Reno to CA twisties & pics

[2lane]

Looking for some good scenic routes with twisties from Reno to CA. Any suggestions & pics?

[Ramjet]

Where in Ca. do you want to go ? If it is just a day trip from Reno, go toward Sacramento on 80, then at Truckee take Hiwy 89 south, to South Lake Tahoe. I would suggest you continue on 89 to Hiwy.88 in Hope Valley. Then, depending on your time frame, you can go east or west. East, back over to 395, and up toward Reno through Carson Valley. Or, if time allows, take Hiwy 88 west as far as you care to. Beautiful road to travel.

[2lane]

Thanks. I'm looking for some desert scenery with twisties - do any of those roads offer that or are they more up into the mountain elevations?

[eye.surgeon]

Monitor Pass, Ebbetts Pass, Sonora Pass, hwy 25 from near Lee Vining eastward, Benton Crossing road...for starters. Give it about 6 weeks for the snow to melt.

[Ramjet]

Hmmmmm, none of what I mentioned in the earlier post is what you would call "desert with twisties", mostly mountain twisties. Maybe that out east of Lee Vining is what you're looking for. I am not familiar with that area.

[pecha]

120 east of 395 maybe but it's not on your route

it will be hard because from reno to ca you ARE riding thru the mountains

you can try roads around pyramid lake

[demenshea]

Originally Posted by 2lane

Looking for some good scenic routes with twisties from Reno to CA. Any suggestions & pics?

Good luck with that JC, when I lived in Reno, I found there were two twistie roads. One leading to Virginia City and back down to StageCoach and one leading to Incline Village.

Otherwise, you have to ride for miles and connect to the Sierra Mountain roads to get any decent riding. Now on that note, you have some of the best. There is Hwy 88, 89, Monitor Pass, Kingsbury Grade, Ebbetts Pass, Sonora Pass and Tioga Pass into Yosemite.

I will also add a wonderful road that is desert twisties. Hwy 338 or Sweetwater Pass that runs between Wellington, NV to Bridgeport, CA is a nice run and you can do a loop around Hwy 395.
I would take Geiger Grade to VC then 6 Mile Canyon then Hwy 95 toward Yerington, Wellington, Sweetwater to Bridgeport and then up 395 back to Reno, if that's where you need to return. It's a great day ride.


You wanna extend it...go up to Tahoe via Jacks Valley to Kingbury Grade, through east shore Lake Tahoe to Incline and then Hwy 431 back down to Reno. YA!!

[Grumbler]

Originally Posted by demenshea

Hwy 338 or Sweetwater Pass that runs between Wellington, NV to Bridgeport, CA is a nice run <...>

A small group of us did the Topaz Lake to Wellington to
Bridgeport route, and we thought that the NV side was
kind of blah. Once we got on the CA side, yeah, that's
a nice stretch there alongside the Walker River!

Another option from Incline Village (after taking Mt. Rose
Hwy as you mentioned) is to grab 267 then 89 and 49 to
Nevada City. 20 to I-80 then exit at Soda Springs and
follow Donner Pass Rd into Truckee. Can return to Reno
via I-80. 237 miles in 5 hours.

[bmwlloyd]

Hmmm....Twisties in a desert setting are a little hard to find. Not much to twist around.

[BadRap]

This is a real nice ride. I prefer the twisties and there are plenty. The only sucky part is I80.

Originally Posted by Grumbler

Another option from Incline Village (after taking Mt. Rose
Hwy as you mentioned) is to grab 267 then 89 and 49 to
Nevada City. 20 to I-80 then exit at Soda Springs and
follow Donner Pass Rd into Truckee. Can return to Reno
via I-80. 237 miles in 5 hours.