THE CONDOR COUNTRY - WordPress.com · THE CONDOR COUNTRY TOUR Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties Six to seven days, 350-500 miles THE CONDOR COUNTRY TOUR. THE CONDOR

1 THE CONDOR COUNTRY TOUR

This is called the Condor Country Tour because it travels back and forth across the Angeles and Los PadresNational Forests, the last refuge of the great California Condor. You may not see any of these rarest of raptorswhile riding here, but you will enjoy a scenic feast at nearly every turn, from high, dry chaparral to lush, greencanyons...from ridge-running panoramas high above the ocean to rolling hills covered with vineyards.

The tour begins near Lake Hughes, just beyond the suburban fringe of Los Angeles. After a loop ride in somedelightful canyons on Day 1, it heads west along the San Andreas Fault and climbs over the Grapevine at TejonPass. It then wanders through almost alpine-looking scenery beneath the 8800' peaks of Sawmill Mountain andMount Pinos before descending along beautiful Lockwood Valley Road, dropping down the infamous Heart-break Hill.

After crossing Pine Mountain summit, the tour follows magnificent Hwy 33 down Sespe Canyon and WheelerGorge to the quaint town of Ojai and Lake Casitas. It visits the posh enclave of Montecito and then climbsRattlesnake Canyon to the well-named Camino Cielo...the road of the sky. Over the top of the mountains, thetour stops for an overnight in Paradise on the wild Santa Ynez River, in the rocky hills below San Marcos Pass.This is some of the most spectacular cycling on any tour we offer.

From there, the route descends past Lake Cachuma into the peaceful Santa Ynez Valley...an area justly famed asa great cycling destination. This valley will be the staging area for the final three days of the tour, offeringeither easy, rolling rides among the vineyards and ranches on the valley floor, or alternatively, presenting moreambitious riders with some really challenging and extremely remote and scenic mountain routes, as well as ajourney to a quiet ocean beach. In addition to the cycling, there will be opportunities for sightseeing on foot inthe picturesque Danish village of Solvang, or while hiking to waterfalls and swimming holes.

This is a fairly challenging tour, thanks to some really formidable climbs, especially if you tackle the moststrenuous options. However, if you make use of the shorter routes, it’s accessible to many moderate riders.Only one day has a major climb that is steep, long, and without an easier alternative, other than a sag ride. It’sa tour that would be wonderful in the Spring, when the grasses are green and the wildflowers are at their best,and while the many mountain streams along the route are still running at full spate, but this region haspleasant weather for much of the year.

THE

CONDOR COUNTRY TOUR

Los Angeles, Ventura, andSanta Barbara Counties

Six to seven days, 350-500 miles

THE

CONDOR COUNTRY TOUR

2THE CONDOR COUNTRY TOUR

Day 0: Arrive at Canyon Meadows

Canyon Meadows is a sports camp for kids located on LakeHughes Road, 4.5 miles south of County Route N2 at LakeHughes or 19 miles north of Interstate-5 at Castaic. It’s abeautiful facility for group camping, with a large swimmingpool and excellent showers.

However, catering to cycle tourists is not Canyon Meadows’primary reason for existing, and they may or may not bewilling to accommodate you, depending on what otheractivities are scheduled at the camp at any given time. Ifyou cannot make arrangements there, you can stay just afew tenths of a mile away (to the south) at Cottonwood, aUS Forest Service camp with 22 sites. This is a decentcampground, but lacks that all-important amenity: show-ers. In fact, when we stayed here, even the water spigotswere shot off...no water at all. Fortunately, we were allowedto fill our water jugs next door at the sports camp. We werealso allowed to use the showers and the swimming pool atthe camp after our first ride. If you plan to do thistrip at the time we recommend it (late spring, earlysummer), you probably won’t need reservations atthis forest service camp. My contacts at CanyonMeadows tell me it’s never close to being full excepton mid-summer or holiday weekends. There is nofee for the campground, but you will need to pickup a USFS Adventure Pass for each of your vehicles.We’ll discuss Adventure Passes later.

