CaliforniaCalifornia Sport Bike Roads

Start At Finish At Highway(s)
Note: links to Google maps		 Submitted by Notes
Coalinga Jct SR198 & SR 25 SR 198 YTIinWI Terrific surface, awesome twisties, sever elevation changes (whoop-style). Ride this one both direction before you attempt adventuresome riding or you'll catch air at an inopportune time.

NOTE: Californians tell me there are many more excellent roads in the Coalinga area--how about submitting them to the NASBRR database.
Lakeport, CA. (39N03, 122W55) CA-29 AND CA-175 Hopland, CA (38N58, 123W07) CA-175 AND 101 CA-175 SOUTH (Hopland Grade) Jeffrey Starks MILEAGE: 19.4--Awesome twisted road, newly paved and very clean. Watch out, some corners may surprise you, not for the weak hearted, most corners have no guard rails and you have some major cliffs. Careful, no cops on road but there is an airplane above, they watch for crossing the yellow line--a cop will be waiting for you at the end if you cross the line.
San Jose

(SR 130)

 SR 130 ends a little past the Observatory--ride back for more FUN! SR 130 (Mt. Hamilton Rd) Allen John v. Silverio The course is VERY twisty and tight - 1stand 2nd gear corners
Vacaville Junction 128 Pleasant Valley Road Dale Palmer From I 80 take Cherry Glen Rd exit north to Pleasant Valley Rd. NOTE: excellent twisties, be careful of narrow bridges and surprise 15 mph corners
Junction 128 & Pleasant Valley Road Rutherford Hwy 128 Dale Palmer Excellent surface, be careful around coast of Lake Berryessa. See Note 1 below.
Junction I-8 and CA79 near Descanso Temecula CA79 Scott Snipas Note 2 below. About 80 miles
San Diego Campo CA94 Scott Snipas Note 3 below. About 125 miles
San Diego Jamul CA94 Scott Snipas  
Jamul Junction at Japatul Valley Road Lyons Valley Road Scott Snipas  
Junction at Japatul Valley Road & Lyons Valley Road Descanso (CA79) Japatol Valley Road Scott Snipas Japatul Valley Road becomes CA 79 at Jct I-8
Descanso Junction of CA78 in Julian CA78/79 West Scott Snipas at Jct of 78/79 take 78 Cuyamaca State Park. Julian is a historic mining town including a museum
Julian Santa Ysabel CA78 (West) Scott Snipas Stop in Dudley's Bakery in Santa Ysabel.
Santa Ysabel Ramona CA78 Scott Snipas If you like to gamble see Note 4 below
Ramona El Cajon CA67 Scott Snipas At El Cajon catch I-8 to San Diego
Ocotillo Werner Springs S2 Scott Snipas Nice 2-lane road between mountains and high desert
Saratoga Santa Cruz CA 9 Terry Tracy See Note 5
Anywhere (No kidding!)   Hwy 1 Terry Tracy See Note 6
Junction CA 9 and CA 35 North of Boulder Creek Boulder Creek CA 9, CA 35, Hwy 1 Terry Tracy See Note 7
Red Bluff Fortuna CA 36 Kent Stubbs See Note 8. For area advice, call Kent at 916-527-7926.
Placerville Georgetown CA 193 Mark Goodrich Go to Mark's Sportbike Web to get details. FYI, all of Mark's roads are in the Sacramento Valley area.
Auburn Placerville CA 49 Mark Goodrich Go to Sportbike Web --There are several more roads listed in the Sacramento Area at Sportbike Web.
Morro Bay Carmel-by-the-Sea Hwy 1 John the Racerboy Approx. 150 route. This section is very twisty and scenic. Leave early to avoid traffic. Difficult to pass here, be patient.
Carmel-by-the-Sea Hwy 1 Carmel Valley Road (Cr G16) and more- see the notes John the Racerboy Follow Carmel Valley Road south, go right at Arroyo Seco Rd, go right at Cr G14 (Jolon Rd), go right at Nacimiento-Ferguson Rd to Hwy 1. Be patient, the 1st 15 miles are the price to be paid for the last 45 miles of highly technical twisties.
