this ride. For a lot more miles, ride our Horseshoe Meadows Rd. ride, whose starting point you rode right past near the start of this ride.
Distance: 32.4-mile lollipop Elevation gain: 1960 ft
As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context.
This is the go-to easy, pretty ride on the eastern side of the Sierra—the one you take your partner or casual-cyclist buddy on. It’s also where you go in the Eastern Sierra for lush—If you find most of the riding in the area too open, rocky, and desert-y for you, this is your ride. It goes through very pretty aspen-filled woods, past three lakes and one unforgettable boulder, and through the town of June Lake, a bustling recreational village (think Mammoth Lakes but much smaller and less pretentious). The route is pretty built-up, but in an unobtrusive, one-with-nature sort of way. It’s a “loop” in quotation marks because the road is called “June Lake Loop” in all the literature, but it isn’t one—it’s a horseshoe. More on that in the ride directions.
The elevation gain is mild, but if you like to do your climbing first, then your descending, start at the northern terminus and ride south. On the other hand, the ride as mapped begins with the best scenery and steadily gets worse, so if you think you aren’t going to do the entire mileage, start at the south end. The riding is A-level up to about Reverse Creek, then B up to the end of Silver Lake, then C to the terminus on 395.
Start at the intersection of June Lake Loop and Hwy 395. There’s a large store there with parking, and a large, expensive sign reading “Welcome to June Lake Loop” telling you they want your tourist dollars.
June Lake
Ride June Lake Loop to its end at Hwy 395. The only significant pitch is the initial drop down to June Lake. Linger over the views of June Lake, because it’s the prettiest lake of the three on the route—Silver Lake is just nice and Grant Lake is barren.
Watch for a remarkable double boulder on your R. It’s so striking that both resorts on either side of it take their names from it: Boulder Lodge on one side and Big Rock Resort on the other.
June Lake, the community, is well worth a stroll.
Midway in the ride you cross Reverse Creek, so named because it’s flowing in the opposite direction from most of the watershed in the area. Not a big deal.
By Silver Lake you’re beginning to leave the woods behind, and the terrain becomes flatter, drier, and more barren. The last few miles are dead straight, through nearly flat, typical Eastern Sierra rabbit brush country. You can skip those miles if you want, but the distance is short.
The famous boulder
To ride this route as an actual loop, at 395 you would turn R and ride 395 back to your car. If you do this, you will have an long, unpleasant, tedious slog of a climb up the highway shoulder with little to look at among busy traffic. I strongly discourage it. Instead, turn around and ride back the way you came.
When you get close to June Lake, you can see new country by taking Northshore Drive to your L and going around the back side of the lake. The road is a bit rougher than the main road and the landscape more harsh (there are signs reading “bike route” and “rough road”), but it’s also much less built-up and less trafficked. I’ve mapped it that way.
The north-end terrain—Grant Lake
Shortening the ride: Turn around when you want to.
Adding miles: There is no other good riding in the immediate area. You’re a few highway miles from Mammoth Lakes and our Devil’s Postpile ride.
Distance: 16.2 miles out and back Elevation gain: 1970 ft
Warning: At the moment (9/23) this road is only open on weekends, and may soon be closed entirely for construction. When the road isn’t under construction, cars are often banned and car visitors are required to take a shuttle bus. Check road conditions and restrictions before heading out.
As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context.
This is the only ride in Bestrides I don’t really like. But I want to talk about it, because it’s iconic, you’ll want to know what it’s like, and it might get much better soon (as of 9/23).
This ride descends from the Minarets Vista summit to Devil’s Postpile National Monument, then climbs back out. In RidewithGPS it looks pretty good—not much work (you can do 16 miles standing on your head, right?), some great views of the Minarets to the west, some fast, serpentine descending, some pleasant rollers through pretty woods, and a great destination at the turn-around. Devil’s Postpile is a wonder of nature that’s not to be missed. There is even a grand waterfall just past the Postpile, Rainbow Falls.
