Horseshoe Meadows Road

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 similar in character, profile, rewards, and difficulty level. WPR is a bit longer, a bit shallower, with more overall elevation gain. I’m told that WPR is slammed with outdoorsy people in season, because as its name implies it’s the access point for hiking Mt. Whitney, so Horseshoe is the (much) less populated option, but I’m always there out of season and I suggest you do the same, so it shouldn’t matter.

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), three are considered the blockbusters, the climbs you brag about doing: in order of difficulty, they’re Whitney Portal (easiest), Horseshoe, and Onion Valley Rd. (hardest). Onion Valley is longer and steeper than the other two, and in my opinion without merit—just endless unvaried climbing through a featureless wasteland. But Whitney Portal and Horseshoe have character. While other area rides 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 much more dramatic, with matchless vistas of the valley below.

I haven’t ridden Whitney Portal yet—the one ride in Bestrides I haven’t done—because I only had time to do one of the two and I chose Horseshoe because it has more switchbacks and is longer, less steep, and has less exposure.

Perhaps surprisingly, this ride isn’t in my Best of the Best list, despite it being spectacular, because it has two drawbacks: It’s a ton of climbing (like, maybe 3 hours) at an almost unvaried pitch and mostly in a straight line, and the descent, which on paper should be heavenly, is cursed by the same three ailments that afflict almost all descents in this area: too-steep pitch, rough road surface, and expansion cracks. I did the entire descent on my brakes, getting my teeth rattled, and was glad when it was over. (Confession: several sources praise the smoothness of HMR’s road surface. I can only assume that their standards are much lower than mine. One said that Onion Valley’s expansion cracks were much worse, which I don’t doubt.). But the scenery is world-class and the vistas of the valley beneath you are sublime. If you love long climbs and grand vistas, this is the ride for you.

If you’re freaked out by exposure, you can still do this ride. Although for most of the ride the drop-off is enormous, the road is a wide two-lane and there is almost always a healthy buffer of dirt shoulder between you and the lip. I’m afraid of heights and I wasn’t bothered at all.

Let me sound my usual warnings about riding in this area: 1) It’s high, so the air is thin (this ride tops out at just under 10,000 ft.), so the climbing is much harder than the pitches would suggest; and 2) it’s high, so it’s cold, and you’re going to be descending at speed (maybe), so take lots more clothing with you than you need at the start of the ride.

The switchbacks

At the junction of Horseshoe and Whitney Portal Rd., you’re 1/4 miles from the famous Movie Road, a dirt road that takes you into the Alabama Hills area where hundreds of Hollywood movies and TV westerns were filmed. If you grew up with 50’s westerns, it’s a must-do car trip. Even if you didn’t, the rock formations are the best rock I’ve ever seen outside a National Park. Print guides to the area (which movie was shot where) can be had on line or at the Western Movie Museum in town. Don’t try to bike in—the road is either washboard or sand, and unridable.

Horseshoe Meadows Road takes off from Whitney Portal Road. As of 11/24, WPR is closed for repair and you need to detour around the construction via Tuttle Creek Rd., which will drop you onto HMR. Park on the dirt shoulder anywhere along HMR.

Looking down on one switchback from the one above, with Owens Lake to the south

The first 4 miles of HMR are dead straight dead flat. Ride them if you’re determined to do the entire road, or drive to when the first gradual pitch begins. Those first miles pass some nice rock formations, but if you drive Tuttle Creek Rd. or the movie road you’ll see better. You’ll see where the climbing starts—the first leg of the ride, up to the first switchback, is laid out before you.

On the switchbacks

That first leg is interminable and not particularly interesting, because the slope of the sidehill is so mild that you’re riding through nothing but dirt and brush—no good rocks yet. But the vistas to your left are grand almost from the get-go and keep getting better, so you’ll have something to think about. The pitch on this beginning leg is pretty much the pitch for the remainder of the ride.

Once past the first switchback, the sidehill gets much steeper so the landscape gets rockier and grander, and the scenery will hold your interest to the end of the ride. There are several places where you can look down and see below you some of the switchbacks you’ve already ridden, and far below them the first miles of Horseshoe Meadow Rd. on the valley floor. You may even see your parked car, 3500 ft. below you—marvelous.

Looking north, with Lone Pine on the R edge of the frame and the first miles of Horseshoe Meadows Rd. between town and the switchbacks

Once off the switchbacks, you have almost 6 more miles to go. The road continues climbing at the same pace along the face of a canyon, so the exposure and vistas continue. The scenery is terrific—grand rocks and twisted junipers—and may actually be better than the switchbacks. The end of the road is nothing more than an undeveloped campground and some trailheads, so there’s no grand sense of “I did it!” If there’s a meadow, I couldn’t find it, but everything was under snow when I was there. (One source described the meadows as “vast.”)

As I said above, the descent is a disappointment. The first miles are marred by ugly expansion cracks, the next miles are marred by unpleasantly chattery road surface, and it’s almost all too steep to be bombed unless you’re a champion descender. I only enjoyed the last few miles. It’s tragic, because the scenery on the descent is world-class but I missed it all because I was staring at the road surface trying to minimize my suffering.

On the switchbacks

Shortening the ride: For the best stuff, drive to the first switchback, park, and ride to the top of the switchbacks—about 5 mi. one way.

Above the switchbacks

Adding miles: For a few more relatively easy miles, ride our Tuttle Creek Rd. ride, which you probably had to drive to get to this ride if Whitney Portal Rd. is still closed. For a lot more work, ride our Whitney Portal Rd. ride—just ride to the north end of Horseshoe and turn west.

3 thoughts on “Horseshoe Meadows Road

  1. Tom Kenney

    Horseshoe Meadows Road is a better ride than Whitney Portal Rd.–better vistas, more switchbacks. HMR feels like you’re climbing the edge of the world. The views are very open until you’re about 100m higher than Whitney Portal, still a ways from the terminus at Horseshoe Meadows. The grade is about the same for both rides, both less than Onion Valley Road. At the top of the HMR switchbacks is Walt’s Point, a very dramatic glider jump-off.

    You can camp at Tuttle Creek CG (1600m elev) to acclimate, and start directly from the camp.

    Reply
    1. Jack Rawlins Post author

      See the “Cycling the Eastern Sierra” section of the By Regions page for my reservations about acclimating.

      Reply
  2. Sean Jawetz

    I had the thrill of riding this today–what a treat! Really feels like you’re on top of the world, and the only other car I saw was a pickup truck with a plow attachment. Fortunately there was nothing more than a few patches of ice at the campground at the summit. The road surface is fine to good, and there are toilets at the top (the water has been turned off by this time of year). Thanks for bringing my attention to this road, Jay!

    Reply

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