Denver To San Fran.... Routes???

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I'm looking for a good way to ride from Denver area to San Franisco, then back but from a more northern route, probably northern Calif. to Denver

I'll be coming from St. Paul, MN. to Denver, easy, but I haven't ridden any west of Denver.

My Friend is turning 50 during the trip and him and I are riding our cycles, me on a FJR and Dan on his BMWR1150R. Are wifes are flying St. Paul/Mpls to San Fran and we are planning on meeting them there 3-4- days after leaving on bikes from home.

We plan to rent a car for a few days and go to see the wine country, get a little sideways, check out the big Redwoods, etc.... we have a week to do stuff with our wifes...

Any "must see" stuff guys??????

Thanks , ZZZZZZZZ

 
I can't help on the route, but if you are in the Napa area on bikes, let me know and we can do a lunch ride on some of the roads near here. During the week is the best time.

 
I think I'd go north from Denver to Boulder, then West to Nederland, whereabouts I'd take the Peak to Peak Highway (72? and 7?) north through Allenspark to Estes Park. From there, I'd head west through Rocky Mountain National Park on 34 to Granby, where you hit Highway 40. Go west on 40 through Kremling, Steamboat Springs (my old stomping grounds in the late 70s), Hayden, Craig and on west through Utah on 40 through Vernal, Duchesne, Heber City and to Park City, where you head west on I-80 all the way to Reno. I love this route through Colorado, and in addition to the jaw droppingly spectacular RM Nat'l Park segment, the ride over Rabbit Ears Pass on 40 into Steamboat and on to Hayden is idyllic.

Sorry, but there isn't any good way to get across western Utah or Nevada from Salt Lake City, IMO. There are plenty of interesting ways through the Sierras (my back yard), but the straightest route through them from Reno to San Francisco on I-80 is maybe 4 hours depending on traffic bottlenecks during commute hours. If you've never seen Lake Tahoe, you owe that to yourself, but tourists in cages in the summertime around the Lake are notoriously less attentive than at home, so be careful.

For a day ride minimizing slab and maximizing scenery while being not too circuitous, here goes. From Reno, go south on 395 to the Mount Rose Highway (431, I think -- it's not far) and go west over the summit to where it hits Hwy 28 just west of Incline Village. (Spectacular view of the Lake from 2500 feet above it coming in.) You can go either way to go around the Lake, but I'd suggest you go left through Incline Village and on south along the east shore of the Lake. At Spooner Summit, you hit Hwy 50 -- go right to South Lake Tahoe. Stay on 50 all the way through South Lake Tahoe until you get to Emerald Bay Road at what is known as the Wye and make a left there (you're still on Hwy 50, but it's also 89 from there). About 8 miles later in Meyers, just past the Ag. Inspection station that is almost always closed now, make a left on 89 toward Markleeville and Jackson. That road is Luther Pass and ends in a tee at Hwy 88, where you make a right to go over Carson Pass -- all the way to a tee intersection in Jackson. From there, you jog north on 49 a bit until you pick up 88 west again, and I'd probably take that into Stockton, from where I'd pick up 4 going west to Antioch and Concord. From there, I'll leave you to pick up the SF Bay area maps to navigate across the bay to wherever you're going in SF or on the peninsula. This route will get you 3 nice mountain passes, keep you almost entirely off Interstate slab (which I hate) take you around Lake Tahoe, give you lots of photo ops and get you maximum grinnage, compared to the grimness of being stuck on Highway 80 from Reno to SF -- and God forbid you get stuck in rush hour commute gridlock in Sacramento or heading into the Bay area.

 
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I think I'd go north from Denver to Boulder, then West to Nederland, whereabouts I'd take the Peak to Peak Highway (72? and 7?) north through Allenspark to Estes Park. From there, I'd head west through Rocky Mountain National Park on 34 to Granby, where you hit Highway 40. Go west on 40 through Kremling, Steamboat Springs (my old stomping grounds in the late 70s), Hayden, Craig and on west through Utah on 40 through Vernal, Duchesne, Heber City and to Park City, where you head west on I-80 all the way to Reno. I love this route through Colorado, and in addition to the jaw droppingly spectacular RM Nat'l Park segment, the ride over Rabbit Ears Pass on 40 into Steamboat and on to Hayden is idyllic.
Sorry, but there isn't any good way to get across western Utah or Nevada from Salt Lake City, IMO. There are plenty of interesting ways through the Sierras (my back yard), but the straightest route through them from Reno to San Francisco on I-80 is maybe 4 hours depending on traffic bottlenecks during commute hours. If you've never seen Lake Tahoe, you owe that to yourself, but tourists in cages in the summertime around the Lake are notoriously less attentive than at home, so be careful.

