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 much alike in character, profile, rewards, and difficulty level. They’re both steep, long, challenging climbs that switchback up the face of the Sierra, then penetrate westward into the mountains. They both offer amazing views of the Owens Valley below.
I haven’t ridden Whitney Portal—the only ride in Bestrides I haven’t done—because I think Horseshoe Meadows is a better ride (longer, less steep, less traffic, more switchbacks) and I frankly don’t need to do two such rides. But WPR is iconic and popular, so I wanted to alert you to its existence. It’s also more exposed than HMR, so do Horseshoe if you’re bothered by acrophobia or vertigo.
This ride begins climbing at a moderate pace and gets progressively steeper, first 9%, then 10%, finally 11%. At that elevation, such pitches are very tough. Horseshoe Meadows Rd. is not quite that severe.
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. As always, off-season riding is recommended.
As of 11/24, Whitney Portal Rd. is closed by construction just a stone’s throw out of town. Signage will guide you through the detour, which takes you (conveniently) through our Tuttle Creek Rd. ride and a couple of miles of our Horseshoe Meadows Rd. ride, so you can look them over.
WPR takes you by 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. 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.
Shortening the ride: Ride to the top of the switchback and return.
Adding miles: For a few more easy miles, ride our Tuttle Creek Rd. ride, whose starting point you rode right past at the start of this ride. For a lot more hard miles, ride our Horseshoe Meadows Rd. ride, whose starting point you rode right past near the start of this ride.
I did this kinda by accident. I was just gonig to ride Tuttle Road, so I left the hotel in Lone Pine (3800′) at 8:30 with no food and one water bottle. When I got to the top of Tuttle I knew I had to go on, even on my heavy steel touring bike–it was too grand an opportunity to let pass. The straight section was an even pitch and I immediately noticed the excellent road quality–no expansion gaps–and that spurred me on. I bonked an hour later on the switchbacks but a nice tourist couple from Germany gave me water and three bars and I was back on the road. Toward the end the road slopes up a bit but not enough to dissuade. Finally at the top (8400′) I was thrilled. The store at the road end is suprisingly well-stocked with backpacker food, cooked food, and more. The descent (rim brakes on heavy-duty Dyads) was a little too fast on the smooth asphalt at first and I stopped once to check them–they were hot! and I was concerned but on the lower half the slope relaxes and I reached terminal velocity without brakes, around 35mph. I arrived back home on Tuttle Road at 12:30–an epic outing. Highly recommended, but go with two water bottles, food, and warm clothes for the descent.