Barstow to Carson City, NV

[Teufelsche]

End of July a foursome will be heading through Yosemite and other forest areas heading to Carson city, NV for the AMA conference. Anyone know what the best route is coming from Barstow and heading north through the mountains? Is it even worth doing it because of traffic?

Thanks!

Deb

[JBrack]

395 the whole way...thats a nice ride once you get to around Bishop. Might even be nice south of Bishop, I've just never been on that part.

[CRASH]

Sounds like you want to go from Barstow to the west side of the mountains and then back through Yosemite to get to Carson City? How much time do you have and how much do you like the twisties? You can weave all the way up through the Sequoias to 41 to get to the park.

From Barstow
58 west to
395 north to
178 west to
Sierra Way north to Kernville
North out of Kernville on the Kern River Hwy
Pass through Johnsondale and make a right on
CR-107/HWY 190 and head north
Just before Springville, head right/north on
J-37 - follow that almost to Visalia and then head north on
198 past Kaweah Lake (look for Three Rivers on the map)
Follow that and it turns into 180 (you could detour into Kings Canyon ... a worthy detour ... in and back out the same way).
Follow 180 into Fresno and pick up 41 to Yosemite.

In case it was not obvious ... I don't like freeways.

There are a lot of goat roads between the 180 area and 41 as well, but they are GOAT ROADS for the most part and a little tricky to navigate.

This is at least a 2 day ride for most. Twisty, scenic, lots of photo ops. If you have a Garmin GPS, I could toss this into a file for you later and it would probably be easier to see.

Just one option of many, probably how I would go if it were me (except I would explore some of the goat roads).

[Moedad]

Originally Posted by JBrack

395 the whole way...thats a nice ride once you get to around Bishop. Might even be nice south of Bishop, I've just never been on that part.

Dude, it is nice, you need to try it sometime! I like it down to about the Fossil Falls area, but you should at least try as far south as Lone Pine.

[Teufelsche]

I would love a file for my Garmin if you get a chance. so you don't think the roads will have too many tourists on them? We are planning a few days up there, at the most 5 I think.

Not sure about goat roads. I would love a few, but not sure of the other folks. Everyone on newer bikes but me. All HD crew.

Thanks for the routing though. Would love to do more riding through there.

[CRASH]

Debbie,
No reason any bike should not be able to get through here. It may be a little slow going for some, but the scenery is spectacular and you will want to putt and stop a lot anyway. This is 700 miles, so I suggest at least 2 days to do it. I also stuck in the detour to the end of Kings Canyon as well. The park is going ot have tourists, but the speed limit there is so low that it won't matter. Many of the roads I have here are a little off the beaten path for most, you will probably see some folks, but I don't know that it will be that bad. What day are you planning on leaving?

PM me an e-mail address to send the file to and I will send it over.

[Ramjet]

You are aware, the traffic in Yosemite can be a nightmare. You will be in 1st gear, and clutching. I went up there just before school was out, just after Memorial day, and there was already traffic problems. You have to be really careful in the park, because the tourists are gawking at the scenery, and not paying attention, bad deal for motorcycles.