So what’s not to like? First and foremost, it’s much harder than the numbers make it appear, for five reasons: 1. Traffic—like most National Somethings, the place can be mobbed, and all visitors must travel the same, very narrow, very rough road. Many of them at 10 miles an hour. The road is so narrow that descending vehicles must pull off the road to let ascending vehicles pass, which means that your descent will frequently be interrupted by you having to stop behind the RV that has stopped to let the oncoming RV pass. 2. Road surface—the surfaces varies from OK to terrible, and it’s at its worst on the steepest part (the first 2.5 miles). I found it impossible to do the descent at any but the slowest speed. 3. Pitch—1970 ft. total gain doesn’t seem bad at all, but the bulk of the climbing is in the last 2.5 miles, and it’s truly tough. Made much harder by 4. elevation—the ride tops out at 9170 feet elevation, which means you’ll be gasping for breath in the thin air unless you’re acclimated to high elevation. 4. The hike—you can’t ride to the Postpile; the closest you can get is 0.4 miles from it, which means you’re in for at least an 0.8-mile walk on dirt to see anything, which is a little more than I want to walk in the middle of a hard ride and which means you have to bring walking shoes. 5. The construction—they’re reworking the entire ride, beginning 9/23, so the riding itself will be more awkward than usual and the road to the waterfall is closed entirely, so to see it you’ll have to walk a whopping 5 miles.
So why talk about it? Because if you’re fit for elevation, if you like hard climbs, if you have disc brakes and so can handle steep descents, and (most important) if you wait until the construction reworks and improves the road and opens up the road to Rainbow Falls, it might be a ride you’ll love.
As with all high-altitude Eastern Sierra rides, snow conditions are unpredictable here and can persist longer than you think. Apparently last year the road was still closed by snow on July 4.
An introduction to the geology of the Postpile and current road conditions can be found here.
Our ride begins at the parking area at the turn-off to Minaret Vista, a lookout at the summit of Minaret Road, which is the one and only road from the town of Mammoth Lakes to the Mammoth Mountain ski area. Drive past the ski area, turn off at the sign to the Vista, drive to the Vista to see the Minarets if you want (you’ll see them on the ride anyway), then return to Minaret Road and park in the copious parking dirt area around the intersection.
The Minarets, from the very start of the ride
If you’re worried that 16 miles won’t float your boat, you can ride from Mammoth Lakes, which will add 12 miles and 1300 ft. to the ride. It’s a not-unpleasant ride with possibly heavy traffic (the ski area is as attractive to mountain-bikers in summer and fall as it is to skiers in the winter) on a very manicured, wide road.
Pass the kiosk on Minaret Road and begin the descent. Views of the Minarets are immediately in front of you—look them over now, because you won’t see them again.
The climb out
You are instantly into the steepest leg of the ride, 2.5 miles of narrow, twisty, rough, unrelenting down. Watch for cars coming at you and stopping in front of you.
At 2.5 miles the road takes a hard 90-degree L, the pavement improves, and the pitch moderates. About 6 miles in, the ride turns mellow, and you do fun rollers to the end. First you encounter the overflow parking lot for the Postpile; continue on to the second and final (at the moment) parking lot and trailhead for the walk to the Postpile. There are bathrooms, a little shop, docents to answer questions, and probably scads of people.
Looking down into the Middle Fork San Joaquin River canyon from the top of the ride
Now ride out. First rollers, then moderate climbing, then the final 2.5-mile gasper. In those last miles you’ll notice nice views up and down the canyon you’re climbing out of, which you weren’t able to notice on the descent and which you’ll appreciate now because they’re good excuses to stop and catch your breath.
Shortening the route: Drive to the 90-degree L turn and ride to the Postpile from there.
Adding Miles: There is no other good road riding near this ride. If you brought your mountain bike, swap bikes and enjoy the outstanding downhill riding on Mammoth Mountain’s trails. Back in Mammoth Mountain, the ride to Mary’s Lake is pleasant, in a heavily developed way.
As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context.
This is one of the Eastern Sierra rides I drove in my car. But I want to talk about it anyway, so you’ll know about it. For a lengthier discussion of the issue, see the By Region‘s “Eastern Sierra” section. Odd that there’s a “Best of the Best” ride I haven’t ridden, but there it is.
This is a huge ride, bigger than anything I could do in one go. It’s easy to break into two rides, either one of which is a major ride by itself. If you do it all, I’m willing to bet it will be the hardest 46-mile ride you ever do in your life. It has a ton of climbing, made much harder by the elevation, which tops out at 10,000 ft. Even though I haven’t done it, I think it’s the best ride in the Eastern Sierra, for a number of reasons:
1) It has the most interesting road contour. The other big climbs around Hwy 395 are typically straight roads with monotonously unvaried pitch—this one climbs and drops and serpentines back and forth.