For a day ride minimizing slab and maximizing scenery while being not too circuitous, here goes. From Reno, go south on 395 to the Mount Rose Highway (431, I think -- it's not far) and go west over the summit to where it hits Hwy 28 just west of Incline Village. (Spectacular view of the Lake from 2500 feet above it coming in.) You can go either way to go around the Lake, but I'd suggest you go left through Incline Village and on south along the east shore of the Lake. At Spooner Summit, you hit Hwy 50 -- go right to South Lake Tahoe. Stay on 50 all the way through South Lake Tahoe until you get to Emerald Bay Road at what is known as the Wye and make a left there (you're still on Hwy 50, but it's also 89 from there). About 8 miles later in Meyers, just past the Ag. Inspection station that is almost always closed now, make a left on 89 toward Markleeville and Jackson. That road is Luther Pass and ends in a tee at Hwy 88, where you make a right to go over Carson Pass -- all the way to a tee intersection in Jackson. From there, you jog north on 49 a bit until you pick up 88 west again, and I'd probably take that into Stockton, from where I'd pick up 4 going west to Antioch and Concord. From there, I'll leave you to pick up the SF Bay area maps to navigate across the bay to wherever you're going in SF or on the peninsula. This route will get you 3 nice mountain passes, keep you almost entirely off Interstate slab (which I hate) take you around Lake Tahoe, give you lots of photo ops and get you maximum grinnage, compared to the grimness of being stuck on Highway 80 from Reno to SF -- and God forbid you get stuck in rush hour commute gridlock in Sacramento or heading into the Bay area.
This is just simply a great post...great advice, great routes.

 
When are you going to be headed through Colorado? I am planning on riding to California this month from Granby Colorado.

The route that I am going is Hwy 40 from Granby to Duchesne UT. Then south on 191, to 6, to Hwy 50. Stoping in Ely Nevada before driving accross Neveda on Hwy 50. At Tahoe I am going north in California.

I will be leaving on Friday the 26th of August.

 
Exskibum... Thanks so much for all the info and routes!!!! (I love this Forum).

We're leaving St. Paul/ Mpls, _early_ thursday August 25th and we'll be hauling ass all day to... hopefully Denver that night.... (I'd hate to say, but maybe hauling ass and cycles behind air-conditioned Silverado) . (GO AHEAD IF YOU WILL,.. GIVE ME SHIT!!!, I HAVE THICK SKIN.) Staying at a my buddies friends house and leaving truck and trailer behind Then Friday, leaving on bikes to ....HEAD WEST......

I'll have to get out the maps and find all the roads "Exskibun" suggested, they sound great!!!!! We will be meeting are lovely wifes Saturday, August 27th or 28th. then do the family site seeing stuff for a few days via rental car and possible cycles, then travel a day or two farther north ?????? from that point, head back towards denver/truckmore suggestions??????, then come back to Truck/Denver by Sunday, Sept 4th, and boogie back to Mn,

PS, I just got my XM radio hooked up last week,Nice..... and just today I ordered from Cyclegadgets a camera mount with Ram bracket , HB-1 and the short arm, so I can take pictures with my Canon Digital Rebel while I ride.

I was at CBXJohns house last night, and he has that camera set-up ( but different camera), I think a Canon SD400 on his FJR. He just got back form a 3,200 mile road trip out to Colorado and took over 500 pictures !!!! Nice combo.... I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ZZZZZZZ

 
Cool, ride reports with pictures rock. I look forward to seeing your pics. Take a lot of pic between Salt Lake and Tahoe. I'm taking that part of the trip after the sun goes down to get a cool start so I need your pics to fill the gaps ;)

We just received our new camera in time to use it for our trip to Colorado. It's a Sony DSC-H1 and this is my camera mount. I've had this mount for quite some time and am very very fond of her.

July05114.jpg


I'm not sure if she'll hazard in motion shooting, but we have an intercom and she'll just ask me to stop when her eye catches something (who is in a hurry anyway? This is vacation :D )

 
The Colorado routes look good but I hate I-80 and would suggest this for Utah-Nevada.

Take US 40 to Duchesne Ut.

