If you’ve ever ridden north or south on Highway 395 near Lone Pine, CA, you’ve likely seen it—a faint, jagged scar cut into the distance that climbs straight up the mountain in a relentless series of switchbacks. I’ll admit, I passed by this road for multiple decades, before my curiosity  finally got the better of me. What is up there? Horseshoe Meadows Road  is one of California’s most dramatic and technically demanding paved ascents. Located just south of Lone Pine, this r

Mt. Umunhum Road opened to the public in 2017, offering an all-new, twisty climb to the 3,486-foot summit of the peak. Sitting atop the summit is the relic of a decommissioned Cold War military base. Its centerpiece, an 8-story concrete monolith known locally as "The Cube," can be seen from across the South Bay Area. While most of the original Air Force base buildings have been razed, this massive structure was left  as a silent tribute to the Cold War infrastructure that was

Highway 49 between Nevada City and Downieville is widely considered the crown jewel of the Gold Country. Starting the ride at Java John’s amidst the Victorian charm of Nevada City, the road climbs briefly out of town before immediately plunging into a high-intensity descent toward the South Yuba River. This section is a masterclass in rhythmic engineering, characterized by tight, technical twisties that cling to the canyon walls. The elevation changes are dramatic, offering r

Montezuma Hills Rd near Rio Vista, CA is a forgotten, undulating ribbon of asphalt that feels more like a roller coaster through the iconic Windows XP "Bliss" wallpaper—which, as it happens, was photographed just a few counties over in Sonoma, CA. This easily missed back road is defined by numerous wind turbines of the Shiloh Wind Power Plant, all spinning in the relentless flow of the Delta Breeze, a natural phenomenon where ocean air flows inland from San Francisco Bay as m

Bayne Road starts in Coloma, CA, the spot where gold was discovered in 1848, sparking one of the largest mass migrations in American history. Today, the entire town of Coloma, found between Placerville and Auburn, is a State Historic Park. Bayne Rd is remarkably easy to miss—I rode right past it for 20 years. It isn’t something you’d pick off an old fashioned paper map, and your GPS will ignore it. To find it, ride across the iconic one-lane bridge over the American River and

Beasore Rd is found east of Oakhurst, CA across the road from the Bass Lake Resort. Better known as the Mammoth Pool Loop, Beasore Road flows east through a relentless series of mountain S-curves, climbing into the Sierra Nevada Mountains over a low 7300 ft summit for 35 miles toward Clover Meadow. Dead end road. Well, sort of. In the mid-20th century, there was a massive push to build a paved highway connecting North Fork, CA (via the Minarets Road/Beasore area) directly acr

Sawyers Bar Road stands alone as a holy grail of Northern California motorcycling for riders who crave remote, single-lane mountain pavement. (And yes, all paved.) This loop route begins in the quiet town of Etna (pop. 627) and immediately demands your full focus. It climbs sharply toward the 5,900-foot Etna Summit, offering staggering views of the Russian Wilderness to the west before plunging into the dense depths of the Klamath National Forest. This road is more than just

Highway 108 - Sonora Pass is one of our favorite mountain passes. With very little snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains right now & Highway 89-Monitor Pass near Markleeville already open, I'm betting on an early open date. Earliest recent open date for Sonora Pass was a decade ago on April 17, 2015 during the last drought. That’s generally considered the earliest documented spring opening in recent decades. Mid-April is less than a month away. But don't get too excited, Mid-Ma

Skaggs has been repaved. Well, not all of it, but the 5-mile uphill single lane section from the ocean at Stewarts Point, CA and extending 5-miles inland to the summit of the Coast Range at Tin Barn Rd. If you’re headed up or down the Northern California Coastline, turn inland at Stewarts Point and just run up to the summit, turn around, and right back down again to the coast. Single lane brand new pavement? Bliss. Stewarts Point Rd here is single lane flowing through thick C

Trimmer Springs Rd into Piedra, CA is a ribbon of asphalt that clings to the northern shoreline of Pine Flat Lake known best for repeating s-curves. For riders seeking endless curve, this road is a masterpiece of constant radius changes allowing the lake shoreline to dictate the path of the road. Starting at Piedra & found due east of Fresno in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, the centerpiece of this ride is the massive Pine Flat Lake, a centerpiece of California’s water infrastr

