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14 day trip in/around Sierra Nevadas?

B

Benmc

New member
Joined
Jun 12, 2016
Location
San Francisco
Moto(s)
Multistrada, Thruxton R
Hi All

Starting to think about an extended 14 day ride/trip around the Sierra Nevadas for my 40th birthday this year. Looking to go late summer. Has anyone done anything similar?

Will be staying on road and in hotels

Any thoughts/views welcome

Ben
 
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Camping at June Lake is really neat
Bodie is amazing, 3 miles of gravel roads to get there though.
Holy Smoke in Bishop is damn good eating. There's a.. Dutch? bakery across the street too.
Prepare for rain and for heat. Either can happen.
Get a phone charger / USB port on your bike.

The Sierras are fun on a bike. :thumbup
 
There are lots of roads and places to visit. You could do something like cris-cross the passes:
58, 178, 155, Sherman, Tioga (120), 108, 4, 88, 50, Morman Emigrant, ... and that is just between Tehachappi and Tahoe... There are several more great roads and passes as you go further north.

In the same span, there are great rides on each side of the Sierras. On the west side: there are great roads between Tehachapi and Lake Isabella and further north through Springville, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, around Cherry lake just west of Yosemite is a bunch of great roads then all the roads between 108 and 50 are fun, goaty roads that you could spend a week just riding back and forth.

On the east side there is Death Valley, Bristlecone pines off 168 is a great ride, visiting some hot springs around Mammoth, the June lake loop, 120 east of mono lake, Bodie is fun to check out and some of the gravel roads in and out of there are fun, scenic rides, Hwy 89 is my favorite route into Tahoe...

and those are just the big, obvious roads to pick. there are many many more that are less well known that are also fun rides.
 
If I were to try that, I would get the AAA map: "Sierra Nevada - Lake Tahoe & Yosemite Areas". That covers pretty much all roads you should be interested in and at enough detail to find the good ones. It's only six bucks if you are not a AAA member.

I spent four days riding the roads east of Fresno, between Kings Canyon and Yosemite using that map. I could have used a couple of more days to get to all of the good roads there.

While I was living in Folsom I also tried to get to as many good roads in the Sierras as I could. There are a lot of interesting roads in the area.

You need to figure out how far north you want to go. I only have a little bit of experience north of I-80 and none north of Highway 49. Make sure one way or the other you ride Highway 49 end to end. I know a nice detour around the one super boring section between Auburn and Nevada City (Dog Bar Road).

I'll be happy to give you a list of all the ones I consider worth riding. I'm also assuming that you intend to go over all of the major passes that are paved.

I'm thinking that if you do 200-300 mile days and stay in hotels at the end of them, you'll still be able to get a minimum of 50% new roads every single day with most days being much better than that.

Were you planning to do this alone, or would you like to do it with other riders?

(Trying to figure out if I should try to invite myself along or something. I want to do something similar this summer.)
 
Start at death valley and weave your way back and forth over the passes and finish in crater lake. Take 37, 4 etc on the way back to sf. So much to see.
 
On the east side, book a night or two at Benton Hot Springs near Lee Vining. Nothing better than a soak after a long days riding.
 
ScottRNelson said:
I'll be happy to give you a list of all the ones I consider worth riding. I'm also assuming that you intend to go over all of the major passes that are paved.
Click to expand...
I figured that I needed the list anyway, so here is the list of my recommended roads working from south to north. Any numbers in parentheses are some sort of forest road designation that shows on the map and on road signs. Might not show up in Google Maps.

  • Highway 180 into Kings Canyon
  • Trimmer Springs to Pine Flat Reservoir
  • Watts Valley Road to Trimmer Springs and Pine Flat Reservoir
  • Black Rock Rd (dirt) to Wishon Village (easy dirt)
  • Highway 168 to Huntington Lake
  • Dinkey Creek Road to Wishon Res and Courtright Res
  • Stump Springs Rd (5) north of Huntington Lake - great views
  • Minarets Road (81) - Can come down (7), but will have a bit of dirt
  • Sky Ranch Rd
  • Kaiser Pass Road (80) from Huntington Lake to Thomas Edison reservoir
  • Malim Ridge Rd along Bass Lake
Clovis or Oakhurst are good bases here.

