Ballard Canyon Rd, Solvang, CA

Ballard Canyon Rd into Solvang, CA, has all the trappings of "If you won’t tell, I won’t tell".

You can always take the main Highway 154—most riders will. It’s obvious, it will get you there faster, and your GPS recommends it.

But we don’t do that here in Pashnit Land, do we? No siree, Bob! What else ya got?

Ballard Canyon Rd runs parallel to 154, and also Alamo Pintado Rd, which is a relaxed, flat, and even somewhat lazy jaunt into Solvang. Bicyclists love it for those very reasons. And there’s that word, ‘parallel’ again. Keeps popping up in these posts.

Ballard Canyon is not the road on the GPS. Ridden southbound, it starts from Los Olivos along Highway 154 and immediately starts tossing out the wiggle, wiggle, climbing over a low rise.

Everybody gets hairpins in a mantra that would make Oprah proud. You get a hairpin! And you get a hairpin! After that, you’ll just have to make do with a rhythm of repetitive S-curves. Name change on the south end to Chalk Hill Rd into Solvang, but you likely won’t even notice. The signed Ballard Canyon Rd cuts west and eases into nearby Buellton. The name change is worth mentioning because if you’re trying to find this road to escape Solvang, it doesn’t exist.

Note Ballard Canyon is short, but lots of vineyards, small ranches and hobby farms along this road which means lots of driveways too. Ballad Canyon is not long, but it beats being stuck on the main road. Within minutes of tackling the technical stuff, you’re rolling right into downtown Solvang.

When you reach Solvang, make a point to ride straight to the Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum. It is well worth the stop to grab a coffee and enjoy their incredible collection of rare, classic bikes plus the motorcycle museum is near the center of town.

Solvang is crazy touristy & congested during peak times. Ballard Canyon provides the quick twisty escape you need. It's narrow, has no center line, and offers up a twisty, up-and-over ridge route and allows Escape from Solvang that Snake Plissken would approve of.

Worth mentioning the sequence out of Solvang is Atterdag, Chalk Hill, Ballard Canyon, Foxen Canyon, Tepusquet. Get all that? Smiles for miles. https://www.pashnittours.com/central-coast