If you arrive at camp early enough on your first day,you can loosen up your legs with an out-&-back onLake Hughes Road, heading back toward Castaic. Idon’t think I would go much more than ten milesin that direction though. The road becomes lessscenic and busier as it edges toward the populatedareas along I-5. Also, it’s quite hilly, and eventuallyheads downhill continuously toward Castaic. Butfor a few miles south of the camp, it’s a dandy road.

Day 1: Canyons Loop #1

66 miles, 4800' up, 4800' down

41 miles, 3000' up, 3000' down

This loop is an exploration primarily of threeroads with canyons in their names: SanFrancisquito Canyon, Bouquet Canyon, andSpunky Canyon. It’s a good stage, but not agreat stage. In light of that, and consideringalso the rather sketchy nature of this firstcamp, I consider this day optional. It’s worthdoing, but your life won’t be ruined if youchoose to skip it.

Begin by turning right out of the camp onLake Hughes Road (left) and heading northon a mildly uphill grade. Turn right in thetown of Lake Hughes (at about 4.5 miles)and follow Elizabeth Lake Road past itsnamesake lake (below). This is a mostly levelrun on excellent pavement.

Scenery is a blend of open country, lakeside, a golf course,and a rather dense patchwork of modest vacation homes.Just before mile 10, the long and short routes diverge. We’llfollow the long route first...

Turn right on San Francisquito Canyon and begin a fairlysteep climb: up 400' in less than a mile. Once over the top,you begin a downhill run that will last for most of the next20 miles. It’s not all ripper descending...a lot of it is nearlylevel, and there are assorted uphill rollers thrown in...butthe main theme is down. These are among the first miles ofthe legendary Furnace Creek 508 race, and ultra-marathonstar Steve Born has this to say about the road: “Less than20 miles into the race the climbing begins. SanFrancisquito Canyon Road is a series of climbs as long asthe road’s name. And talk about false summits. It isn’t untilyou are screaming downhill for more than 10 seconds thatyou can finally start believing the climb is truly over.” Ahyes, but on this tour we’re going the other direction, so


those endless climbs are endless downhills for us, and thefalse summits he mentions are our little uphill rollers.

The first four miles of descent are the real deal, losing athousand feet. Then, after a brief, half-mile climb, thedownhill fun resumes, dropping another 800' in the nextfour miles. Some of this is in shady woods and some is outin the open on arid, sagebrush covered hillsides (above).Some of the scenery along here is a little ho-hum, andsome of it is delightful. Around mile 21, it gets moreinteresting with the road twisting and turning down in thebottom of the canyon, in the dappled shade of great standsof sycamores. This pleasant section drops gently...600' inten miles...to the outskirts of the towns of Saugus andSanta Clarita.

These are typical Southern California suburbs, and ourroute has to skirt the edge of the sprawl on five miles oftract neighborhood boulevards. It’s certainly not scenicbackroad cycling, but it’s probably no worse than anynumber of miles you ride in or near your own hometown.Four of the five miles are downhill, so at least they’ll go byquickly!

The suburban boulevards eventually lead to BouquetCanyon Road (above), which will deliver the route back tobackroad beauty and tranquility. Within a few blocks, allthose vestiges of modern civilization fade away and you’reriding through the country again, first among farm fieldsand then in a peaceful, creekside forest. Five miles out ofSanta Clarita—at about mile 39—the road begins to tiltuphill at more than just a fraction of a percent, but it stillstays very gradual as it climbs along Bouquet Creek, mileafter mile. In the 15 miles after Santa Clarita, you’llaccumulate almost 2000' of elevation gain, with the gradegetting steeper as you go, but even the steepest pitches, inthe last few miles of this section, are only around 4%. Asyou climb, you encounter more and more exposed rock:great, sculpted towers and domes and cliffs of jagged stone,

looming out of the surrounding trees like crumblinggothic castles. Somewhere along this steepest section—on a hot afternoon—we pulled over at a pretty waterfallin the creek and cooled off under the cascading waters.