  • Highway 41 into Yosemite.
  • Glacier Point Rd is a must
  • Highway 140 between Mariposa and Yosemite
  • Highway 120 through Yosemite - from Chinese Camp all the way to Lee Vining
  • Cottonwood Rd (14) to Cherry Lake, then (17) and (12)

  • Highway 108 from Sonora to Highway 395.
  • Highway 4 from Angels Camp to Highway 89.
  • Highway 89 from Highway 395 to Highway 50.
  • Highway 88 from Jackson to Picketts Junction (Highway 89).
  • Mormon Emmigrant Trail from Corral Flat (88) toward Pollock Pines is rather boring.
  • * Omo Ranch, Shake Ridge, and Grizzly flat are all more interesting.

  • Must ride Wentworth Springs out of Georgetown and Ice House toward Highway 50
  • Can take 11 Pines from Wentworth Springs to Hell Hole Res and French Meadows Res
  • Highway 193 from Placerville to Georgetown, then down to Cool is good.
  • Mosquito Road from Placerville is also very interesting.
  • The paved part of Rock Creek (from 193) is also good but a bit tight. (Combine these two.)

  • Foresthill Road is worth riding from Auburn all the way to the end. Technical dirt from there to French Meadows if you're brave.
  • Take Mosquito Ridge Road out of Foresthill to French Meadows Res. Don't miss this one.
  • Salmon Falls Road from Folsom to Cool is also great
  • There are other good paved roads in this area - check the map
That's about it south of I-80 if you don't want any dirt

You MUST take Highway 49 from Nevada City to DownieVille. Great stretch of road.
The road to Allegheny off of Highway 49 is interesting between Nevada City and Downieville.

I have personally ridden everything on this list. :cool
 
Forgot Ellis Rd from Highway 88 west of Bear River Res to Salt Springs Res and Calaveras Dome. Worth the ride. There is a fairly tight paved road back toward Bear River Res that can be fun going UP it. It's the only road splitting off from Ellis heading east.
 
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ScottRNelson has given you a great list. Short ride but a must do is Priest Grade, both the old and new and up and down. When riding in Yosemite do not for get almost all Park Ranger trucks have radar.:mad Do not drive pass Whoa Nellie Deli:thumbup

Looking forward to your trip report, take a lot of pictures.
 
ScottRNelson said:
Were you planning to do this alone, or would you like to do it with other riders?

(Trying to figure out if I should try to invite myself along or something. I want to do something similar this summer.)
Click to expand...

Just the wife and I on a Multistrada :)
 
Priest Grade Cafe at the top is a good lunch stop.
Scott R Nelson gave you a great start. Those are ALL great roads. The Sierras are spectacular.
 
Maps

Get a hold of Butler Motorcycle Maps for California, there are enough rated roads to keep you busy for the whole summer. I used them to plan a similar two week trip criss ccrossing the Rockies in Colorado last summer and they are very helpful. Far better than a standard road map.




Dennis
 
Dennis D. said:
Get a hold of Butler Motorcycle Maps for California, there are enough rated roads to keep you busy for the whole summer. I used them to plan a similar two week trip cris crossing the Rockies in Colorado last summer and they are very helpful. Far better than a standard road map.
Click to expand...
I must be doing something wrong.

I bought the Butler Northern California Maps and I have not found it as useful as a AAA map. If you're visiting an area of California that you've never been to, it gives you some good hints, but if you're intent on riding in a specific area, I seem to be able to find the good roads better on AAA.

I'm not saying don't get the Butler Maps, just that I disagree about them being "far better".
 
Any stretches or areas you would be concerned about on a 90 mile/tank range? Planning something similar on the tiny-tank Dorsoduro.

Would of course pre-plan fuel stops, and would probably throw a little 1gal roto tank in a saddle bag for insurance purposes, but would like to have an idea of which regions to tread carefully in (i.e. where are the fewest/least reliable stations).
 
LakeMerrit said:
Any stretches or areas you would be concerned about on a 90 mile/tank range? Planning something similar on the tiny-tank Dorsoduro.

Would of course pre-plan fuel stops, and would probably throw a little 1gal roto tank in a saddle bag for insurance purposes, but would like to have an idea of which regions to tread carefully in (i.e. where are the fewest/least reliable stations).
Click to expand...
The range on my KTM is about 120 miles and I was worried about running out of gas more than once when riding on the wonderful roads between Kings Canyon and Yosemite. Some of the places are likely unreachable if you have only a 90 mile range.
 
ScottRNelson said:
The range on my KTM is about 120 miles and I was worried about running out of gas more than once when riding on the wonderful roads between Kings Canyon and Yosemite. Some of the places are likely unreachable if you have only a 90 mile range.
Click to expand...

I'll likely be riding with an SUV, so maybe I'll make her keep a 5 gallon can in the back or on the roof rack. I'll just have to make sure to stay out in front, so they'll see me when I run out!
 
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