Take 191 to US 6 near Helper

South towards Price to Hwy 10 to Huntington

Take Hwy 31 to Fairview (one of the top ten rides in the state)

89 S to Mt Pleasant

116 to Moroni

132 to Nephi

continue on 132 to Lynndyl

6 to Delta

50 west to Fallon NV, The Lonliest Road in America

From Fallon you can go to Reno or Carson City and up to Tahoe. At this point anything across the Sierras is nice. Even I-80

I just did the route from Reno to Nephi and I would say it doesn't add much time. It is far more interesting. Has some curves in places. Just remember as stated there isn't a scenic way across Nevada but this beats the crap out of i-80, imo.

If you do this route be aware of the County Sherriff from Nephi to Baker NV. 90 miles of nothing. It appears he just cruises back and forth nailing people.

Enjoy

Brett

 
I'm looking for a good way to ride from Denver area to San Franisco, then back but from a more northern route, probably northern Calif. to Denver I'll be coming from St. Paul, MN. to Denver, easy, but I haven't ridden any west of Denver.

My Friend is turning 50 during the trip and him and I are riding our cycles, me on a FJR and Dan on his BMWR1150R. Are wifes are flying St. Paul/Mpls to San Fran and we are planning on meeting them there 3-4- days after leaving on bikes from home.

We plan to rent a car for a few days and go to see the wine country, get a little sideways, check out the big Redwoods, etc.... we have a week to do stuff with our wifes...

Any "must see" stuff guys??????

Thanks , ZZZZZZZZ
I'm hopelessly incompetent w/posting please don't let this be a 2nd post! :-(

Team,

So, other than being five years late in responding, hope you don't mind if I respond as I just completed this route not two days ago (8/10)

I'll give you a list of cities and you can preview them in your Garmin. There are a lot of cities and towns so you may wish to edit them to avoid being sidetracked but at least you'll get a detailed route.

From Denver, 72W to 119 South. These two roads are just drive off the road beautiful and a great start to a trip that is listed as 1,759 miles (30 hours). I had more time than money so I tried to be as indirect as possible (I would have written circuitous but I'm not sure how to spell it!). I don't have a map handy so I can't give you the exact routes but if you enter the city names into Google maps or other mapping software, they will come up. 119 N/S from Central City on the south to Estes Park on the north was incredibly fun! You go through a neat little town called Nederland (sp?). The roads are very twisty

I had help from locals along the way who were very generous, i.e. I asked, "what about this route?" and they would suggest an alternative, esp. when I told them I like the twisties.

CO Cities and Towns to follow:

Denver, Rocky, Pinecliffe (these are all on CO 72.)

Rollinsville, Apex, and Central City (now you are on CO 119 south)

After you depart Central City, continue on CO 119 until you find I-70. Take I-70 w-bound until you find CO 40.

Winter Park (this was the first major town after I started on CO 40). This too was incredibly fun and twisty

Granby

Kremmling (check out the Moose Cafe for a meal, just great)

I took CO 9 south here for a good excuse to find more two lane roads! This is more of a 'fast sweeper' road than 'twisty'. It is a fine road driving by 'Green Mtn. Reservoir')

Silverthorne

Dillon (just a marker, no need to go here, just a pt. to get on I-70 w-bound.)

Wolcott (turn off I-70 here and take CO 131 north to State Bridge.

Important Warning: there 'looks' to be a road between Kremmling and State Bridge but it is not fit for radial tires, according to locals. They told me you could take a 4x4 across it (name? number?) but it is quite long, bumby, and not FJR-ready! For this reason I took CO 9 south and I-70 west via Dillon and Wolcott.

State Bridge

Bond

Toponas

Yampa

Oak Creek (instead of going due north to Steamboat Springs, a local told me to take "20 Mile Road" to avoid Steamboat and I'm glad I did, just a wonderful little road) that will take you just west of Steamboat where you t-bone CO 40. I can't remember if this is CR-27, CR-33 or what. It is just a nice, twisty, north/northwest that t-bones west of Steamboat)

Hayden (CO 40)

Craig (CO 40)

Maybell (CO 40)

Dinosaur (overnighted at the Terrace Motel in Dinosaur. It was $50 which I thought high, similar roadside motels of this 'caliber' were $35-$40.

Utah:

Vernal (UT 40)

Roosevelt (UT 40)

Duchesne (UT 40)

Heber City (I-15 South)

Payson (I-15 South)

Eureka (now you are on UT 6)

Delta (either UT 6 or UT 50 Maybe 6/50?)