At mile 47, the climb levels out above Bouquet Reser-voir, and after a brief descent, the route turns left ontoSpunky Canyon Road (below). This is where the shortroute rejoins, so take a break here by the lake while I goback and bring the short route around to this junction...

When the long route turned onto San FrancisquitoCanyon Road, the short route stayed on Elizabeth LakeRoad. This runs down the length of Leona Valley, a wide,rolling valley of waving grasses and sprawling ranches.There are numerous rollers along the 7-mile balance ofElizabeth Lake Road, but none involves significantclimbing. At mile 16.5 the route turns right on BouquetCanyon Road and climbs gently—400' in three miles—to a hilltop before dropping for three lazy miles to theSpunky Canyon junction, where it rejoins the long

route.

Spunky Canyon is a great cycling road, and one mightalmost think it was named for its cycling characteristics. Ithas a very spunky, feisty personality. After one fairly levelmile along the lake, the road drops briefly and then beginsthe most challenging climb of the day: a switchbacking wallthat climbs 600' or 700' in a little over a mile...and most ofit out on the exposed, rocky cliff face...nowhere to hide. But


the reward is worth the investment, both in scenic panora-mas and in downhill thrills. Over the top of the hill, youlaunch off into a wild and whacky descent of two miles thatis all kinky hairpins and snaky S-bends. Just at the bottomof this amusement park ride is the little village of GreenValley (at mile 52 on the long route and mile 28 on theshort route). It’s an obvious spot to regroup andsnag some eats at the little town store.

Just beyond Green Valley, Spunky Canyon tees intoSan Francisquito Canyon Road, right in the middleof that first big downhill on the long route. Fromthis point on, you simply retrace the route back tocamp. First of all, you have to climb the top portionof the long descent on San Francisquito: up 750' intwo miles. Then descend back to Elizabeth LakeRoad and head back to Lake Hughes. Overall, you’lllose almost 1000' in the final ten miles of the ride,none of it terribly exciting riding, but all attractiveand pleasantly rural.

Day 2: Lake Hughes to Reyes Creek

68 miles, 6000' up, 5050' down

The start of Day 2 is the same as the start of Day 1:

gently uphill along Lake Hughes Road to the junctionwith Elizabeth Lake Road. Only now you turn leftinstead of right, and in this direction, the road isknown as Pine Mountain Road. All of this section isalso signed as County Route N2. Once on PineMountain, you begin a series of rolling climbs in theshade of pretty pine forest. By mile 11.5 the route willhave climbed over 1300' in gentle increments, with afew small saddles and descents thrown in. At thatpoint, the road turns downhill for a more sustaineddrop, losing over 600' in 2.5 miles. It’s a fast, not tootechnical plunge, and it brings you to a fork in theroad known as Three Points at mile 14. Stay awake forthis junction: you will still be bombing along brisklyat the bottom of the hill, and it can sneak up on you.The Heartbreak Double Century has a rest stop at thiscorner, and while sitting in the rest stop, I havewatched riders blow right through the intersection,missing the turn entirely.

Turn left here—still on Pine Mountain Road and stillN2—and begin climbing again. This is a wonderfulcycling road: narrow and twisting and remote, withnumerous dipsy-doodle ups and downs to keep youentertained (top). Although this is clearly a very tinyroad to nowhere, pavement is decent. Pine Mountainmakes two ascents of about 600' each over the courseof the next eight miles... never brutally steep, but quitechallenging, with some jazzy little descents in be-tween. There are a few homes along the road, but forthe most part, this is empty country. From the highestelevations, you can look down into the northernreaches of Antelope Valley, with the rugged, austere

Tehachapi Mountains on the far side (middle).