Highway 1 Big Sur is completely open for the first time in three years opening up a short time ago in mid-January. Nacimiento Rd is also open after being closed for several years. Go ride them both now during springtime. Most of Highway 1 - Big Sur is dramatic cliffs high above the ocean with dramatic broad vistas of the ocean. However, one of the rare places along Big Sur’s Highway 1 where you can actually ride down to ocean level (there are two of these places) is the Mill

Mattole Road is not for everyone. It is long at 66 miles, remote, and notoriously bumpy goat. For some, it’s a "one-and-done" ordeal; for others, it’s a "you gotta see this!" bucket-list pilgrimage. There is a staggering amount of history carved into this 66-mile remote back road ranging from the 1880s Victorian village of Ferndale, California’s first oil discovery in 1865 after the Civil War ended to the echoes of the catastrophic 1,000-year flood of 1964. Along the way, you

The Oroville-Quincy Highway (Highway 162) is a masterclass in high-speed Sierra engineering found due east of Chico, CA & flowing out of the eastern side of Oroville. While many up-and-over passes in the Sierra Nevada Range are defined by steep climbs and tight, repeating hairpins, Highway 162 offers an entirely different allure. This is a wide, well-maintained ribbon of asphalt famous for sequences of wide-open-sight lines, continual S-curves and sustained speeds, allowing y

Pine Canyon Rd near Gorman, CA is another ride that parallels a major highway. It’s a surviving fragment of the Southern California 1915 Ridge Route system, which was the very first paved road connecting the northern edge of the Los Angeles Basin near Castaic to the Central Valley. Ridge Rd had 697 curves in about 48 miles in 1915 and followed the crest of the ridge tops. Pine Canyon Rd in present day is a distant echo of that first road and a dramatic juxtaposition to Highwa

Socrates Mine Rd is not a fast road, no knee dragging here; rather this road is a dead end. Found outside Middleton, CA, you’ve likely ridden by it many times over. Why bother with dead-end roads? Because of what’s at the end. You’ve ridden Highway 175 from Middletown, up and over Cobb Mountain and to Clear Lake many times over, then you have to say, what else ya got? Rising from the rolling hills of Middletown, CA, Socrates Mine Rd is a winding dead-end out-and-back artery t

Highway 245 is one of my all-time favorite California Motorcycle Roads. Sierra Passes, SoCal canyons, NorCal’s Highway 36, yadda, yadda, we get it. The Southern Foothills have some gems and this road is the mean bully that took your lunch money in middle school. Insert a yellow-eyed Scut Farkus sneer. Highway 245 is a relentless masterpiece of asphalt that demands every ounce of your focus. Winding through the Southern Foothills of the Sierra Nevada Range and found due east

Hudson Ranch Rd used to be known as Cerro Noroeste Rd. Hudson Ranch Road is one of those California roads that feels like a discovery the moment you turn onto it. Formerly known as Cerro Noroeste Road (a name only the "old timers" still use after Kern County changed it in 2013) to honor the ranching family that owned the land since the late 1800s), the mountain itself retains the name Cerro Noroeste meaning Northwest Mountain, this stretch is a masterclass in terrain transfor

Bay Hill Rd bypasses Bodega Bay. It’s found on a sweping curve on Highway 1 flowing into Bodega Bay and it’s easy to miss- or even know it’s there. Bay Hill Rd is one of several inland local roads that pre‑dated or paralleled the modern state highway completed in 1951. In Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller The Birds, Bay Hill Rd serves as the audience's introduction to the town. When Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) drives her silver (very rare) 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 into Bodeg

Forest Road 23S16 – The Road with No Name Deep in the heart of the Southern Sierra, Forest Road 23S16 (Portuguese Pass) stands as a strong contender for the most remote and unknown paved road in the state of California. Spanning the crest between the Kern River Valley and the Central Valley, this route is so obscure it barely registers on most maps. This ride is a study in isolation. It starts from Posey (north of Glennville), a remote intersection of Jack Ranch Rd and Old St

Bald Hills Rd is a hidden treasure of the California Far North. Found near the California-Oregon border, it offers a ride that feels like a discovery every time you twist the throttle. Stretching 34 miles from Highway 101 near Orick (north of Arcata/Eureka) to the remote banks of the Klamath River at Weitchpec (north of Hoopa), this road serves as a vital artery for riders. The eastern end of Bald Hills Rd mates with Highway 96—one of the longest motorcycle roads in the Unite