Distance: 8 miles out and back Elevation gain: 825 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.
Have you ever ridden a bike through a National Park or National Monument and thought, “Wow, the scenery’s great, but the road is wide as a freeway and straight as a stick, and there are people everywhere. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if just once I could ride through scenery as grand as this, but on a small road with a charming contour and have the whole place to myself?” Fantasy, of course—except the fantasy is real, and the place is called Tuttle Creek Road, just outside of Lone Pine, CA.
TCR runs through the heart of the Alabama Hills, a small region west and northwest of Lone Pine long valued by Hollywood western filmmakers for its camera-worthy rocks (watch Clint Eastwood’s movie Joe Kidd to see them at their best). The road with the most cinematic history is the Movie Road, which goes north from Whitney Portal Rd. just west of town, but it’s dirt and the rocks on Tuttle are just as good.
It’s all of 4 miles long—probably the shortest ride in Bestrides—and it took me all of 50 minutes out and back, but it’s well worth the 2 hours I drove to ride it. Actually, the first 1.2 miles of the route is dead boring, so we’re really talking about just 2.8 miles of gold. If you doubt it’s worth it, look at the photos (click on them to appreciate).
You will do some work—note the not-insignificant elevation gain—but it’s that sort of work where you can see exactly how short the 10% pitches are so you can romp up them with a light heart.
If you want to ride more than 8 miles, you’re in luck—the turn-around point is a stone’s throw from Horseshoe Meadow Road and the starting point is on Whitney Portal Road, both of which are in Bestrides and either of which will give you all the work you crave.
Normally TCR sees no through traffic. But at the moment (11/24) the bottom of Whitney Portal Rd. is closed to all traffic and TCR is serving as the detour around the closure. Thus the road is temporarily crawling with through traffic (that is to say, you’ll probably see two cars). I still found it an unforgettable experience. Imagine how great it will be when WPR is open again.
Start at the intersection of Tuttle Creek Rd. and Whitney Portal Rd. Ride to the intersection of TCR and Sunset Drive, when it’s obvious that all the fun is over. Turn around and ride back.
Click on all photos to enlarge
The elevation profile on RidewithGPS is misleading, because it makes it look like a medium-steep 2.5-mile slog. It’s nothing of the sort—it’s constantly up and down, and it’s got several marvelous whoop-de-doos that break up the climbing. The serpentine contour makes the return descent a delight and a challenge, and you can roll the whoop-de-doos at 25 mph. It’s like Disney designed it.
This is a ride where you should consider getting off the bike. The boulders provide world-famous rock scrambling, and the road follows Tuttle Creek, which is a real, babbling desert creek full of actual water that is often just feet from the road, so foot-dabbling is easy and rewarding.
Back at your car, take the rest of the day to check out the Movie Museum in town, which is full of lore about the western movies of your youth…well, my youth.
Shortening the ride: Hardly.
Adding miles: Our Horseshoe Meadows and Whitney Portal rides are adjacent. Of course the easiest way to add miles is to ride TCR 2 or 3 times, and it’s worth it.
Distance: 27-mile out and back Elevation gain: 930 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.
Every ride doesn’t have to be exhilarating. Sometimes it’s a beautiful thing to just go roll a lovely road and see some pretty sights.
Such is the Twin Lakes Road ride out of Bridgeport. It’s dead easy—maybe the easiest ride in Bestrides (check that elevation total). It has no thrilling descents or challenging climbs and no bucket-list features. Still, it’s perfect—a few miles of flats through fields of picturesque cows, some easy climbing to open up the legs, a stroll along the shore of two lovely lakes, and some genteel 25-30-mph descending on the return, all on a manicured two-lane road with flawless pavement and with striking eastern Sierra ridges as backdrop. It’s the perfect recovery-day ride or ride to do with your less gung-ho buddy or partner. It’s also one of only four rides I know along the Hwy 395 corridor that don’t have a ton of vertical (it, South Round Valley Road, Tuttle Creek Road, and the June Lakes loop).
There is another selling point for this ride. If you travel Hwy 395, eventually you’ll end up staying in Bridgeport, because it’s the only real town you pass through between Bishop and Carson City (or Tahoe, depending on which way you’re going). When you’re there, you’re going to want to ride. This ride is it.
This ride has absolutely no shade until you reach the lakes, and very little thereafter, so I wouldn’t do it on a sweltering day.
The lakes are a popular recreation area, and Twin Lakes Road has several campgrounds along it, so traffic could theoretically be a problem, though it’s a wide two-lane road with effortless passing everywhere. I rode it at the end of September on a Saturday afternoon and saw very few cars, but it was off-season.
Start in downtown Bridgeport, a small town of considerable charm and hipness with lots of character-rich, inexpensive lodging—a perfect one-night stopover. Check out the bakery if you’re there between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when it’s open. Ride Twin Lakes Road to its end, then return.
The road begins with 4 miles of dead flat, dead straight riding through fields sprinkled with cattle. In the background is a striking, jagged ridgeline between two closer rounded hills. You’ll have that ridgeline in front of you for the entire ride out. If flat isn’t your thing you have my permission to drive the 4 miles, to a 90-degree right turn and a good gravel parking area at the entrance to the Circle H Guest Ranch, AKA Hunewill Ranch (clearly signed both ways). After that corner, the road is almost continuously up, but either so gradually you don’t notice or at a mild pitch you can easily spin without effort. The road begins to meander a little, just enough to give it some character, and the Sierra ridgeline continues to loom larger.
In these first miles you’ll probably see colorful groups of cowgirls on horseback. Give them a wide berth—many horses are terrified of bikes, to the point of becoming uncontrollable.
In exactly 10 miles you round a corner and the lake appears. Drink in the view—it’s the prettiest view of the lakes you’ll get, though views of the lakes will be constant. Soon you pass a typical little California mountain resort—cabins, deli, etc.—and you’ll worry that the entire lakefront is built up, but it’s surprisingly undeveloped, with only a spot or two of habitation, until you reach the end of the pavement at Mono Village, a large RV resort at the far end of Upper Twin, in 3+ miles. All lovely, untroubled riding with the water almost continuously at your elbow. There are two lakes, Lower Twin and Upper Twin, with a kind of dam between them, but unless you have a sharp eye you won’t see it and it will seem like one very long lake.
Ride home. The mild uphills on the ride out turn out to be surprisingly brisk descents on the return, but in keeping with the spirit of the ride it’s all effortless grace and you’re back to your car before you know it, or at least back to those 4 miles of flat I told you you could skip.
Shortening the route: Start at Hunewill Ranch and/or turn around when you reach the lake.
Adding miles: There’s nothing good that I know of in the immediate area. See the general discussion of the Hwy 395 corridor (“Eastern Sierra”) in the Bestrides ByRegions page for more rides to the south.
There are six Bestrides rides in the Grass Valley/Nevada City area—Dog Bar, Red Dog/Pasquale, Willow Valley Road, McCourtney Rd. Etc., Bitney Springs, and Lower Colfax Road. They are all pleasant up-and-down strolls through nice woods—no grand vistas, no awe-inspiring crags, no waterfalls, nothing of the sort. Each route has its virtues. Dog Bar has the best descent (on Rattlesnake), but it’s also the most built up. Dog Bar goes to Grass Valley, a lovely town. Red Dog/Pasquale and Willow Valley begin and end in Nevada City, a very lovely town, and both go through the prettiest woods. Overall the best of the four is Willow Valley. Despite its lack of spectacle, it’s absolute bliss mile after mile. I’d do it first, then any of the others.