2) It has the most varied landscape—not necessarily prettier than, say South Lake Road, but at least 4 distinct ecosystems, including the world-famous bristlecone pine forest;
3) It has the best vistas. Like the other big climbing rides in the area, it has jaw-dropping vistas of the Owens Valley below, but the other rides climb the east side of the Sierra, so they look east and have as a backdrop the White Mountains to the east, which are unprepossessing heaps of brown, while this one climbs into the White Mountains and looks west, so it has as a backdrop the incomparable Eastern Sierra ridges to the west;
4) The thrill factor is unmatched. The last 4 miles of the ride out plus the first 4 of the return may well be the most electrifying (read: terrifying) riding I’ve ever seen—without doubt, this rides goes to 11.
Before doing this ride, make sure that the roads are all open and the Visitor Center at Shulman Grove is open. Also, ask yourself about your threshold for acrophobia and fear of falling, because you’re going to be doing some steep descending on narrow, twisting roads with world-class drop-offs and no guardrails.
To see the good bristlecone pines (and you want to), bring walking shoes, because there are no visually striking pines right by the Visitor Center—see below for an explanation.
This is the only ride of any interest in the 395 corridor that is on the east side of the highway. Start at the intersection of Hwy 395 and Hwy 168E. There’s a parking lot there, by the little kiosk with information about the bristlecone pines and other features of interest in the area. I encourage you to read the literature to get your bearings. You’ll be guided by signage to the bristlecone pine forest all along your route.
Looking down on White Mountain Road and ridges to the south
The first 13 miles are on a highway, and because it’s a major artery running east from 395 you’d expect it to be a large, busy, characterless shoulder ride. I don’t know how busy it is in high season (I drove in on a weekday morning in late September and saw a few cars only), but as to the other fears, at first you’re right (see photo at end of post). The first few miles are a dead flat dead straight boring slog across the Owens Valley flats. Then it gets better, and better, and better… As always in such cases, I give you permission to drive those first miles and start riding when the terrain and road contour interest you.
Looking west at Bishop, California, and the Eastern Sierra—double-click to appreciate
After the flats, you enter a canyon that is at first fairly uninteresting—dirt hills with scrub brush. But the further you go the deeper and more dramatic the canyon gets and the more serpentine the road contour, until finally (and absurdly, considering this is a “major” highway) you’re riding between wonderful rock walls on what is essentially a one-lane road. Just before our turn-off you pop out onto a kind of mesa and the road goes big again.
At mile 13, turn L onto White Mountain Road—there’s a prominent Bristlecone Pine Forest sign there. What has so far just been a good ride is about to get cosmic. By the way I don’t know anything about riding Hwy 168 past the WMR turn-off.
Bristlecone pine
There is much confusion among sources about how much of White Mountain Road is paved. The answer is: for 10 miles, to the Shulman Grove Visitor Center. The road continues on for miles and miles, but becomes dirt a few feet past the Center.
White Mountain Road is a small, winding, steep road. Immediately upon turning onto it you find yourself in a new ecosystem, the pinyon-juniper woodlands. There’s an informative board in a turn-off on your L a stone’s throw from the intersection explaining what that means. You can pass the time during the next miles practicing telling the two kinds of tree apart.
The pinions and junipers are thick in here, and after a while it becomes a bit boring riding between walls of them, so you’ll be happy when you leave them behind and break out into a open hillside that gives you staggering views of the valley below and the Sierra ridgeline to the west. I can’t think of another vista on Earth that can beat it. Soon you pass a formal vista point, Sierra View Vista Point (clever name), but there is no need to stop because you’re going to get vistas that are as good or better for the next 4 miles and you can stop anywhere. The vista point does have one of those boards identifying the individual peaks on the horizon, but I found it incomprehensible.
Near the top of White Mountain Road
The last 4 miles, from here to the end of the road, is a truly extraordinary, and potentially terrifying, stretch of riding. The road clings to the open sidehill, constantly climbing steeply and serpentining back and forth, with a 5,000-ft drop on your L side and no thought of a guard rail. This is a good time to ask yourself, Do I really want to come down this thing? If not, turn around. I wouldn’t do it without disc brakes, at a minimum. Remember, on the ride up you’re on the inside lane, on the descent you’re on the outside—much scarier.