Just after mile 22, Rte N2 turns right and takes the nameRidge Route. This section slithers downhill for two fastmiles to a junction with Hwy 138, the main link betweenInterstate-5 and Palmdale and Lancaster out in AntelopeValley. Turn left on 138, drop another 100' or so and level


out for a flat run alongside Quail Lake. Hwy 138 at thispoint is a wide, fast, two-lane highway, but at mile 27 itbecomes a freeway. Just before it does, escape with a rightonto little Gorman Post Road, winding away through thewildflower covered hills (bottom, previous page).

You’re now entering a section of the stage where most ofthe ambience is dictated by your proximity to Interstate-5as it passes over the Grapevine, the main mountain passbetwen the Los Angeles basin and the Central Valley. As youclimb over a small hill on Gorman Post Road, I-5 comesinto view ahead, many lanes wide here and pulsing with ahuge volume of traffic. After descending from that smallhill, the route climbs gently toward the interstate and thelittle off-ramp town of Gorman, which, together with thesimilar town of Lebec—a few miles ahead—form the twinservice centers for the freeway in this area. Both townsconsist almost entirely of truck stops, mini-marts, fast foodjoints, and motels. Nip under the interstate in Gorman andclimb alongside the highway on PeaceValley Road, which sounds pleasantlypastoral, but is really just a frontage roadfor the freeway. The top of the hill onPeace Valley is the top of the Grapevinetoo: 4144' Tejon Pass.

Zoom down the other side for a little overa mile and turn left on Frazier Park Road,near the center of Lebec. Say goodbye tothe roar of I-5, but not entirely goodbyeto all traffic. Frazier Park Road climbsgently but steadily almost all the wayfrom Lebec, through Frazier Park, and onto the town of Lake of the Woods, gainingover 1600' in seven miles. This is a fairlybusy road, but there are wide shoulders.All of the miles—ten of them—betweenGorman and Lake of the Woods aresomewhat lacking in those elements thatmake for quality backroad cycling.

They’re never really unpleasant, but are definitelydull. And whenever I’ve been here, either in a doublecentury or on a tour, the wind has been blowinghard...a steady headwind.

Like Peace Valley Road, Lake of the Woods doesn’tlive up to its pleasant name. There is no lake to beseen, as far as I have ever discovered, and not muchin the way of woods either. However, it does markthe end of the boring stretch of roads and a returnto excellent cycle-touring, as you turn left ontoLockwood Valley Road (left).

This is a superb cycling road. It starts out rathertame as it leaves Lake of the Woods, but wild timeslie ahead. You climb gently for a few miles throughbroad meadows and scattered stands of forest toOwl’s Barn summit...a rather unremarkable bump inthe road but nevertheless, at 5525', the high point ofthis tour. After a brief descent through wide open,

high-country meadows, the road climbs more steeply toLockwood summit (5516'), and then you begin a greatdownhill of a little over four miles. This is one of the nicestbits of gravity candy on this tour. With the exception of afew rough spots, the pavement is smooth, and the turns arewell banked and delightfully sinuous... and the scenery isgorgeous, if you can spare it a glance.

At about mile 57, the descent bottoms out and you climbbriefly to Wagon Wheel summit (5140'). This is the jump-ing-off point for an even wilder downhill. For those of youwho may have struggled up Heartbreak Hill in the Heart-break double or Tour of Two Forests, here’s an opportunityfor payback, as you finally get a chance to descend thatinfamous climb...almost 1200' of drop in the first two milesand then more miles of swift rollout at the bottom (below).These last two downhills—from Lockwood and WagonWheel summits—will have you grinning from ear toear...cycling at its best.


You’ll still be going fast when you get to the turn from thehighway onto the little access road to Camp Scheideck/Reyes Creek near mile 66. You ride for most of a mileacross the rocky arroyo formed by a creek (actually theheadwaters of the Cuyama River), and then climb steeplyfor half a mile before descending to the camp.