Hemet Beaumont Hwy 79 Chris Gramm This road can lead to many different paths that won't disappoint the sportbiker.
Hemet Banning Hwy 74 & Hwy 243 Chris Gramm Lots of clean, clear (in the morning, before the motorhomes) banked switchbacks. Do this road early in the morning because it gets FREAKIN HOT in the summer--115 plus by 11 a.m.
Stewarts Point Jct. Stewarts Point Rd & Fall Creek Rd. Stewarts Point Rd. Richard Reich Several miles of typical CA paved goat trail followed by fifteen miles of the finest on-camber, intersection-free, enforcement- free, high-speed sweepers. There are two "slow" turns marked with 20 mph advisories. One is the only seriously decreasing radius turn on the whole road. Take care--you will be totally zoned when you get to it.
Halleluja Junction (US 395 & SR 70) Oroville (at Oro Dam Blvd.) SR 70 Michael Gordon Mileage: 160 miles. Comments: Newly designated Federal Scenic Byway. Crosses the Sierra through the Feather River Canyon. The section from Quincy to Oroville (80 mi.) is very tight with few passing zones. Pay attention so that you don't end up in the river. Best during the spring when traffic is lightest, lots of waterfalls and fresh greenery.
Redding Eureka CA 299 Craig & Marie Start at the Interstate 5 at Hwy 299 west (Redding,Ca) to finnish in Eureka,Ca at the junction of Hwy 299 & Hwy --133 miles total. 3 hrs. 65 mph,45 mph,35mph zones through small recreation towns following the Trinity River to the Ocean. Start out in Hot Redding and 10 miles of 55 mph to Whiskytown Lake and then about 30 miles of twisties on good pavement taking you through Weaverville then following the Trinity River with some great views you climb over and through a couple of summits and then down hill to the ocean and town of Eureka,Ca, A great ride and cool city to visit.
Jct I5 and Hwy 74 (Ortega Highway) Lake Elsinore Hwy 74 (Ortega Hwy) John A. Barnes At the start point head east. The road is approximately 40 miles in length. The road contains a variety of surfaces ranging from open 2-lane highway to tighter canyon roads. Also located on this highway is a very interesting roadhouse (visit their roadhouse at (www.lookoutroadhouse.com)
Bakersfield (N35o22.99'
W119o 00.621')		 Lake Isabella
(N35o36.72'
W118o29.383')		 CA 178 David Chapman Starting Point is approximately 15 miles east of Bakersfield, CA on CA 178. Nice tight canyon run along side the Kern River. Depending on time of day and day of the week, the traffic is usually light. This is a great ride for any kind of bike, but sport bike riders will get the best ride this road can offer--Approximately 45 miles of twisties. If you feel like spending several days of riding mountain roads there are plenty in this area.
Placerville/Camino(Hangtown) Jackson/Plymouth, 50, E16, 49, local roads--see notes. Tim Guth New pavement on 49 from Plymouth to Eldorado. Yeha!.

We ride this loop: Placerville50-Newtown Rd; Left on Pleasant Valley to E16, past Grizzly Flats thru the wine country and into Plymouth from here go 49 back to Placerville or turn left to Jackson (like to go from Sly Park past Silver Lake the back way up Iron Mountain Rd to South Lake Tahoe take 80 back home to 49.)

Night and weekdays are best in Eldorado Cty @ riding these twisty roads due to lots of over the yellow line idiots.

