Distance: 48-mile loop
Elevation gain: 2600 ft

(A Best of the Best ride…in late winter or spring)

First, a word about when to do this ride: This ride, like all rides in Marin, varies with the seasons. In summer, fall, or mid-winter, when the grassy hills are burned brown, the riding is merely good. In late winter or spring, when the hills are gloriously green, the riding is marvelous. Hence the qualifier on the Best of the Best rating above.

The network of roads in Marin County between Highway 1 and Highway 101 may be the most heavily ridden cycling roads in rural California, because they’re easily accessible from the population centers clustered around the Golden Gate Bridge.   The roads are mostly all the same—moderate rollers through grassy dairy farm land on pretty good road surfaces.  It’s all very delightfully unpretentious—not a hint of Wine Country snobbery.  There are few if any grand mansions or ostentatious wrought-iron gates along these roads, and the farm houses are real—old, family-owned, working dairy farms.  The oyster restaurants along Hwy 1 are housed in shacks.  Feel free to wander and ride on any road that catches your fancy, with our usual caveat: minimize your time on the obvious main arteries—Pt. Reyes Petaluma Rd., Tomales Petaluma Rd., Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

The century that covers this area is the Marin Century, and, since the roads are much of a muchness, it’s a perfectly fine introduction to the area, if you want to ride 100 miles of it, which I don’t.

Among all this sameness, one route stands out, a cycling masterpiece and one of Bestrides’ premier rides—this one.

But first, a confession: I actually don’t ride this route as mapped any more.  I ride the Marshall Wall version, mapped in Shortening the Route below. I think it’s a much better ride—it has more varied landscapes and riding conditions. The Marshall version is shorter and has more climbing and more dramatic terrain; the Point Reyes Station version has the Model Bakery but has many more miles of rolling hilly sameness. Your choice.

This ride (Marshall version) manages to combine three distinct and delightful kinds of terrain: 1) Chileno Valley Rd., which is the very best of the roads through rolling dairy farm country; 2) Marshall-Petaluma Rd., which provides nice climbing and descending, dramatic riding through draws and canyons, and some sweet vistas of the hills to the east and Bodega Bay to the west; and 3) Hwy 1 along the Tomales Bay shoreline, constant rollers through cypress canopies and past quaint oyster farms, with views of the Bay waters. Each leg in its own way is as good as cycling gets.

This ride has non-riding rewards as well. Depending on your route, you may pass two communities of surpassing charm—Tomales and Pt. Reyes Station—and four culinary destinations—Route One Bakery and Kitchen in Tomales, Tomales Deli and Cafe next door, the famous Bovine Bakery in Pt. Reyes Station, and the Cheese Factory, the place that taught California that it could make cheese back when that was an unthinkable thought. It’s a foodie paradise, for sure, but a word of caution: rural eateries tend to have odd hours, close early, not open at all, or go out of business at the drop of a hat. So google any of those places if they’re important to you. The last time I did this ride I planned the route to leave me having lunch and croissant in Tomales, and when I got there the deli was closed for refurbishment and the bakery was closed because it was Tuesday.

Whichever route you choose, expect to work harder than a casual glance at the profile suggests.  There are no extended climbs on the Station route, and only one on the Marshall route, but the terrain is never flat and all that rolling adds up  The Marshall-Petaluma Rd version has 3000 ft of gain, which isn’t nasty but is far from flat.

As with all riding along the California coast, predicting the weather on the Hwy 1 leg can be tricky. On any day of the year it can be foggy or breezy, so bring some layers. I once did this ride in August, it was flirting with 100 degrees inland and the temperature on Hwy 1 was 61 degrees at 1 pm.

I’ve always ridden this route counterclockwise, though I see no reason why you have to.  You can begin it anywhere.  There is a strong argument to be made for starting the ride in one of our two towns, so you can eat sweets before riding and lunch after. I started the route at the point you reach first if you’re approaching from the south.

Start at the intersection of Nicasio Valley Rd. and Pt. Reyes Petaluma Rd (aka Petaluma Pt. Reyes Rd.). Go NNE (which Northern Californians call “east”) toward Petaluma.  The traffic here is the worst you’ll see until Hwy 1.  Soon on your left you pass the Cheese Factory, with good bathrooms and free cheese samples.  Note the “No lifeguard on duty” sign on the bathrooms. 

Take the first L onto Hicks Valley Rd. (clearly signed, though my Marin Bicycle Map inexplicably labels it “Wilson Hill Rd.”), then the first R onto the real Wilson Hill Rd.  The “hill” of Wilson Hill Road is probably the longest climb you’ll do all day, unless you take the Marshall Wall option below.  Take the first L onto Chileno Valley Rd. 