The overnight set-up here is a little confusing. There aretwo facilities at the end of this remote road: Reyes CreekForest Service camp and Camp Scheideck, an old, privateresort. They are so close together that they effectively formone large camp. Reyes Creek has 37 conventional campsitesalong the pretty creek. As far as I have been able to ascer-tain, they are free (with an Adventure Pass). However, theydon’t take reservations and they don’t have showers. Thereare some deep holes in the pretty creekwhich just might qualify as deep enoughto get wet, but nothing that really livesup to the name of a genuine swimminghole (above).

Camp Scheideck has a small group siteand showers (albeit of a rather primitivesort). They do take reservations. Thegroup site costs $100. If you have a smallgroup, I think you might be safe in goingfor the no-cost, first-come-first-servedUSFS sites—especially on a weekday—but if you’re the nervous type, you mightwant to lock in that reservation at CampScheideck. In these days of instantinterconnectivity for all of the world,Camp Scheideck is a throwback to asimpler time: not only do they not have awebsite or e-mail, they don’t even have aphone. You must either write to them orcall their service number in Ojai andthey’ll call you back...eventually. (I wrote

this a few years ago. Thinking thingsmight have changed since then, I just dida web search to see if they have an on-linepresence yet. I couldn’t find a thing.)

Whether you stay at the forest servicecamp or the private camp, you can stilluse the showers at the latter, but theycost $3, regardless of where you stay.There is also a funky bar and grill at thecamp, which serves breakfast and lunch,but not dinner. The place is closed onMonday, which, if you stick to mysuggested timetable, will be the day youarrive here. Make sure they know inadvance that you’re coming so someonewill be around to open the showers foryou.

When we stayed here in early June, wehad no trouble finding plenty of spaces inthe Reyes Creek camp. Some folks made

use of the showers (and the bar) at Camp Scheideck, but Ifor one found a big enough, deep enough pool in the creekfor a very pleasant dip.

Day 3: Reyes Creek to

Lake Casitas (Ojai)

58 miles, 4000' up, 6100' down

49 miles, 3300' up, 5400' down

After returning to Lockwood Valley Road and turning left,you descend gently through quiet Ozena Valley (below) tothe junction with Hwy 33 and turn left again (at about 5miles). Hwy 33 is designated as one of California’s scenichighways and we’re hitting it just as it gets really scenic.


It’s also just about to get hilly (above): over the course ofthe next six miles, the road climbs at a fairly constant6%...from about 3500' to 5084' at Pine Mountain summit.Along the way, the views back up Cuyama Valley and OzenaValley are wonderful.

Once over the top, you begin a downhill run that lasts formost of 14 miles, losing 1800' along the way. It’s seldomvery steep and sometimes even levels out or rises up overrollers. It’s not the sort of downhill where you grab a tuckand hang on for dear life. Rather, it’s the sort where youkeep pedaling and let the gentle grade make you feel like abig-time pro racer: as you cruise downhill, mile after mile,your average speed climbs upward. But the best thingabout this section is not the slope. It’s the scenery. You’reriding down the canyon of Sespe Creek, some-times a wide valley and sometimes a dramatic,narrow gorge, with massive rock walls toweringoverhead (right). You might see rock climbersinching their way up these cliffs. It’s a popularclimbing area.

Just past mile 25, Sespe Creek veers off to the eastbut you bear south and scramble up the canyonwall—200' in two miles—before dropping rapidlyinto another gorge that is, if possible, even morebeautiful than the one along Sespe Creek. Nowyou’re following Matalija Creek down into WheelerGorge (photo, next page). You lose 2500' in 12miles, all the while squirming and squeezing yourway down the tight, nearly impassible canyon. Atits deepest, steepest, most picturesque point, youshoot through short tunnels cut into the rockyribs of the gorge. This is good stuff! This is aboutas much fun as you can have on a bike. It’s also agreat place to stop and get off the bike for awhile...maybe even hike in one of the canyons and checkout a waterfall, and it’s well placed for a regroup.

