Beckwourth-Genesee Rd - Portola, CA

Tim Mayhew

Oct 11

2 min read

Beckwourth-Genesee Rd near Portola is an easily overlooked mountain ribbon that flows north out of Beckwourth, CA. Found just a few minutes outside of Portola, this tiny high-country community sits at the 5,000-ft level and is likely best known for the Western Pacific Railroad Museum on the west end of town—at least if you’re a rail fan. At this museum, you can actually rent and drive a real, full-sized vintage diesel-electric locomotive, and the museum spans 37 acres with over 130 pieces of rolling stock.

Back in the day, the route south from Antelope Lake to Highway 70 via Forest Road 2803 was a completely paved backroad loop. It offered an incredibly scenic mountain connection running from Taylorsville to Antelope Lake, and then straight down to Beckwourth just outside Portola for gas & ice cream.

I’ve ridden this remote loop multiple times, even with groups in tow. It was always goaty, but entirely doable.

Imagine my surprise when I merrily showed up one Sunday afternoon expecting a deserted, paved plateau ride from Taylorsville to Antelope Lake to Portola, only to find out the joke was on me. The pavement had been entirely ripped up and replaced with washboard gravel south of Antelope Lake.

Pure stubbornness disavowed the common-sense reaction to turn around and backtrack to Taylorsville to stay on the blacktop. After all, how long could the gravel actually last? It was paved last time I rode this.

Twenty miles. That was the answer.

FR2803 along Last Chance Creek was an absolute ordeal to put my poor Hayabusa through. The 'Busa definitely wasn’t designed for a 20-mile gravel endurance test just to reach the pavement again—even if the reward on the final leg into Portola was a brand-new, freshly resurfaced stretch of Beckwourth-Genesee Rd (pictured).

There is plenty of great camping out here, and the 4000-acre Lake Davis is nearby with over 30-miles of shoreline, but I didn't see a single other soul during the entire trek. Maybe they’ll repave that middle connector FR2308 section to Antelope Lake someday. If they ever do, somebody please let me know.