If you’re out for a shortish, mellow day, when Chileno Valley Road ends at Tomales Petaluma Road you can turn R instead of L and ride down to Spring Hill Road and loop back to the beginning of Chileno. SHR used to be an absolute no-no, because the road surface was comically awful, but according to Friend of Bestrides Brian it’s been recently repaved and is now glass, and the terrain is nearly as charming as Chileno itself.

Assuming you’re in for the full Monty, at the end of Chileno turn L at the T onto Tomales Petaluma Rd. and ride to Hwy 1—five miles of mostly climbing on a straight road with pretty constant traffic but a nice, big shoulder.  It’s the only leg of the ride that approaches mere OK-ness. If you want to avoid traffic, there’s a nice detour around most of TPR detailed by MacKenzie in the comments below: Alexander Rd. to Fallon Two Rock/Whitacker Bluff Rd. to Valley Ford Franklin School Rd. to Tomales. It adds a few miles but ups the scenic/solitude factor.

If you stayed on TPR, at the intersection with Hwy 1 turn R and ride the ¼ mile to the tiny, doll-like town of Tomales.  If you didn’t start here, try to plan your ride so you can stop for lunch, because the sandwiches at the deli next to the bakery at the only downtown intersection are great.  Note the building with the formal “Not a Bank” sign across the street.  It’s not a bank.  The baked goods at the corner deli are very good—some say better than those at the Bovine Bakery in 20 miles.

Go south on Hwy 1, retracing your last 1/4 mile, and continue on Hwy 1 all the way to Pt. Reyes Station (or to Marshall Petaluma Rd, if you’re taking my advice).   This is one of the few rides in Bestrides that features extended Hwy 1 riding, and it may or may not be to your taste.  It can be heavily trafficked, especially on weekends, because you’re riding through some prime oyster dining territory, and it’s skinny with no shoulder, so the riding can be fairly hairy.  But the road is absolutely gorgeous, with a wonderful, constantly meandering contour and grand views as you roll along the edge of Tomales Bay.  

Halfway from Tomales to Pt. Reyes Station you pass (well-signed) Marshall Petaluma Rd. and you face your big choice: climbing or Bovine Bakery? Are you here to ride or eat? Do you want drama (Marshall) or miles of rolling pleasantness (PRS)?

If you go Marshall, the road will take you back to your starting place. if you go for Pt. Reyes Station, it’s one of Northern California’s best villages and a prime cycling destination, so there should be stacks of bikes propped up by Bovine.  There are also several good restaurants and classy public bathrooms. Bovine closes early, so check its hours and plan your ride to get there when it’s open.

Don’t continue down Hwy 1—ride out the east side of town up the little hill and take the immediate R onto Pt. Reyes Petaluma Rd.  Stay on it back to your car.

Shortening the route: The Marshall option cuts the mileage down from 48 to 35, but you won’t save work because you’re substituting serious climbing for rolling. I’ve mapped it here:

Adding miles:  There is endless good riding in all directions off this route.  Pt. Reyes Station is the starting point for our Point Reyes Lighthouse ride.  

Most cyclists are coming from the southern population centers, so they ride to our loop via Lucas Valley Rd. or Sir Francis Drake Blvd., both with beautiful densely wooded terrain, great road contour, a lot of traffic and no shoulder.  Both roads deposit you on Nicasio Valley Rd, a slightly busier, straighter, and wider road than our loop but nothing to dread.  Lucas Valley Rd is a beautiful climb and descent, in either direction, if you can catch it early in the morning before the traffic, and it has the perk of taking you past Skywalker Ranch, George Lucas’s research facility (the valley was not named after George).   There’s nothing to see but a driveway and a gate, but you can tell your friends.   At the summit of LVR there’s a big rock, and you’ll wonder if it has a name.  It’s called Big Rock, and it marks the trailhead for the popular Big Rock Trail.

All the smaller roads immediately north of Tomales (Dillon Beach, Middle, Valley Ford-Franklin School, Whittaker Bluff) are good as well, and the good riding just keeps on as you go northward through Sonoma County and toward our Wine Country rides.

From Point Reyes Station you can make a longer loop by continuing south on Hwy 1 and turning L at Olema onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd.   This route will take you through the prettiest and most treacherous stretch of Sir Francis Drake, past the stunning Samuel P. Taylor State Park trees.  The road is scarily narrow, the traffic is pitiless, and the shoulder non-existent, but the previously-dreadful road surface has now been repaved (in 2014).   And wow, those trees…  Stop off at the State Park to stroll, get water, or spend the night if you’re touring.  Turn L on Nicasio Valley Rd. to get back to your car.