At mile 39, the descent begins to flattenout and shortly thereafter you come to anintersection with Fairview Road, aresidential street that marks the begin-nings of the suburbs of the town of Ojai.Not too many years ago, Ojai was apeaceful little town with a reputation asan artists’ colony and a haven for spiritu-alists and bohemians. Then, like Carmeland Mendocino, it was discovered by thetourists and the merchants who cater tothem. Now it retains an aura of quaint-ness in its downtown core, but the fringesof the city have been developed like mostmodern towns...none too well. Our routesattempt to avoid the worst of this com-mercial, auto-oriented sprawl by sneakingaround on neighborhood side streets. Ourshort route will pass through the villageof Meiners Oaks and give Ojai a missaltogether. The longer route will explore

Ojai and then take a longer loop below town to meanderback to the campsite.

Both routes leave Hwy 33 at Fairview. Fairview is easy tomiss. Your cues to the upcoming turn are that the longdownhill has petered out and that you’re coming into amore thickly settled townscape (although it’s still quitelush and rural looking). There is a large yellow diamondtraffic sign to alert you to the cross street. If you pass theDeer Lodge restaurant on your right, you’ve gone too far.Turn around and try again. Let’s do the short route first.This calls for a right turn from 33 onto Fairview. After just3/10ths of a mile on Fairview, bear left on North Rice Roadand follow it downhill through quiet neighborhoods to itsjunction with Hwy 150. Turn right on the busy highway


and in a little less than a mile, go left on Burnham Road.Burnham descends along the canyon of the Ventura Riverto Santa Ana Road, where you turn right, climb a small hilland begin riding around the border of Lake Casitas and itssurrounding 6200-acre recreation area. This is the largepark where you’ll be spending the night.

Now back up and do the long route: if you have an urge toexplore Ojai—and bulk up your miles a bit—before headingto Lake Casitas, you can turn left off Hwy 33 on Fairview,instead of right. Fairview in this direction climbs quitesteeply before dropping to a junction with Foothill Road.Turn right on Foothill and head downhill through a prettyresidential setting into town. If you continue on Foothill,you will eventually dump out right onto the main street,but because of the traffic and congestion, I have you do alittle detour through less traveled side streets to negotiatetown. (See Ojai inset on map.) From Foothill, turn left onMatalija and, in a few blocks, right on Signal. One block onSignal will bring you to the center oftown, where you can stash your bike andexplore, or just stop for a quick ganderbefore heading out the other side of town.Once you’ve seen as much of the town asyou wish to, cross Hwy 150 on Signal,then jog one block back to Ventura andturn left. Ventura heads downhill into thewoods and becomes Creek Road as itleaves town. This is a lovely road—idealfor cycling—that follows San AntonioCreek downhill for six miles to a junctionwith Hwy 33. Our oldfriend Hwy 33 has gotten bigger andbusier down here than it was up in themountains and isn’t much fun to ride onanymore. However, you’ll be goingdownhill here and rolling with the traffic.What’s more, after about a mile, you can

escape the highway onto an adjacent bikepath that will continue for another mile tothe next turn. The path will pop up on theright side of the road. I don’t think bikepaths are always the best recourse forserious cyclists, but in this case I might beinclined to use it to escape the traffic. Boththe highway and the path end up at the sameplace.If you study your map, you may notice ashort cut to the lake from Old Creek andHwy 33: turn right on 33, head uphill to aleft on Santa Ana Blvd and take that to SantaAna Road and on to the lake. It would saveabout five miles, but I don’t recommend it.That section of 33 is very busy and narrow,with little shoulder, and almost the entiresection passes through the little commercialdistrict of the town of Oak View, which isunrelieved commercial clutter of a verytacky sort...no redeeming value from a

scenic point of view and none too safe either.Whether you head downhill on Hwy 33 or the nearby bikepath, just after mile 50, you’ll turn right onto Casitas VistaRoad and then right again in a few tenths onto Santa AnaRoad, following the sign to Lake Casitas...not to LakeCasitas dam. You’ll do one short climb and descent throughfarm fields and scattered woods, and then climb a final hillto the shore of the lake (reunited at this point with theshort route).