This slightly odd-shaped lollipop introduces you to the fine roads to the east of Nevada City. The woodland scenery is choice, the road surfaces are good to great, the road contour is consistently interesting, and there is a pretty lake and an off-road dirt adventure in the middle of it all. Almost all of the roads are centerline-less one-lane plus or small two-lane, traffic is close to nothing, and almost all the climbing is mellow (unless you don’t want it to be—see below).
RidewithGPS does a poor job of navigating you through the off-road segment, so I’m going to lead you through it step by step. I encourage you to read that segment carefully, if only that segment.
Start at the corner of Willow Valley Rd. and Nevada St. in Nevada City. There is no street parking on Willow Valley Road, but there is plenty along Nevada St. Starting here means the ride ends with a fairly fierce little climb up Nevada. You can put the climb at the start by beginning at the corner of Boulder St. and Nevada. It’s up to you.
Ride up Willow Valley Rd. At first it’s built up with friendly, small houses, but surprisingly soon you’re in woods, and the occasional house is set back from the road where it doesn’t interfere with the sense of being in the forest. The road also sheds some width, from a modest two-lane with dividing line to a sweet one-lane plus. Climb all the way to the end of the road at Hwy 20.
Scotts Flat Road
All this climbing is fairly mellow (you’ll see moments of 10%), and if that disappoints you you can opt for more difficulty, thusly: At the intersection of Willow Valley Rd. and Scotts Valley Rd. (not Scotts Flat Rd.), our route goes L and stays on WVR. If you want to test yourself, go R onto SVR. The next mile+ is consistently 10+%, with plenty of 13%, and it’s hard. If you go that way, you’ll lop off the descent down Scotts Flat Rd. (see below), so I suggest that when you reach the intersection of SVR and SFR you turn L, ride up SFR, turn around at Hwy 20, and descend SFR, because it’s really sweet. But if the rigors of SVR have slaked your thirst for climbing, go R on SFR and continue on our route.
Assuming you stayed on Willow Valley Rd., as our map does, you deadend at Hwy 20. All the extended climbing is over—the rest is downhill or rollers. Go R onto 20 and ride the short stretch to the intersection with Scotts Flat Rd. Hwy 20 Is straight and busy but there’s plenty of shoulder so it’s no problem.
Scotts Valley Road (which we’re skipping)
At the intersection of 20 and SFR, there’s a lot going on. You’re at a hub where many mountain bike trails meet, so you should see lots of MTB activity. There’s a famous little store that’s been there forever and caters to riders (mostly mountain bikers), the Harmony Ridge Market. They have good freshly-made sandwiches, along with the other usual stuff. Across the street is a new, snazzy resort, and in the parking lot is posted prominently a large map of the trail system in the area, which will inspire you to return if you’re a MTB-er.
Ride down Scotts Flat Rd. It’s a mellow and sweet descent on another small road in pretty woods and with houses set back discreetly among the trees. SFR is the main route from Hwy 20 to Scotts Flat Lake, so it may see a lot of recreational and boat traffic on summer weekends—I don’t know. I was there on Tuesday and Wednesday after Labor Day, and the road, campground, and marina were deserted.
Casci Road
Stay on SFR past the first of two recreational areas with campgrounds (signed with a small “Gate #1” sign and an arrow pointing you down the road toward Gate 2), ride past most of Scotts Flat Lake, and when you get to Gate #2—the marina and day use area—find Casci Rd. heading off on the L (clearly signed) and take it.
Casci Rd. is an odd duck that I really like. It hugs the shoreline, so you get lovely views of the lake through the shoreline trees, it looks manicured, and it’s absolutely barren of houses (except for one mansion). It’s lined with signs prohibiting parking, so it’s pretty quiet, but it’s also the downhill terminus for mountain biking trails coming down from Harmony Market, so on a summer weekend you’ll meet lots of MTB shuttle vans and pickups. They aren’t a problem.
Scotts Flat Lake Dam
Casci continues for several miles, but after it clears the lake it turns from flat to very steep and immediately turns to gravel, so at the unmistakable steepening our route turns around.
You may notice as you ride Casci that between you and the lake is a prominent parking lot. It’s the day use area for the lake, and you can access it by riding into the marina parking lot, riding through the campground via an unsigned, tiny road, and out the other side. It’s pleasant and adds perhaps a mile to your route. It’s one way to get your feet wet in the lake, but you don’t go there because Casci has lots of lakefront stretches that make getting to the water easy—you’ll see lots of umbrellas and cabanas.
hike-a-bike
Ride back to Gate # 1, a large and imposing campground with a large sign reading “Scotts Flat Recreation Area, Deer Creek Campground,” a very stout gate across the road, a guard station in the center of the gate, a large trailer for the campground host, and a lot of signage telling you you aren’t welcome. Believe it or not, you want to go in there.
Here begins our adventure. RidewithGPS glibly tells you to turn onto “Dam Rd.” There is no such thing. Instead, ride around the gate (There’s a little dirt path around the L end)., through the large campground and out the other end, continuing south and downhill toward the water. There is no signage to guide you, but common sense tells you where the dam has to be. Very soon you end up at a formidable gate across the lake’s dam. Here’s a map.
Pasquale Road
On the gate is the following remarkable statement: “Permission is granted for pedestrian or bicycle use for recreational purposes.” Thank you very much. Despite that spirit of accommodation, getting through or over the gate (you can’t go around) is difficult. There are two more gates like this one, so if you really hate lifting your bike over a gate, turn around.
Once over or through, ride across the dam on the rideable dirt dam top, enjoying the view of the lake. On the other side, several dirt roads set forth. Take the one uphill and directly in front of you (it’s rideable), and in 1/10 mile you’re at dam #2, the spillway dam. This one has fencing on the sides and a paved surface. On the other side, clamber over Gate #2 and take the dirt road, to the L. and along the shoreline. Eventually this road dead-ends at paved Pasquale Rd., but first you have to climb, at a pitch, for about 1/4 mile. On a gravel bike, it’s a sweet little burst of effort. On a road bike, it’s probably a walk. Either way, It isn’t painful—the woods are exquisitely beautiful in there, and the silence is delicious. At the end of the dirt road, climb over Gate #3 with another “Permission to pass…” sign and go R on Pasquale Rd.
We’re on the route of the Red Dog/Pasquale ride. Follow Pasquale to Red Dog, Red Dog (which turns into Boulder) to Nevada, and Nevada back to your car. Pasquale’s praises are sung in the other ride description. It’s one of my favorite bike rides anywhere, a uniquely charming contour through uniquely gorgeous woods. Red Dog, more developed, bigger, faster, is splendid in its own way, a 30mph+ ripper that’s the most exhilarating descending on the route.
As mentioned, Nevada St. is a stiff little climb, and if you want to ride around it just continue past it, cross the bridge into Nevada City proper, immediately go R onto Coyote St. and L on Washington St., which runs you back into Nevada after the tough climbing is over.
If you’ve already ridden the Red Dog/Pasquale ride and don’t want to repeat yourself (which I frankly cannot imagine), when you get back to Gate #1 don’t turn into the campground, continue west on Scotts Flat Rd., ride either down Scotts Valley Rd. (short and steep) or up Scotts Flat Rd. and down Willow Valley (longer, mellower, with climbing), and back on Willow Valley Rd. to your car.