La Canada Flintridge Wrightwood Angeles Crest Hwy 2 Bill Roberts I have years of trouble-free sport riding experience in this area. I have info on roads, mileage, incredible scenery, secret spots, weather, day/time/time of year to visit, things to watch out for, camping, eateries, more. e-mail if you want complete info on AC hwy 2 or others: g_ace@worldnet.att.net
Quincy Oroville Quincy-Oroville Road Jim Stinnett Quincy-Oroville Road (This is NOT Hwy 70, by the way!) Mileage : approx 50 miles Take Buck's Lake Road to Buck's Lake by way of Meadow Valley from Quincy, California Right after Buck's Lake is sign marked Oroville Road, take this to Oroville The first 30 miles or so is freshly paved twisties that are unparalled! The road gets old and bumpy just about ten miles before Oroville Dam but soon opens up into some amazing sweepers. All in all the best I have ever seen, period. Approximate mileage from Quincy to Oroville is 50 miles with this route. There are no hazards to speak of but be sure to take a break at the old farmhouse on the right about halfway, a guy who is totally into bikes lives there and appreciates the visit. Be careful of his dog that sleeps in the road also.
Sutter Creek   Sutter Creek/Ione Road Dottess Ione/Sutter creek area about a 1/2-hour south east of Sacramento. Take St Hwy 16 east past Rancho Murrieta to the Ione Rd exit on the right. Approx. 1 mile east of Rancho Murrieta. In the town of Ione take Hwy 124 towards Placerville. Approx. 1-2 miles on the right take the Sutter Creek/Ione Road and get ready. This road is a 10! Lots of twisteez and hills. Clean road and good surface. Some local traffic but not very busy. Not a lot of passing room but it's possible. Approx 7 miles long and takes you into historic Sutter Creek on Hwy 49.
Jackson   Hwy 49 Dottess On Hwy 49 in Jackson take the road to Lake Pardee. This is the sh%#!!!!! This road is about 12 miles to the lake with more thrills than Bill received from Monica. It has some bumps but nothing too bad. The only bad thing is not a lot of run off room. Lots of barbed wire fences. Great turns and hills. Very little traffic. Pretty clean surface. Great road to see if you got the stuff!
Lake Tahoe area Go to Loop 1 (2 hr ride)
Go to Loop 2 (4 hr ride)		   Kevin Schaller I thought I'd lend one of my favorites to you. This is great for a weekend getaway--Lake Tahoe Loop! These loops are recommended between late May thru late October, other than that you might get snowed on.
Napa Healdsburg Various Dave Wagner See Note 11
Castaic Lake Lake Hughes Lake Hughes Road Goddard Take the Lake Hughes Exit from the 5 Freeway & go east on Lake Hughes Road. The road climbs up beside the lake (to your left) in a series of long fast sweepers & gets progressively tighter the closer it gets to Lake Hughes. Beware of sand on a couple of real tight corners. Very little traffic, I've ridden this route & not seen a single other road user for 20+ miles. When you get to the T junction in Lake Hughes hang a Right & go about a mile to the Rock Inn for breakfast/beer/dinner/whatever.
Fallbrook/Pauma area   Palomar Mountain Rd CJ Here is one of the best roads in southern California. It is located in the Fallbrook/Pauma area. It is named Palomar Mountain Rd. VERY twisty, good road condition, well maintained.

Directions: From Interstate 15, exit on CA 76 going East, About 4 miles on left hand side is Palomar Mountain Rd. Have fun and enjoy (Wear your leathers). 
Ducor (32 mile north of Bakersfield on Hwy 65) Springville Hwy 65, CR 22, Hot Springs Rd.  and Hwy 190 Stuart Mumford Start at Ducor, head east from Hwy 65 on CR22 to Hot Springs Road then on to California Hot Springs then on to Hwy 190  to Springville. Incredible road, drops 6,000+ ft. in 15 miles, from the start of Hwy 190 to Springville all switchbacks through the Sequoia Nat'l Forest. Beautiful scenery plus peg scraping galore. Off the beaten track, but well worth the drive.
Lone Pine, CA Stovepipe Wells Village (Death Valley) CA136, CA190, CA178 Jack Gustafson MILEAGE: 82 NOTES: Much of this is in Death Valley National Park, which is patrolled. So high speeds are not recommended. It can also get very hot. But if a rider were to make the trip shortly after the sun came up it is generally cool with virtually no traffic. There are two passes, with a flat-bottomed valley separating them. The road over the passes is VERY twisty.
Starts 1 mile north of Santa Ysabel on Hy 79 Lake Henshaw. Mesa Grande Rd John "Buzz" Bizzell Start point is about 30 west of Escondido and ends at a very biker friendly restaurant on the shore of Lake Henshaw. Length is about 12 miles. Road condition is pretty awesome, very smooth and grippy asphalt with twists at the start, fast sweepers in the middle, and lots more twists at the end. One note of caution: in late fall and winter leaves fall on the roadway and can be slick.