Lake Casitas is extremely popular with boaters and fisher-men and pulls in campers from all over Southern Califor-nia. There are dozens of campgrounds with hundreds ofindividual and group sites arrayed around the lake. Afterconsidering many different spots to camp around the lake, Ihave decided the best spot is in the section known as Grebe(or just Area G, below), and the best individual sites withinthat area are anywhere from M 18 to M 25, with M 22 beingthe best site of all. I actually like it better than the official


group site. Grebe is over a mile and a half around the shoreof the lake from the park entry kiosk. Follow the main parkroad around to the right, and after several small climbs anddescents, you will find the camp area well marked on theleft side of the road, overlooking the lake. The only showerbuilding at the lake is 3/10ths of a mile further along theroad at Area J.

Day 4: Lake Casitas to Sage Hill

60 miles, 6700' up, 6400' downBonus miles: 10-mile out-&-back from camp

Mileage today is based on a start at the Grebe campground.If you camp elsewhere in the park, adjust accordingly.

Just after turning left out of the camp entrance, you turnleft again on Hwy 150. This highway has the potential to bequite busy, but early on a weekday morning it shouldn’t betoo bad. This is a piece of the route of The Grand Tour, theoldest double century in California. I’vedone that ride, as well as this tour, and Inever really felt harassed by the passingcars. Hwy 150 climbs over two summits.The larger climb is the first one, from thelake up to East Casitas Pass (1143'),gaining 550' in four miles (above). A two-mile descent follows and then a briefclimb tops out at West Casitas Pass (970').After that, you get to enjoy a wild,twisting plunge of two and a half miles.It’s great sport, but don’t get too caughtup in hammering...you’re going to haveto grab the brakes to make a hard rightturn just at the bottom of the hill. Thisturn of well more than 90° is ontoGobernador Canyon Road, which imme-diately gets you climbing again...200' in amile.

This pretty little road is a preview of whatyou’ll be seeing in the next few days:

exquisitely manicured horse ranches forthe very rich...quietly affluent countryhomes sequestered from the commonherd. Before you see any more neighbor-hoods like it, you have to drop down theother side of the ridge and ride throughthe town of Carpenteria...a very differentsort of place. Carpenteria is nice in itsown way, but not nearly as hoity-toity asGobernador Canyon or what you’ll see ina few miles. The main thing inCarpenteria—almost the only thing—isgreenhouses. For most of six miles, theyare everywhere, often built right up to theedge of the pavement. I’m not sure, but Ibelieve the product of all this endeavor iscut flowers. I won’t attempt to describeevery turn through this section. The

route wanders around a good deal and the road namechanges four times—from Casitas Pass to Foothill to ToroCanyon to East Valley Road—although at all times it keepsthe designation of Hwy 192. Most of the run through thegreenhouses is nearly flat, but once the road begins toclimb again (just before it becomes Toro Canyon Road), thegreenhouses fade away and you enter another worldaltogether.

Set on the eastern edge of Santa Barbara, this isMontecito...one of the wealthiest towns in the UnitedStates. Hidden at the ends of many of the driveways you’llpass are some of the most fabulous mansions this side ofHearst Castle. You’ll only catch glimpses of a few of them(below). They guard their privacy well with high walls andthick hedges. Fortunately, the roads are open to regularfolks and we get to enjoy all the beauty with which the richand famous surround themselves. After a brief climb onToro Canyon, East Valley drifts lazily downhill through all


this lush splendor...everything as perfectly pretty as anarmy of gardeners and a balmy climate can make it.

At mile 25, you arrive at your next turn: a right up the hillon San Ysidro Road. This is the commercial center ofMontecito, and there are numerous shops and stores whereone might find refreshment. It’s an obvious spot for aregroup. This is also where you say goodbye to the Hwy 192signs.