Shortening the route: 1) Omit Casci Rd. 2) Ride the Scotts Valley Rd. cut-off instead of upper Willow Valley and upper Scotts Flat. 3) Ride to the Willow Valley Rd./Hwy 20 intersection and turn around. You can skip the Pasquale half of the route and ride back the way you came out, but I don’t think it reduces the mileage total. You can save a few miles by taking Scotts Valley Rd. on the return trip, but it’s a steep, fairly straight, and rather bumpy plunge I don’t enjoy.
Adding miles: Bestrides has 6 rides in the Grass Valley/Nevada City area,, all within easy bicycle reach of the others. See the Adding Miles section of the McCourtney Rd. Etc. ride for a list.
Distance: 15.3 out and back Elevation gain: 1410 ft
For years I avoided riding the west end of Hwy 4, since I knew it to be a big, busy, boring, touristy madhouse.
Turns out I just didn’t go far enough east. Hwy 4 is all those nasty things, at first, but the further east you go the more traffic and tourists it sheds—a lot of cars drop off at Murphys, then lots more at Calaveras Big Trees State Park, then lots more at Bear Valley, so that after Bear Valley the road is much of the time practically deserted. I did the ride on a Monday starting at 9:30 AM and most of the time had the road to myself. Obviously Saturday morning at 11 AM would be a different matter.
But the road is still big, straight, and boring. Until shortly after Bear Valley, when a magical thing happens—Tinker Bell waves her magic wand over that big, straight, boring road and, poof, it is transformed into a small, beautiful, meandering dreamboat of a road. And from that point, the next 7.5 miles are prime riding through gorgeous Sierra scenery. Maybe I’m just a good old California boy, but that high Sierra granite forest stirs me like nothing else.
The title of this ride is poetic license. Bear Valley is a nice place to start because it has unlimited parking, a grocery store, a bike shop, and other amenities, but the 2.2 miles of riding east of Bear Valley is as unpleasant as riding gets. It’s a dead straight climb on a huge empty road with unvarying pitch, and although it doesn’t look steep on paper the elevation (c. 7000 ft.) and your cold legs will make it seem so. I crawled up it at 4+ mph, and I’ll never do it again. Nor is it a pleasant descent returning, unless you like sitting on a bike with nothing to do except worry about crashing.
So my route actually begins after those 2.2 miles, at the Lake Alpine Snow-Park parking lot. I just thought that “Lake Alpine Sno-Park to Mosquito Lake” sounded tacky. If you want to ride those miles from Bear Valley to the Sno-Park, add 4.4 miles to our route total and about a million feet of elevation gain.
(Incidentally, there are two Bear Valleys: the first is right on Hwy 4, and it’s a community; the second is up Hwy 4 about 2 miles, then further up a side road on the L, and it’s the actual ski area. Skiers live in the community and shuttle bus to the ski area. I’m talking about the community.)
This route, like all Bestrides rides in this area, is snowed in during normal winters and is plowed open in the spring, usually some time in later June. I did the ride in early July after a historically heavy snowfall (2023) and road conditions were perfect, with patches of snow here and there in the trees along the route.
I saw no mosquitos at Mosquito Lake per se, but the ride was very buggy and I recommend bug spray.
Drive to the Sno-Park and park. Between Bear Valley and here, you’ll see two signs that promise 24% pitches in the road ahead, but we’re not going that far.
A few feet past the Sno-Park the road transforms from boring into perfect. A short descent takes you to Lake Alpine, which you can see through the trees. It’s very pretty. Immediately after the lake you do the only real work on the ride, 2 miles of climbing, the first mile demanding (8%) given the elevation, but the scenery is so fine you’ll have much to take your mind off the pitch. After that, it’s all mellow rolling through perfect scenery to Mosquito Lake, which is itself a perfect little Sierra jewel of a pond. It’s prettier if you can get there when there is still snow on the shoreline (see photo), but one can only control so much in life.
An aside about names: the campground by Mosquito Lake is called Mosquito Lakes Campground—plural lakes—and sometimes I see the lake(s) referred to as “Mosquito Lakes.” Apparently the “lake” is actually two bodies of water connected by a short channel, but the official name according to Google Maps is “Mosquito Lake,” singular.
Most lakes lie at the bottoms of watersheds, but Mosquito improbably sits just a few feet from a crest, the Pacific Grade Summit. Ride over the summit (signed) and around the corner to see the grand vista of everything to the east of you, and make a decision. The road ahead of you looks ideal, and it is—it’s the famous Pacific Grade, a legendary descent. Ride it if you wish—the riding remains good to excellent all the way to the Ebbetts Pass summit, down the east side along our Ebbetts Pass ride, and on to Markleeville—but unless you have a car waiting you’re going to have to ride back up Pacific Grade. It’s 2.5 miles long, steep (with moments of 24%, say the signs), and it tops out at 8050 ft. Know your limits. I turned around.
The ride back is dreamy—no extended descents but a series of thrilling little downs and little ups you can power up in a big gear and keep your momentum going. Good sight lines, no hairpins, a near-perfect surface, and the same grand scenery you just rode through make this as sweet a roller coaster as I’ve done in years.
Shortening the ride: You want to see Mosquito Lake and the vista to the east that follows. If you drive the 2-mile climb after Lake Alpine, you’re looking at a dead easy 11-mile-round-trip saunter.
Mosquito Lake
Adding miles: See above. Hwy 4 to the west of Bear Valley isn’t bad for a few miles, so riding to our Spicer Reservoir Road ride is entirely doable. To the east from the Pacific Grade Summit, there is as much great riding as your legs can endure—see the discussion of Pacific Grade above.
Distance: 17.8-mile out and back Elevation gain: 2390 ft
(A Best-of-the-Best descent)
Between Murphys and Ebbetts Pass on Hwy 4 I know of only three paved back-country roads. Luckily, two of them, this ride (officially called the Walter W. Smith Memorial Parkway) and our Spicer Reservoir Road ride, are excellent rides. Those two plus our Bear Valley to Mosquito Lake ride make the west end of Hwy 4 a pretty rich riding area all by themselves.
Big Trees and Spicer are almost mirror images of each other. They’re both out-and-backs that head south from Hwy 4, drop for a few miles of delicious, sweeping curves to a pretty river crossing, and climb the other side, all through pretty Sierra forests on excellent pavement. Both are bare of any signs of humanity except for road signs and occasional campgrounds. Both are closed by snow in the winter and open when the weather warms, usually some time in late June. Both are surprisingly wide two-lane roads where cars have lots of room to pass at all times.
So how are they different? Big Trees has the whole State Park experience: spectacular scenery (in this case giant sequoias), educational nature trails, a Visitor Center, crowds, packed campgrounds. Spicer has a beautiful lake at the turn-around. Big Trees’ big descent is longer—4 miles vs. 2.5 miles. (Therefore Big Trees’ long climb is also longer—4 miles vs. 2.5 miles. See how that works?). Big Trees costs $10; Spicer is free. Spicer is higher in elevation, so you get some of that matchless Sierra exposed granite; Big Trees is pretty much just trees. Spicer has a few miles of sweet rolling; Big Trees is almost entirely extended climbing or extended descending.