If the list above is not comprehensive enough, visit Stu's PASHN IT web site for boodles more California roads

Updated: 12/07/07 by J Knutson (ytk@sportbikeroads.com)

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1. Several good side roads off Hwy 128 include Hwy 20 and Upper Hwy 29.

2. Road character: Varied; Road Type, 2-lane/highway; Miscellaneous interest: historical, museums; High desert and chaparral, runs through some nice country, Julian is an old gold rush town and stage coach stop with some touristy shops and museums.

3. Road character: lots of curves, at Sweetwater Rivers starts 2-lane undivided highway. Good curves for about 30 miles until you reach Campo. You can make a quiet side trip to Tecate, Mexico, only 2 miles down I-88. Miscellaneous interest: Before you reach Campo there should be a sign for the Train Museum which says "There is A Train Ride." After your train ride, get back on CA94 east through Campo, nice roads for 28 miles, then you reach Boulevard. You can head west on I-8, a 4-lane divided, or take Olde Highway 80, which runs parallel. Pine Valley is a good place to stop. From there take I-8 back to San Diego.

4. Gamblers: in Ramona turn south on 10th at the Jct of CA78 and 10th. Follow 10th which will become San Vincente Road. Follow San Vincente to Wildcat Canon Road through Barona Ranch Indian Reservation--you can't miss the casino. Afterwards, stay on Wildcat until you pass by El Capitan High School, turn right at the traffic light then left onto Highway 67

5. Lot of twists, in 2nd and 3rd gear, as well as some high speed straights, and corners. This road takes you through Boulder Creek (stop at Adelita's for the best Mexican food in the state, or the brewery, but watch those pints!), Felton, and two state parks, before dumping you into Santa Cruz.

6. There are numerous places throughout CA to pick up this fantastic route! Way too many to list. My local favorite is from Santa Cruz to HWY 84 to HWY 35 to Bear Creek, and back to Boulder creek.

7. North on HWY 9 to HWY 35. Go north to San Francisco, or to HWY 92 to Half Moon Bay. Then south on HWY 1 to Santa Cruz (or take one of the side roads into Felton), then north on HWY 9.

8. Route is about 143 miles with an average of about 50 turns per mile, include elevation changes from approximately 300 ft. to 4,000 ft. Very few cars and little CHP activity. Fuel up in Red Bluff because there are is NO GAS for many miles. Watch for critters in the evenings and early morning. Don't start too late in the afternoon (allow about 3 hrs). It gets very cold and VERY dark and there are NO services most of the way. There is a 10 hour loop which runs from Red Bluff to Junction of Hwy 101 at Fortuna, then north to Hwy 299 (about 40 miles) then east again to Redding and I-5. Watch for decreasing radius turns. NOTE: (2/26/06) CHP activity has been stepped up quite a bit this past year. They've decided the squids are easy pickin's with an airplane and a couple cars on the ground. Be careful out there. It's a long way to the hospital

9. Lake Tahoe Loop 1: (The Lake Loop) Starting in South Lake Tahoe (SLT), go north on Rt. 50 towards Incline Village. About 12 miles up, you will turn left to SR 28, go about 8-10 miles to Lakeshore Drive, turn left, slow down and look at the most expensive real estate in the country! When you get to the Hyatt, STOP, go to the Lone Eagle Lodge next to the lake and have a bite. Great food and spectacular views. Continue on Lakeshore Drive till you get back on SR 28, take to Tahoe City, then SR 89 south towards Emerald Bay. This gets VERY twisty and you need to watch for traffic. Stop at Emerald Bay and check out the Vikingshold "Castle", pretty cool. Continue on 89 and you're back in South Lake Tahoe after about a 2 hour ride.

