Best South Bay / Bay Area Roads, Routes and Stretches

[IAmGary]

Sorry if this thread is a dupe, I searched but came up empty. Where does R3v drive? I'm looking for new roads to drive in the South Bay area with:

- good visibility, predictable or little elevation change
- low traffic, decent speed limit (45 mph or better)
- not too many hair pins, definitely prefer sweepers

So far my favourite roads are:

- McKean Road to Uvas Road. Great visibility and little traffic. You can take most corners at speed, just watch out for bicyclists on the weekend. You can take Hecker Pass to Wastonville for some more thrilling switch backs after warming up on the McKean / Uvas Road. This is my favorite way to get from SCV to Santa Cruz.
- La Honda Road to Hwy 84. This is well known road and tends to attract traffic. There's usually a couple hundred bikers and exotic car dudes at the intersection of Skyline and 84. If you can get on it when traffic is light it's a great drive but one slowpoke can ruin the whole drive.

I've heard tell of other, more isolated roads but haven't checked them out because they're too far away and don't go anywhere I want to be. Specifically:

- Calaveras Rd
- San Antonio Valley Rd
- Big Basin Way

I'd really like to find a couple roads nearby that I can get to quickly for early morning drives. I do drive around the SCV area sometimes but urban roads don't have enough curves and buzzing residential neighbourhoods in the wee morning hours is dangerous.

[YosemiteSam]

From time to time I consult this website about local driving roads. http://www.unitonestudios.com/BayAreaDrivingRoads/ It doesn't have a terribly big userbase to work with yet, but it still has some pretty good information.

[IAmGary]

Cool! I notice my McKean Road stretch is not listed there :)

[canakami]

Awesome website there, just signed up. Because it's the closest I spend most of my time on Redwood Rd./Pinehurst. They're both pretty short, but they're technical enough to be a quickie fun run to and from my parents place (they live in San Leandro).

Other than that, Alpine/Bear Creek/Paige are some of the roads I enjoy out on the peninsula.

[AE86]

HWY 17 SOUTH

Fill up your tank

HWY 9 NORTH

hold on to your nuts.

[YosemiteSam]

^Hwy 9 is decent at best. It's only worth it when it's too late for normal people to be driving or biking otherwise you always get stuck behind some old lady driving 15-20mph or somebody who doesn't know how to pass a cyclist, and the speed limit is way too low. That being said, I still drive it fairly often since it's close by me and I can drive up to the view and back in about an hour.

[TCorzett]

Hello, I run BayAreaDrivingRoads.com and it's great to know people are using the site!

From time to time I consult this website about local driving roads. http://www.unitonestudios.com/BayAreaDrivingRoads/ It doesn't have a terribly big userbase to work with yet, but it still has some pretty good information.

Thanks for sharing the site with others. I figure it's always going to be a niche group due to the limited geographic area, but my ultimate goal would be to have the most complete resource for the Bay Area. Hopefully over time more people will rate/comment the roads they drive, so we can get a better sense of what roads are the best to drive.

Suggestions for roads are great and always welcome. It would also be great if people wanted to do a write-up for a road. If there are other features/content you'd like incorporated into the site let me know. Maybe a "roads I've driven" feature? A "garage" section for info on user cars?

Thanks for visiting... and enjoy the drives!

-Todd...

[oliver.r]

nice thread gary, subd

[decay]

HWY 9 NORTH

hold on to your nuts.

if you want to play on the 9, get a motorcycle.
i don't care what your car is, it's too big, too slow, and you're in my fucking way on that road.

[canakami]

if you want to play on the 9, get a motorcycle.
i don't care what your car is, it's too big, too slow, and you're in my fucking way on that road.

Lol

[IAmGary]

Sometimes I get up and drive Hwy 17 at 4AM but by 5AM there's too much traffic to be enjoyable. Would be a sweet road if not for the other drivers. But next time I do that run I'll try taking 9 back to the valley. I'm sure there won't be many bikers at that time of day :)

My only worry about driving around in the middle of the night is that I see a lot of foxes, skunks and deer. Anyone tried those bumper mounted whistles that are supposed to spook the animals?

[decay]

Lol

that goes double for 4-door etas

Sometimes I get up and drive Hwy 17 at 4AM but by 5AM there's too much traffic to be enjoyable. Would be a sweet road if not for the other drivers. But next time I do that run I'll try taking 9 back to the valley. I'm sure there won't be many bikers at that time of day

yeah, likely not, cold/damp pavement is not our friend. watch out for park rangers though; first time i rode my current bike home from the seller in ben lomond i was taking it easy (was raining on west side of summit), i had one tailgate me for a couple miles, then when i pulled over to let him pass, he set up a speed trap for me at the next vista point (which was on a long straight; nice try, bud). those guys REALLY want to be CHP.

[kronus]

- 130 up to lick observatory
- kings mountain road
- stage road to pescadero

these all have rough pavement and blind corners, don't go if you're too low or suck at staying in your damn lane.

[2mAn]

Hicks Road is a favorite of mine :)

[IAmGary]

Just drove Calaveras Rd. to Felton Rd. to Sierra Rd. this morning around 5AM. Wow! Surreal rolling green hills with the city of Milpitas sprawled out 2 miles below. Definitely one of the areas hidden gems. Here's a cap from my dash cam: yes that's a cow in the rear view mirror.