You would think that both rides would suffer from car traffic, Big Trees because it’s one of the state’s most popular summer tourist spots and Spicer because it’s the road to one of the area’s most attractive boating destinations. But in fact both rides can be traffic-free, if you choose your riding time wisely. In the case of Big Trees, 90% of the park traffic stops at the Visitor Center and the North Grove. Everyone else who heads down the road does so to get to campgrounds, and the campgrounds are always full, so the only cars on the road are the few who are leaving and the few who are taking their place. Most of them leave/arrive in the late morning or early afternoon on Saturday or Sunday. All that means, the road is uncrowded any time and especially uncrowded any time but midday on weekends. The last time I was there it was a beautiful Sunday in July, and I walked the North Grove trail, the most crowded place in the Park, at 9:30 and had the place largely to myself, so you can imagine how empty the road was.
Which ride would I do if I could only do one? It’s a tough call, but I’d go with Spicer, for its views of the lake, its more varied scenery, and it’s more varied road contour. But if you’re all about long descents, go with Big Trees.
The elevation-gain total for Big Trees (well over our 100 ft/mile benchmark) tells you this is a climbing ride, but it’s constant, not fierce, with a few brief moments around 8%.
Streetview doesn’t cover this ride, so you might worry that that means there’s something wrong with it. There isn’t. Streetview hasn’t mapped much of anything in the area other than Hwy 4 itself.
You would be insane to do this ride and not check out the sequoias, which are one of the wonders of the earth. Mightier than the redwoods, 20 times the weight of a blue whale, the largest things ever to live on our planet, they will change your life. There are two groves of sequoias, the North Grove (right by the entrance and Visitor Center) and the South Grove, at the end of the road. Far and away the best trees, and the outstanding free pamphlet trail guide, are in the North Grove, an easy 1.7-mile loop. The only argument for walking the South Grove, where the first sequoia you see is a mile down the trail, is to get away from people. If you only ride the road and hike none of the trails, you won’t see any giant sequoias—the park authorities intentionally laid out the road as far from the sequoias as possible to prevent the ground near their roots from being compacted by car traffic.
Since the ride profile is much like that of the Spicer Reservoir ride, I’m going to say the same thing I said there: choose where you want to start the ride by deciding where you want the big climb and the big descent to fall. The big drop starts 2 miles from the Visitor Center and drops to the river. If you start at the Center, the big drop is basically the first thing you’ll do. If you start at the river and ride back to the Visitor Center, the big climb is the first thing you’ll do. If you start at the river and head south, the big drop is the last thing you’ll do. I’ve mapped it the conventional way, starting at the Visitor Center, but I actually prefer to start at the river (the North Fork of the Stanislaus) and head south, thus saving the big descent for the end of the ride. It’s a dramatic stretch of river, so you might consider starting at the crossing if you’re the sort who likes a post-ride dip. There is a large parking lot with toilets exactly at the crossing, signed “River access parking” (not the riverside picnic area, which is 100 ft. north of there).
Assuming you’re starting at the Visitor Center, park in the VC parking lot and head down the one and only road. There are no forks or route options, so you can’t get lost and you don’t need a map.
There is some burn on the tree trunks near the start of the ride, and you might worry that you’re in for serious fire damage, but what you’re seeing is prescribed burn to reduce fuel density—the entire Hwy 4 area is without fire damage as of 7/23.
Climb almost imperceptibly for about 2 miles, then begin the obvious 4-mile descent. Immediately after you start down, there is a signed “Scenic Overlook.” It’s only a 1/10-mile detour, but for a scenic overlook it’s very pedestrian.
The descent is a Best of the Best one, sweeping corners separated by short straights on nearly perfect pavement (expect a few jolts from blemishes) with great sightlines and at a pitch that gives you lots of 35-mph stuff but rarely forces you hard on your brakes.
Cross the river and do a 2.3-mile climb which has moments that will make you work. Then comes about a half-mile of rollers to the South Grove parking lot. The road continues on for a half mile or so beyond the parking lot and dead-ends at a gate, a toilet, and a gravel road. Turn around and ride home.
Vistas are rare on this ride
The 4-mile climb back up the hill goes on a bit too long, but it’s a mellow pitch (steepest at the bottom, and not bad even then), and there are a couple of nice vistas of the river canyon you’re leaving behind on your R through the trees.
Shortening the ride: The best part of the ride is the descent from the Visitor Center to the river, so I’d do that as an out and back, starting at either end. The ride from the river to South Grove is also a good ride, but it’s steeper and there isn’t much to see other than trees.
Big Trees Parkway has a few good rocks
Adding Miles: As far as I know, there are only 4 paved roads in this area other than housing developments: Hwy 4 itself, our Spicer Reservoir Road ride, Big Trees, and Broads Crossing, which I haven’t ridden but which looks good and heads south from Hwy 4 at a signed intersection between Spicer and Big Trees. The beginning of Spicer is 19 unpleasant miles up Hwy 4 from Big Trees. Our Bear Valley to Mosquito Lake is another 6 less unpleasant miles further east from there.
If you’re in Murphys and looking for short, easy, mellow riding, there are two possibilities: Six Mile Rd. and Murphys Grade Rd. Both run between the town of Murphys and Hwy 49 and are pretty and pleasant but are too short to be Bestrides-worthy (six miles one way, both roads).
Six-Mile Rd. is the skinnier and quainter of the two. It meanders pleasantly past pretty woods, the occasional farmhouse, and one enormous vineyard (Ironstone) for the eponymous 6 miles, then dead-ends into Hwy 4, which is unrideably trafficky this close to Hwy 49, so expect to ride SMR as an out and back. It’s truly small, varying from standard country two-lane to true one-lane on very nice pavement (except for the 1/4 mile at the Murphys end), and should be traffic-free west of Ironstone.
Murphys Grade Rd. is the alternative route from Hwy 49 to Murphys, the main route being Hwy 4. It’s bigger and more domesticated than Six-Mile and considerably busier, but the bulk of the Murphys traffic should opt for the highway (except for now—6/23—when Hwy 4 is under construction). It’s entirely through lovely, lush woods thanks to the creek running alongside, the road contour is gently sinuous, and the road surface is great. It’s all uphill heading east, as the word “grade” implies, but it’s the mildest grade in the world, averaging around 3-5%. This one you can partially loop, by taking French Gulch Rd. the other way—FGR forks off MGR about one-third of the way from Why 49 to Murphys and returns to Murphys. FGR is more work—a fair amount of 8-10%. If you ride MGR from Murphys to Hwy 4, then return to FGR and take it back to Murphys, you’ll ride 12.5 mi. and climb 1020 ft.
Distance: 20.4-mile double out and back Elevation gain: 2000 ft
Between Murphys and Ebbetts Pass on Hwy 4 I know of only three paved back-country roads. Luckily, two of them, this ride and our Big Trees Parkway ride, are excellent rides. Those two plus our Bear Valley to Mosquito Lake ride make the west end of Hwy 4 a pretty rich riding area all by themselves.
Spicer and Big Trees are almost mirror images of each other. They’re both out-and-backs that head south from Hwy 4, drop for a few miles of delicious, sweeping curves to a pretty river crossing, and climb the other side, all through pretty Sierra forests on excellent pavement. Both are bare of any signs of humanity except for road signs and occasional campgrounds. Both are closed by snow in the winter and open when the weather warms, usually some time in late June. Both are surprisingly wide two-lane roads where cars have lots of room to pass at all times. Neither has suffered forest fire damage as of 7/23.