10. Lake Tahoe Loop 2: Starting in SLT (South Lake Tahoe), take Pioneer Trail (shortcut to SR 50 west) or SR 50 West at Meyers, turn left on SR 89 south towards Woodfords (Hope Valley & hwy 88) This is some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet! At SR 88, you can go right, travel 50 miles on the fantastic SR 88 to Jackson, CA (lunch at Mel's drive-in, great sourdough burgers) then take SR 49 north to SR 50 then back to SLT, a full days loop. OR (on either of these loops, you might want breakfast at Sorenson's right at this intersection) When you get to SR 88 in Hope Valley, turn left and go down to Woodfords, down a beautiful canyon alongside the Carson River. At Woodfords, turn left towards Markleeville (watch your speed in this area) the Cutthroat Saloon in Markleeville serves good grub and the ceiling is decorated in a less than politically correct fashion (but funny). Continue thru Markleeville on SR 4 to Monitor Pass, this is a great road and very high elevations (8314' at the pass) you will end up at HWY 395 south of Topaz Lake. Go north on 395 to Gardnerville, stop at Sharkey's casino, just to look at all the stuff inside, an icon of the casino's of old. Pretty good food too. Continue up 395 to either SR 207 (Kingsbury Grade) or in Carson City SR 50 to return to SLT. This is about a 3-4 hour loop. Well, that's a mouthful! 

11. START CITY: NAPA, CALIFORNIA Take Hwy 29 north toward Yountville/St. Helena. Once you are past all the stoplights, take the next RIGHT onto OAK KNOLL AVE. Follow to stop sign. Jog LEFT onto BIG RANCH RD. then a quick RIGHT back onto Oak Knoll Ave. Follow Oak Knoll to SILVERADO TRAIL. LEFT onto SILVERADO TRAIL. Continue NORTH on "The Trail" until you come to HWY 128/SAGE CANYON RD. Turn RIGHT onto SAGE CANYON RD./HWY 128. Follow along road past Lake Hennessey (several excellent curves). At the north end of the lake you will come to a road junction. Keep to the LEFT onto CHILES AND POPE VALLEY ROAD. This road follows a nice creek up a canyon (Yahoo curves!). At the next JUNCTION with Lower Chiles Valley Rd. continue to bear LEFT continuing on Chiles and Pope Valley Road which eventually enters the hamlet of POPE VALLEY. When you see the Pope Valley Store ahead on the right and the POPE VALLEY GARAGE on the left, veer LEFT off the main road past the garage onto HOWELL MOUNTAIN ROAD, a fine uphill road with some 90 degree turns, this road leads to Angwin and back down to St. Helena. At the top of Howell Mtn. Rd. there is a JUNCTION with WHITE COTTAGE ROAD. Turn RIGHT onto WHITE COTTAGE ROAD. Follow this nice road until it again intersects with HOWELL MOUNTAIN ROAD and turn RIGHT down the hill. At the bottom of the hill it intersects with SILVERADO TRAIL (again) and turn RIGHT. Follow "The Trail" north to CALISTOGA. At the stop sign at the intersection of "The Trail" and HWY 29/LINCOLN AVE. turn RIGHT onto Hwy 29. Go NORTH to TUBBS LANE and TURN LEFT onto Tubbs Lane (be careful of the fast downhill traffic coming off "The Mountain"). Follow TUBBS LANE past "The Old Faithful Geyser" until it "T's" off at HWY 128. Turn RIGHT onto HWY 128. Continue on Hwy 128 through some wonderful curves until you see some signs that state HEALDSBURG straight ahead or GEYSERVILLE to the right. Either route will eventually take you back to Hwy 101 by following the signs. You then can take HWY 101 south back home or take out your map and scope out the wonderful back roads on the west side of Hwy 101. This route is best enjoyed on a week day as the "turistas" in their "cages" clutter the road on the weekends. Submitted by: Dave #3 Wagner Napa, California, Member of: "The Old Coots On Scoots" riding out of Santa Rosa

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