Ride to the Shulman Visitor Center. It’s a classic Visitor Center, full of all the information you could possibly want about bristlecone pines, the oldest living things on earth. It’s spanking clean, because the old Visitor Center burned to the ground not long ago and was rebuilt. There are three loop hiking trails, and you will need to walk at least 1/4 mile on one of them to see any good pines—(ironically) the bristlecone pines around the Visitor Center are too healthy to take on the famous gnarly look we all think of when we think “Bristlecone pine,” because they’re in too protected a spot. Bristlecone pines need abuse to get gnarly. So come prepared to do a bit of walking.
Descending the top of White Mountain Road
The Forest’s mascot is Meth- uselah, the oldest known bristlecone pine, checking in at 4700 years old and constantly referred to by the Center staff as the “oldest living thing on earth.” If you google “oldest living thing” you’ll see there’s some controversy about that, but anyway, if you want to see it you’ll have to walk 4.5 miles from the Visitor Center (with significant elevation gain, at 10,000 ft elevation). I contented myself with looking at photographs.
Starting the ride: doesn’t look like much
The return ride is hard for me to imagine—46 miles of almost uninterrupted descending, much of it steep, much of it serpentining on a narrow road with a world-class drop-off and no shoulder or guardrails. Don’t do this unless you have complete faith in your brakes. If you do it, drop me a note and tell me how it was.
Shortening the ride: Do White Mountain Road only. Or if you don’t relish the dangers of WMR, do E Hwy 168 only.
Distance: 13.6-mile out-and-back Elevation gain: 1930 ft
As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context.
This is a fairly short, easy-for-the-area climb that starts 14 miles up W. Hwy 186 out of Bishop. People ride those first 14 miles all the time, and you’re welcome to, but I find the terrain dry and uninspiring (small rocks and brush), the road contour boring (straight, with unaltered pitch) and the road surface cursed with those horizontal expansion cracks filled with dribble tar every five yards, not a terrible surface but enough to turn descending into an endless refrain of kaTHUMP kaTHUMP.
Fourteen miles up the road there is a fork—Hwy 168 continuing to the R and South Lake Road going to the L. And if you take the L fork, magic happens. The road surface goes to glass and the contour takes on some character. The pitch moderates a bit, from phew to pleasant. And around 8000 ft elevation the aspens begin to appear. From then on, it’s as pretty a ride as I know, if the aspens are changing color (in 2023 they got serious on 9/28). Even if they aren’t, it’s a fine ride.
This is not a wilderness ride. Even though South Lake Rd. looks very small on some maps, it’s a manicured, wide two-lane with campgrounds, resorts, and guiding operations along the route, and you will see some traffic going to and from those places.
You’ll see from the figures above that this ride is, compared to the other climbing rides in our Eastern Sierra stable, shorter and flatter. For which I say, thank god. But if that disappoints you, there are steeper, longer rides all around you (see the By Region discussion of the area).
As with most Eastern Sierra rides, there isn’t much to say about this one. Drive up Hwy E. 168 to the South Lake turnoff on the L (unmissable). Ride to South Lake. Ride back.
The first couple of miles aren’t impressive—more loose rock and brush. But the canyon steepens and the woods begin to appear. Soon you’re riding alongside a substantial creek (South Creek, I assume), which you can hear but you can’t see. Not to worry. What’s blocking your view are beautiful aspens, and soon you’ll get closer and get good creek views. It’s a nice, tumbling stream. Google maps says there’s a falls on the route, but you’ll have to seek it out—it’s not apparent from the road.
Aspens
The pitch varies pleasantly from moderate to easy, until the last 1.5 miles, when things get more serious. The last half-mile or so is truly hard.
You top out at South Lake, a dammed lake with a resort, a boat launch, a dock, and the other signs of development. It’s not primitive, but it’s pretty. The road continues briefly, but I didn’t do it.
The return ride is a masterpiece of straight descending, with just enough curvature to keep you alert and that same glassy surface. Sustained 40 mph is easy. I took an hour and twenty minutes to ride to the lake and 19 minutes to return, and I didn’t push it.
Shortening the ride: Skip the last 1/2-mile pitch. If you’re really serious about making it easy, drive the first couple of miles, until the landscape gets good.
Adding miles: Ride the 14 miles from Bishop to South Lake Road, and/or the remaining miles on 168 above the fork. Hwy 168 deadends at Sabrina Lake, a particularly beautiful alpine lake that’s substantially prettier than South Lake, so even if you don’t ride up there you might drive there after your ride just to see it.