So how are they different? Big Trees has the whole State Park experience: spectacular scenery (in this case giant sequoias), educational nature trails, a Visitor Center, crowds, packed campgrounds. Spicer has a beautiful lake at the turn-around. Big Trees’ big descent is longer—4 miles vs. 2.5 miles—and slightly more exciting. (Therefore Big Trees’ long climb is also longer—4 miles vs. 2.5 miles—and slightly steeper. See how that works?). Big Trees costs $10; Spicer is free. Spicer is higher in elevation, so you get some of that magnificent Sierra exposed granite; Big Trees is pretty much just trees.
You would think that both rides would suffer from car traffic, Big Trees because it’s one of the state’s most popular summer tourist spots and Spicer because it’s the road to one of the area’s most attractive boating destinations. But in fact both rides can be traffic-free, if you choose your riding time wisely. I’ll explain why Big Trees can be car-free in that post. Spicer is largely deserted most of the time because boaters only drive to and from lakes at certain times: Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday late morning/early afternoon heading in, and Sunday afternoon/evening heading out. The rest of the time the road is yours. Or so logic tells me. I had only Saturday in early July to do this ride, the worst possible time, so I started riding at 9 am and had the road to myself. Traffic began being an issue around 11 am, when I was done.
Of Spicer and Big Trees, which ride would I do if I could only do one? It’s a tough call, but I’d go with Spicer, for its views of the lake, its more varied scenery, and its more varied road contour. But if you’re all about long descents, go with Big Trees.
Streetview only maps the first quarter of SRR, and sometimes that’s a sign that the road becomes impassable, but in this case not so—the road is wide and immaculate in its entirety.
Incredibly, although Spicer Reservoir Rd. is large and well-maintained, there is absolutely no signage at the turn-off on Hwy 4—no indication of road, lake, boat ramp, power station, dam, or anything. There are small signs reading “Spicer Reservoir Road” and “Sno-Park” about 1/4 mi. before the turn-off to the west. So keep an eye on your GPS.
Of course you can ride this road by parking at the Hwy 4/Spicer intersection (there is a huge Sno Park parking lot 1/4 mi. down Spicer), riding to the end of the road, and riding back. But the riding profile means that if you do that you begin with the best descent, before you’re awake enough to enjoy it, and you follow it with the hardest climbing, when you’ve hardly turned a pedal. So, even though it involves an additional 2.9 mi. of car miles, I encourage you to drive down Spicer to the Stanislaus River crossing and park there. Ride to Hwy 4, then turn around and ride to your car. Continue past it and ride to Spicer reservoir, then turn around and return to your car. That way you warm up on the easier climb, are wide awake for the best descending, and are fully warm for the harder climb. If climbing on cold legs isn’t your thing, there is a quarter-mile of flat at the river crossing where you can do some warming up. I’ll describe the route assuming you’re taking my advice.
There is a campground at the Stanislaus River crossing but they ask you not to park there unless you’re camping. There are dirt pull-outs a stone’s throw beyond the bridge. The river itself is small but lovely, and a post-ride plunge is a perfect end to the ride.
Don’t ride off quite yet. The granite hill to the immediate southeast of the bridge is the best scenery on the ride until you get to the lake. Check it out.
Ride to Hwy 4—2.9 easy to moderate miles of climbing through conventionally pretty Sierra scenery. At Hwy 4 turn around and enjoy a really good, fast, sweeping descent back to the river. The sight lines are all excellent, the road surface is next-to-flawless, and there isn’t a sharp bend anywhere, so you can carry a lot of speed and shouldn’t need brakes.
As you pass your car, you can drop any clothing you no longer need. The 1 mile south of the bridge is the hardest climbing on the route, but it’s never fierce, and after that it’s charming shallow rollers and short climbs/descents to the lake (7.2 mi. total). This is as pleasant as riding gets. Note the one unexpected hairpin turn clearly indicated on the map.
As you approach the lake (which is actually called the New Spicer Meadows Reservoir) you’ll hit an intersection you might not even notice. A small sign with arrows points L to “boat ramp/day use” and other things. The main road clearly goes R (just follow the freshly painted brilliant yellow double line), but my GPS called that L turn the “main road.” It isn’t—it’s a 1/10th-mi. spur that goes (as the sign says) to the tiny boat ramp and small shoreline day use area. Go there only if you want to play in the lake water, use the bathroom, or see a large map of the lake. The vistas are on the other road.
Spicer Reservoir
Assuming you’ve followed the yellow line, you won’t get a good view of the lake for a while. Even though the map makes it look like you’re riding along the lake shore, you’re actually rolling up and down 100 ft or so above the waterline, and trees and boulders are blocking your view. When you finally get to the one and only spot where you see the lake in all its glory, it’s splendid—stop, take it in, and get off your bike and stroll around. Consider clambering down to the lake—it’s a moderately steep but completely doable scramble. Beyond this point (marked by a “No camping beyond this point” sign on a tree) the road drops steeply for a half-mile, then ends in the middle of dam engineering—interesting, but leaving you with a tough half-mile climb getting back. Do it if you wish (our map skips it), then turn around and head to your car.
The ride back is without major climbing and without exhilarating descending—just an idyllic meander through Sierra paradise. (OK, there’s one 1/2-mi. climb you’ll notice). The ride back down the climb you did going out is too steep and too straight to be of much interest.
Shortening the ride: From the Stanislaus River bridge, either out-and-back makes a lovely ride. The southern route gives you the lake and the sweet rollers, so I’d do it first. If you’re all about ripping descents, do the northern route.
Adding Miles: As far as I know, there are only 4 paved roads in this area other than housing developments: Hwy 4 itself, Spicer, Big Trees, and Broads Crossing, which I haven’t ridden but which looks good and heads south from Hwy 4 at a signed intersection between Spicer and Big Trees. The Spicer/Hwy 4 intersection is 6 ridable miles from our Bear Valley to Mosquito Lake ride and, in the other direction, 16 mostly unpleasant miles to the Broads Crossing turn-off and 19 miles to our Big Trees ride.
If you’re in Murphys and looking for short, easy, mellow riding, there are two possibilities: Six Mile Rd. and Murphys Grade Rd. Both run between the town of Murphys and Hwy 49 and are pretty and pleasant but are too short to be Bestrides-worthy (six miles one way, both rides).
Six-Mile Rd. is the skinnier and quainter of the two. It meanders pleasantly past pretty woods, the occasional farmhouse, and one enormous vineyard (Ironstone) for the eponymous 6 miles, then dead-ends into Hwy 4, which is unrideably trafficky this close to Hwy 49, so expect to ride SMR as an out and back. It’s truly small, varying from standard country two-lane to true one-lane on very nice pavement (except for the 1/4 mile at the Murphys end), and should be traffic-free west of Ironstone.
Murphys Grade Rd. is the alternative route from Hwy 49 to Murphys, the main route being Hwy 4. It’s bigger and more domesticated than Six-Mile and considerably busier, but the bulk of the Murphys traffic should opt for the highway (except for now—6/23—when Hwy 4 is under construction). It’s entirely through lovely, lush woods thanks to the creek running alongside, the road contour is gently sinuous, and the road surface is great. It’s all uphill heading east, as the word “grade” implies, but it’s the mildest grade in the world, averaging around 3-5%. This one you can partially loop, by taking French Gulch Rd. the other way—FGR forks off MGR about one-third of the way from Why 49 to Murphys and returns to Murphys. FGR is more work—a fair amount of 8-10%. If you ride MGR from Murphys to Hwy 4, then return to FGR and take it back to Murphys, you’ll ride 12.5 mi. and climb 1020 ft.
