Distance: 31 miles one way
Elevation gain: 2214 ft
(A Best of the Best ride)
Update 2018: a fire swept through this area in recent years, and almost all of Jesus Maria Road burned. What was lush woods is now often charred sticks with new green underbrush returning (see photo below). It’s still a great road, but with a very different feeling. jr
Update 1/2021: Great news: Jesus Maria Rd has just been widened and repaved along its entire length and is now smooth. This thanks to local cycling organizations and the state of California, who spent $200K for the repaving. If someone spends $200K to prep a ride for you, you owe it to them to go do it. For details on this and other aspects of California’s $14-million commitment to improving bicycling infrastructure in the Gold Country, see the CalBike website and Bestrides’s introduction to the Gold Country in the By Regions section. Greenery is returning to the region as well, so there is no reason to delay doing this ride any longer. jr
This and the Cream of the Sierra Century are the two best rides in the Gold Country. It’s a tougher climb than our other Gold Country roads (lots of 8-11%). I amassed 2450 ft of gain in the 14+ miles between Mokelumne Hill and Railroad Flat Road, which is a lot. Jesus Maria itself is a narrow, serpentining crawl up through a canyon, and it used to be deserted but like everywhere else in California the occasional vacation homes with their $30,000 gates are beginning to appear, and you’ll see perhaps a vehicle per mile. Thanks to the burn, the scenery varies from stark to lovely, and Jesus Maria itself offers some fine panoramic vistas, which are a rarity in the typically wooded Gold Country. Like the Clinton Road ride, it’s a U-shaped course leaving you with an unpleasant stretch of Hwy 49 to close the loop.