I purposefully avoided I-15 N to Salt Lake City as there was a nasty storm in Aug '10. Plus, a local truck driver told me to take I-15 S to UT 6/50 west, fantastic advice and I'm glad I did.

Nevada

Ely (took NV 50 to get here. Departing the next morning I tool NV 50 eastbound to pick up UT 93 South)

Panaca

Ash Springs

Tonopah

Coaldale

I decided to take this more indirect southern route, NV 93, on the eastern part of the state as it is a scenic highway, a green-dotted road on the atlas. Others have posted about NV 50 and I'm sure this is great as well. Labeled as the "Lonliest Road", NV 50, a local told me that NV 93 from Major Springs, NV at the intersection of 93 and 50 (not a town really, just a gas station in a valley between two fantastic mtn. ranges) going towards Toponah, NV is even more remote! It was hard to believe but there was just nothing out there! Quick aside: 25-30 miles on both sides of Major Springs are fantastic twisty roads. You can't miss them on this map, have fun!

I felt NV 93 south and NV 6 west, to Tonopah, NV, was far more remote than NV 50 and with far fewer services than NV 50. This route also allowed me to travel on the east side of "Area 51" along NV 375, aka "Extraterrestrial Highway". When I first entered it, a sign said, "no services, 150 miles". Incredible, no?

California:

Crossing CA you are still on NV/CA 6. Be on the lookout for CA 120. Wow! Just a fun little road that twists and turns like you can't believe! Plus, CA 120 has about 5 miles of roller-coaster-worthy dips. And dips they are! You race up one and hope the road comes back down straight ahead as otherwise you think you would be on a racetrack otherwise! Be careful for gravel in the curves, there is a lot and the curves are super tight.

From CA 120 westbound, look for CA 395 northbound. I "think" this goes right into the Sonoran Pass but I don't recall for sure. The town below are in the correct order but I can't remember the road #'s for sure.

Lee Mining

Bridgeport

Dardanelle

Sonora

San Andreas

Lockeford

Rio Vista

San Francisco (via the Bay Bridge)

Sonora was the western starting pt. for the Sonoran Pass. You'll see posts on this road in other area. Be warned: it is extremely technical with many switchbacks, turns, twists, and elevation drops! Read: it is a boat load of fun! :)

I was in Lee Mining, CA, just south of Bridgeport when I struck up a conv. with a local who told me about the Sonoran Pass. I'm extremely grateful as it was one of the best roads I've even been on!

After Sonora, CA, I just sort of followed my nose into SF. By that time, the twisties were done as I was in, I think, the Central Valley. Beautiful farmland and vineyards.

Be sure to check the roads ahead of time for news of closure etc. I hope you enjoy this route if you ever take it, or parts of it!

All best,

Cy S.

 
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I'm looking for a good way to ride from Denver area to San Franisco, then back but from a more northern route, probably northern Calif. to Denver I'll be coming from St. Paul, MN. to Denver, easy, but I haven't ridden any west of Denver.

My Friend is turning 50 during the trip and him and I are riding our cycles, me on a FJR and Dan on his BMWR1150R. Are wifes are flying St. Paul/Mpls to San Fran and we are planning on meeting them there 3-4- days after leaving on bikes from home.

We plan to rent a car for a few days and go to see the wine country, get a little sideways, check out the big Redwoods, etc.... we have a week to do stuff with our wifes...

Any "must see" stuff guys??????

Thanks , ZZZZZZZZ
CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU WIN!!!

5 year old thread is the longest resurrection I believe.

 
I'm looking for a good way to ride from Denver area to San Franisco, then back but from a more northern route, probably northern Calif. to Denver I'll be coming from St. Paul, MN. to Denver, easy, but I haven't ridden any west of Denver.

My Friend is turning 50 during the trip and him and I are riding our cycles, me on a FJR and Dan on his BMWR1150R. Are wifes are flying St. Paul/Mpls to San Fran and we are planning on meeting them there 3-4- days after leaving on bikes from home.

We plan to rent a car for a few days and go to see the wine country, get a little sideways, check out the big Redwoods, etc.... we have a week to do stuff with our wifes...

Any "must see" stuff guys??????

Thanks , ZZZZZZZZ
CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU WIN!!!

5 year old thread is the longest resurrection I believe.

Fantastic! I choose Door #1! :)

 
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