Occidental is an amazing cycling resource. Six roads head out of this little town, and each one of them is some degree of wonderful for riders. All 6 figure in a Bestrides route in one way or another. This route focuses on the roads to the northwest of town. It and Bittner Rd. (which is in our Coleman Valley Rd. ride) are the only ones with thrilling descents.
This ride comes with some caveats. The Bohemian Highway can be unpleasantly, dangerously trafficky. About a quarter of the miles on our loop have a bad case of Sonoma County Disease (i.e. have rough surfaces). And one leg of the loop is downright not fun to ride. But the other three quarters of the miles are glass, for all of those three quarters the scenery is as good as the area gets (which is, gorgeous), and if we deal with BH’s traffic issues it’s a descent to be remembered.
See the Occidental Loop ride notes for info on the town of Occidental itself.
The Bohemian Highway also goes the opposite direction, south, out of Occidental briefly and dead-ends at Freestone, and it’s a pleasant enough few miles, but we’re interested in the northern direction, from Occidental to Monte Rio, 6.3 mi of delicious descending to the Russian River. It’s never steep (2-5%), which sounds boring, but it isn’t—it serpentines sweetly, the pavement is glass, and you can really attack the hill, pedaling vigorously and carving the sweeping turns at 25+ mph. The scenery is the usual Occidental-area redwood gorgeousness. It’s really very nice.
Bohemian Highway
But there’s the traffic. You want to carve those turns from the middle of the lane, and that’s hard to arrange. Bohemian Highway is a main route to the Russian River, which is a main access route to the coast, so it can get busy, and there’s really no room for you and cars at the same time—two small lanes, minimal shoulder, cars in a hurry to get to the beach. So you have to plan the ride for slack traffic. I did the ride on Sunday (terrible day), but waited until noon (good time), and had to deal with perhaps 6 cars passing me. I would think any weekday after 10 am and before 3 pm would be OK, and any weekend day between 11 am and 2 pm, and any day at 7 a.m.
Mays Canyon at its best
Near the bottom of the descent the road forks, into Bohemian Highway on the R and the oddly named Main St. on the L (clearly signed). The two roads are within sight of each other on opposite banks of the creek. Take Main St.—the road surface is better, and it goes by Lightwave, a charming, unpretentious coffee/drinks/small-menu food shop run by a couple recently from Israel. Try to stop, at least for coffee or a drink—you’ll like it. There’s a bike rack in full view, so you can sit at an outside table and keep your eye on your bike.
Green Valley Road
Cross the river on the unmissable bridge and say hello and goodbye to Monte Rio, a town named by someone who apparently didn’t know that “monte” means “mountain”. Go R (under the friendly “Monte Rio Awaits Your Return” sign) onto River Rd., the road that follows the banks of the Russian River upstream, and ride it for 4.3 mi. to Guerneville. It isn’t fun. The traffic is constant, so you’re confined to the (largely spacious but debris-strewn) shoulder, the pavement is poor, and the neighborhood is generally shabby. Gentrification has yet to reach Monte Rio, which may be a blessing but doesn’t aid the riding.
You can bypass about half of the River Rd. leg by taking Old Monte Rio Rd., which parallels River Rd. just to the north, but it’s an adventure—the “road” is little more than a paved footpath and fairly decrepit. Check it out on Streetview (incredibly, it’s covered) before committing yourself to it.
Happily, Guerneville is a pleasant community with a good energy. Midtown, turn R onto Hwy 116 (called by some maps and my GPS “Pocket Canyon Highway”). Very soon, turn R. onto Mays Canyon Rd. and ride MCR to its end back on Hwy 116.
Harrison Grade Road
Mays Canyon used to be one of my favorite little rides, a car-free, secret back road offering pristine redwoods and splendid isolation. It still has some of that, especially in the first mile or so, but it also has, smack in the middle of it, a large community of run-down thrown-together dwellings with lots of signs telling you how unwelcome you are. With all that comes some traffic. And the road surface is bad. So ride it if you wish, or just stay on Hwy 116, which lacks Mays Canyon’s vices and virtues.
If you do Mays, go R on Hwy 116 (at the intersection there is no sign or any indication of where you are except for a hand-routered sign reading “Mays Canyon Rd.”). Everything is really good for the rest of the ride—the scenery is lovely, the traffic is light to non-existent, and the road surface is pristine.
Ride to Green Valley Rd. and go R onto Green Valley, which looks at the intersection like an afterthought but is really a well-established road. GVR goes up and down a steep little hill which is the steepest thing you’ll see on the ride (max pitch 12% briefly). Turn R onto Harrison Grade Rd.—I know, it’s very hard to leave Green Valley Rd., because it’s so very sweet, but Harrison is just as good.
Harrison Grade, as its name implies, is a climb—never as steep as Green Valley at its worst but more of it—2 miles of serious climbing with some 9-10% stuff. HGR runs you into Graton Rd., which runs quickly back into Occidental and provides the perfect cherry on this sundae—a brisk little descending slalom through perfect redwoods.
Shortening the ride: I wouldn’t ride Bohemian Highway as an out and back—the traffic whizzing past you as you do 5 mph on the return climb would be dangerous at any hour. River Rd. isn’t worth riding, ever. So we’re left with riding Green Valley Rd. + Harrison Grade Rd. as an out-and-back, with as much of Hwy 116 as you like.
Adding miles: See the Adding Miles section of our Occidental Loop ride for a list of the possibilities, which are many.
Distance: 17-mile lollipop Elevation gain: 1730 ft
Occidental is an amazing cycling resource. Six roads head out of this little town, and each one of them is some degree of wonderful for riders. All 6 figure in a Bestrides route in one way or another. This route focuses on the roads to the east of town.
The roads between the towns of Occidental and Sebastopol all run through grand redwood forests and have charming, undulating contours. So you could just go wandering and ride any of them. But there’s a downside: the road surfaces are often terrible (Sonoma county cyclists take an odd pride in this), the roads are dangerously narrow, usually there is no shoulder (not a small shoulder—none), and the main arteries are heavily enough trafficked so as to be a pain if not an actual danger.
So what we want are routes on untrafficked back roads with good road surfaces. I’ve found two: this one and our Bohemian Highway loop (well, half of that one). This loop is entirely glass, and it spends most of its time on roads that see next to no cars—of the 6 roads it covers, only one may be uncomfortably busy. And every inch is beautiful to the eye and charming to ride. You’re about 2/3 in the woods and 1/3 riding by small farms and meadows, the farms are all cute, and there’s a general absence of vineyards, for which I am grateful. It racks up over 100 ft of gain per mile, yet there are no extended climbs, so you know it’s constantly rolling up and down—check that sawtooth elevation profile.
Begin in the town of Occidental, where our Coleman Valley Rd. ride and our Bohemian Highway ride start. It’s a famously charming little town, not yet totally touristified (for instance it still has a hardware store), with a couple of old, funky Italian hotel restaurants that are remarkably good and some other eateries with good reputations. Howard’s Station is a nice, simple restaurant with a short, unpretentious, and tasty menu. You immediately feel welcomed by the town because one side of the main street is a big free parking area without time limits. It’s a weekend destination for Santa Rosa-area residents looking for a small outing in good weather, so if you can ride on a weekday so much the better.
Graton Road
Ride out of town on Graton Rd. You are immediately in the midst of the Occidental riding experience: looming, cathedral-like redwoods, narrow lanes, no shoulder, some cars. This is the connector between Graton and Occidental, so it sees some traffic. I intentionally started later in the morning, to miss the morning work rush, and got passed by perhaps 6 cars.
Go R onto Green Hill Rd., largely car-free, then R onto Occidental Rd. Occidental is our only real risk of serious traffic, but if you’re after the morning rush and heading south/west (as you are) it shouldn’t be bad. Go R onto Jonive (“ho NEEV”) and prepare to experience serious cycling joy.
Jonive Road
Jonive is one of my favorite roads anywhere. It (and Barnet Valley Rd., which follows) are all up and down, but never tiresomely so—just roller-coaster whoop-de-doos that will have you shouting. It’s all so pretty and perfect I find myself wondering what it’s like to live in that kind of idyllic beauty, but I’m not about to find out since apparently the average house on Jonive goes for around $3-4 mil.
Jonive dead-ends at the Bodega Highway, the busiest road in the area. Go L on it for about 30 ft. and go R onto Barnett Valley Rd., which is exactly like Jonive only slightly less joyful. Ride to the intersection of BVR and Burnside Rd. and turn around. You could continue on, on either BVR or Burnside, but the good road surface ends at the intersection.
Barnett Valley Road
When you get back to the meeting of Barnett Valley Rd. and Bodega Highway, you have a choice. You can re-ride Jonive, as I’ve mapped it, and it’s wonderful both ways, but if you have an aversion to out-and-backs you can go L onto Bodega for a busy but brief downhill run to Bohemian Highway and take BH back to Occidental. BH is more open, busier, and blander of contour than our route, but it too is very pretty and it has the advantage of passing the locally-famous Wild Flour Bread bakery, where you can stand in line with the other cyclists to buy one of their scones. I find the scones OK but not spectacular, but it’s part of the local scene, like eating at the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley.
Bohemian Highway east of Occidental
Assuming you stick to our mapped route, ride Jonive back to Occidental Rd. and take Occidental Rd. back to Occidental. Again, you may run into a bit of traffic, but it should be midday now and you’re going the less-busy direction. Of course it’s beautiful.
Shortening the ride: You could ride just the loop, and it’s all very pretty, but it’s also the most trafficked part of the ride. I’d go the other way: ride Jonive Rd.>Barnett Valley Rd. as an out-and-back.
Adding miles: Occidental is the starting point for our Coleman Valley Rd. ride, whose road surface was atrocious the last time I did it, and our Bohemian Highway loop, which can get trafficky. Bohemian Highway takes you to Monte Rio on the Russian River, which is near our Sweetwater Springs Rd. ride and our Kings Ridge Rd. ride. Heading south, if you can endure one more short stretch of the Bodega Highway you’ll get to Valley Ford Freestone Rd., which takes you to all the riding around Tamales Bay and our Chileno Valley loop.
If you’re set up for rough road surfaces, you can happily explore the warren of little roads to the east of Jonive and Barnett Valley Rds.
Distance: 49-mile lollipop (with two sticks) Elevation gain: 4110 ft
Highway 101 runs north and south between Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo, two of Bestrides’s favorite riding haunts. It turns out that every small road east of that stretch of Hwy 101 is good as well. The terrain is all pretty much the same: small rolling hills covered in grass—a luscious green in spring—and dotted with magnificent oaks (the “robles” of Paso Robles). Among the hills are small valleys, meadows, family farms, horse ranches, and smalll vineyards. Every acre is eye candy. The roads skirt the meadows and ranches, follow little streams up small canyons, and roll up and over hill after hill—almost never flat, almost never straight, no long tedious grinds uphill. It isn’t the most exhilarating riding—it lacks long, thrilling descents, awesome gorges, and other big-ticket features—but it’s lovely, idyllic, and tranquil. And car traffic is almost non-existent, if you stay off the main arteries.
Here’s my favorite ride in the area. It’s a lollipop with two sticks, made up of 5 separate roads, and it’s surrounded by other good riding, so it’s easy to contract or expand the mileage, as we’ll discuss in Shortening the Ride and Adding Miles. You can also begin anywhere on the route and ride in either direction. The elevation gain total isn’t insignificant, but none of the route is flat, so you know that the climbing is mild to moderate.
The pleasure of this ride, and any riding in the area, is doubled if you can hit it after the spring rains but before the summer heat turns the grasses brown.
Start at the intersection of Pozo Rd. and Las Pilitas Rd. Ride Pilitas to Park Hill Rd. This is my second-favorite leg of the route, mostly up, and the hardest climbing you’ll do (though it’s never fierce). Like most of this route’s roads, it meanders back and forth and rolls its way up, so the pitch is constantly changing and you can rarely see more than about 1/8th of a mile of road ahead of you. Look at the oaks that surround you—each is unique, and each is a work of art. Stop and listen to the silence—it’s really peaceful up there.
Las Pilitas Road
Turn L on Park Hill and almost immediately go R onto Huer Huero Rd. (Or not. Park Hill is the straightest leg of this route, with the longest unaltered pitches, so riding it up is at times tedious. Huer Huero is steeper and more varied in contour. So my way gives you the best descending and the more boring climbing. If you go down Park Hill and come up Huer Huero you get long, straight descending and more entertaining but harder climbing. You choose.).
Huer Huero (the name is apparently a Spanish approximation of a Native American word) is on the east side of the summit, so it’s a bit dryer than Pilitas. It’s also more developed—Pilitas has almost no signs of human habitation beyond wire fences, but Huer Huero has lots of simple ranch houses. It’s also the worst road surface on our route, or it was when I rode it (4/23), with large patches of upheaved pavement and stretches of dirt and sand in the first half-mile. In fact there was a sign at the beginning reading “Road closed—local traffic only,” which I wisely ignored. There are also about 5 places where water flows over the road in the rainy season. They were about an inch deep when I was there, but it hadn’t rained in a while so this might be an issue if the weather has been wet. All this sounds like the road is a nightmare, but it’s actually very nice—good scenery and some very nice serpentine descending.
Webster Road
Huer Huero ends at Hwy 58, curiously signed here “Calf Canyon Hwy.” Take it to the L. It’s not fun. The scenery is lovely, but it’s all large ups or downs and it’s a busy road, so you’ll have cars whizzing by you at 60 mph as you grind up long pitches at 6 mph, or descend at 35 mph, which is almost worse, on the minimal shoulder for 3.5 miles.
At this point you hit the intersection of Hwy 58 and Hwy 229 running north to Creston. You’re saying to yourself, “The last thing I need is another State highway.” But 229, aka Webster Rd., is like no State highway you’ve ever seen. It’s a wide one-lane roller coaster with a great road surface through gorgeous, manicured landscapes (more rolling grassy hills, more oaks). It’s my favorite leg of the route. It has one substantial climb, which is a rip-roaring whoop-de-doo coming back down—otherwise, it just rolls gently up and down. I saw two vehicles total, out and back.
Park Hill Road
About 2 miles from Creston you pass Rocky Canyon Rd., which looks great on the map but is erroneously identified as paved in RidewithGPS (it isn’t), and Webster exits its little canyon and enters dead flat farm country. So the road goes flat and straight, and you have my permission to turn around. But the reward for riding those 2 flat miles is you get to see Creston, a true tiny California farming community—about ten houses, a cute little church, a restaurant called The Loading Chute, and another with the classic EAT sign on top.
Whenever you choose, turn around and enjoy Hwy 229 going the other way. Back at 58, suffer another 1.5 miles (almost all steeply down) to the intersection with Park Hill Rd. Go L onto Park Hill and climb it back to Las Pilitas. Park Hill is mostly up but never steep, and the pavement is good for a while. Notice Tierra Del Cielo Farm on your R. Since earth and heaven are by definition opposites, I’m not sure what they have in mind.
Las Pilitas Road’s oaks
The return ride down Pilitas to your car is surprisingly wonderful. The scenery is terrific, the road contour is always changing, and (except for one noticeable 1/2-mile of climbing after the bridge near the end) you can use your descending speed to charge up the frequent small risers, so you never work. Delightful. Perfect if the pavement were a mite smoother.
Shortening the ride: One’s natural inclination is drop the two lollipop sticks and just ride the loop, but if you do you’ll be riding the worst part of the route. So I would do the opposite, and ride either Hwy 229 and Las Pilitas Rd. or both, as an out-and-back. Hwy 229 is sweeter; Pilitas is more work and more thrilling.
Adding miles: Basically, from here you can ride forever on good stuff. From Creston you can ride north on what is first called Creston Rd., then Geneseo Rd., then Linne Rd. all the way to Paso Robles, where you can connect with all our Paso routes. From our starting point, Pozo Rd. is good in either direction. You can even go straight on through Pozo itself and circumnavigate Santa Margarita Lake. If you’re set up for dirt and you want to get adventurous, at Pozo you can jump on the other end of Hi Mountain Rd. (discussed in the Adding Miles section of the Huasna Rd. ride) and ride it to all our SLO rides.
Distance: 18.5-mile out-and-back Elevation gain: 2680 ft
(A Best-of-the-Best descent)
Shirtail (one T) Canyon Road is the access road into Pinnacles National Park from the west side, the back door into the Park. Also known as State Route 146. As with all rides entering National Parks, if you want to go beyond the ranger’s station you’ll need money or your NP pass and ID.
Shirtail Canyon Road heads east from the outskirts of Soledad, and as you approach the area from the north or the south on Hwy 101 your heart will sink, because you’re in the dead-flat, totally agricultural Salinas Valley and you’ll assume the route is straight, flat, and boring. But Soledad butts up against the eastern edge of the valley, so SCR climbs from the get-go, often steeply (check that elevation-to-distance ratio), and is constantly changing its shape and pitch, which makes for a moderately interesting (though scenically fairly boring) climb and an exhilarating descent.
It’s a dead-end ride, taking you past the Pinnacles westside visitor center and stopping at a featureless trailhead parking lot, so you can’t loop it. I guarantee the ride is a workout (again, check that elevation-to-distance ratio), but if you’re disappointed by the small mileage total I’ve described an add-on which I like a lot in the Adding Miles section.
I am downright picky about when I think you should do this ride. 1. Ride it in the spring, when the hills are green. 2. Avoid riding it when it’s hot, because there is next to no shade. 3. Avoid riding it on Saturday morning, when everyone is driving in, or Sunday late afternoon, when everyone is driving out. 4. Don’t ride it when the valley wind is blowing, because it funnels straight up the canyon, hits you on your nose during the descent, and turns a wonderful descent into a white-knuckle stressfest.
With any ride on National Park roads there’s a concern about traffic. I’ve never had a problem here, even though the road is narrow (often signed “one-lane,” rather over-dramatically) and has absolutely no shoulder. The road is wide enough, the drivers are in no hurry, the sight-lines are good, and almost all traffic enters Pinnacles from the eastern entrance. On a lovely Saturday afternoon in spring I saw perhaps 30 cars, roughly two a mile.
This ride is listed in the “Monterey Bay Area” ride list, but that’s a cop-out. If you look in our ride map, you’ll see that it’s in the middle of nowhere. Nacimiento-Fergusson, also in the middle of nowhere and probably the nearest other ride in driving time, is listed in the “Southern California” ride list. What can one do? Sometimes categories fail you.
Start at the intersection of Shirtail Canyon Road and Metz Road. At the intersection there is a large dirt turn-out. You’re a couple of miles out of Soledad, and it looks fairly insecure there, so you might feel safer parking at nearby Hartnell College Soledad, as Joe suggests in the comments below. Pinnacles, despite being a National Park, is practically ignored by the Soledad community, so there is next to no signage directing you to the intersection and, incredibly, there is no sign for the Pinnacles at the intersection, despite the fact that Shirtail goes to Pinnacles and nowhere else (there is a tiny sign advertising a vineyard). There is also no road sign, anywhere along the route, so I’m taking it on faith that what I rode was in fact Shirtail Canyon Road. This under-the-radar status works to your advantage, because it means you will meet 30 cars on the ride instead of 300. There is a prominent sign for Pinnacles once you start up SCR.
One of the more shady sections
As I say, the ride climbs from its inception. You get some breaks (you descent a total of 800 ft. on the climb, which you’ll notice on the return), but it’s mostly up for the first 7 miles, gently at first but then a stretch of 8-12% stuff. You’re riding up a small and unprepossessing canyon bounded on either side by those round hilly grassy mounds you see all over western Central California. If you’re there in the spring, as I counseled, it’s pretty enough, with a few shapely oaks scattered along the roadside, but it’s not memorable, and any other time but spring it’s brown and therefore worse. After the hard climbing you do some charming whoop-dee-do’s, then climb some more.
Around 7 miles in you reach, in rapid succession, a gaping cattle guard requiring some care (I walked it), a standard National Park photo-op entrance sign, and the Visitor Center. It’s an unpretentious but likable operation, with some nice informational placards outside if you don’t want to leave your bike and go inside.
As wooded as it gets
The two miles of road past the Visitor Center are down (steeply at first, then less so), and there’s nothing to see at road’s end unless you plan to hike, so consider turning around at the Visitor Center unless you just want 2 more miles of climbing.
The ride up SCR is nice enough but the descent back to your car is a dream: lots of variety, a blem-free road surface, smooth sweeping turns that don’t necessitate braking and let you see on-coming traffic, some really good whoop-de-doos you can take at speed, and a long 4% run-out at the end when you can pedal hard and feel like a god. If you can catch it on a wind-free day, it’s one of Bestride’s best descents. You can easily break the 35-mph speed limit.
Metz Road: hills, road, railroad tracks, ag fields—Salinas River out of sight to the right
Shortening the ride: Turn around at the Visitor Center. I don’t think the first 7 miles can effectively be shortened.
Adding miles: If 20 miles just doesn’t float your boat, there’s an unexpected way to add some good miles: Metz Rd. Driving Metz from Soledad, you’d swear it’s as worthless as a road can get, but on the south side of Shirtail it’s a whole other animal. It runs for 18 miles from Shirtail to King City outskirts, and while the last 7 of those 18 (nearest King City) are on the valley floor and therefore very ordinary stuff, the first 11 are rewarding. The road runs above the lip of the valley about 50-100 ft up the sidehill, so it has to follow the contour of the grassy mounds. So it’s up and down, back and forth, with a lovely overview to your right of the Salinas River, the railroad tracks, and the never-ending agricultural work below you, with the hills rising steeply on your left. If you ride to where the road drops down to the valley and ceases to be interesting, then turn around, you add 22 miles to our Shirtail out and back, for a respectable mileage total of just over 40. Absolutely no shade on Metz, so not advisable in extreme heat.
Beyond that, there is nothing in the immediate vicinity. Our legendary Nacimiento-Fergusson Road ride is a 45-minute car drive to the south.