San Ysidro climbs over 200' in less than a mile, and thenyou turn left on East Mountain Drive. There is one trickycorner in here shortly after your turn onto Mountain Drivewhich might send you astray: after a short climb, you bend90° left—the corner is marked at 15-mph—and then theroad heads down a long, straight hill. You don’t want to godown that hill, which isn’t East Mountain Drive butPicacho Lane. Mountain Drive nips off to the right just pastthe 90° turn. It looks like a turn onto a side street, but itisn’t. I have on occasion missed this corner, even though Isupposedly knew where I was going.

There is a subtle shift in the residential chemistry whenyou hit Mountain Drive (above). Clearly, there is still agreat deal of money floating around, and yet the architec-ture—or perhaps the architexture—now projects less of anold-money aura and more of a laid-back, artistic ambience.This little enclave on the hillside above Montecito wasanother legendary artists’ hang-out for many years,although the soaring real estate values have by nowprobably forced out all but the most entrenched of the oldpainters and poets. Mountain Drive dips and climbs in littlelumps for the first two miles and then settles in on a fairlylevel plain. You’ve climbed in small increments fromaround 100' in Carpenteria to 900' here, and as you breakout of the trees, you are suddenly confronted with awonderful view out across the rooftops and the tree canopyto the lovely blue Pacific, just two miles to the south (left).(The ocean is to the south at Santa Barbara...a hard notionto grasp for people used to seeing the Pacific in the west.)Mountain Drive stays nearly level for four miles of wonder-ful cycling, on a tight, wiggly traverse of the steep hillside. Ilove this little section: everything about it is perfect:mellow old stone walls; massive rock outcrops; shady olive

and avocado trees. Enjoy these easy, pleasant, flatmiles while you can. Their days are numbered...

At 33.7 miles, you turn right and head uphill onGibraltor Road. This is an epic cycling road...aworld-class champion of a road. It may be only onelane wide in places, but everything else about it iswritten in large, boldface, upper-case headlines.This is a serious road for serious cyclists. The old7-Eleven pro cycling team used to do their wintertraining in this area, and local riders still recallproudly that Andy Hampsten claimed GibraltorRoad was his favorite climb in the entire world!High praise indeed from someone who has wonthe Giro d’Italia and the classic Tour stage tol’Alpe du Huez.

When you tackle Gibraltor (below)), you leave the lushlylandscaped environs of Montecito behind, as you beginclimbing into a zone of dry chapparal, looming cliffs, andhuge, sculpted boulders. The narrow, cliff-hanging trackgrapples its way up the sheer mountain face, rising 1800' infive miles without a break before it hits a small flat spot in agrove of trees. At every turn—and there are many—theview becomes more astounding...both the panorama overthe ocean and the closer vista spilling down into Rattle-snake Canyon. While the road stitches enough hairpinswitchbacks into the hill to keep the grade from beingabsolutely brutal, the mountain wall itself is extremelysteep in places, and the no-guard-rail drop-offs are enough


to bring on a good dose of acrophobia, if you’re inclinedthat way. This is another spot you may see rock climbersplying their craft. Some of the sheer faces are ideal forclimbing. After that brief flat spot at mile 37, the road tiltsup again and climbs steeply for another mile and a half to ajunction and a summit of sorts.

Although the sign doesn’t say it, you’ve arrived at CaminoCielo...the Road of the Sky. What the sign does say is“Arroyo Burro Road, to State Hwy 154” with an arrow tothe left. That’s the way you want to go. (Arroyo Burro is adirt road that tees into Camino Cielo a few miles ahead.)The junction is at about 3400' and after a brief level stretch,you’ll begin climbing again...another 400' to the realsummit, where the road passes just beneath La CumbrePeak (3895'). Spread out directly below are the city of SantaBarbara and its surrounding suburbs, all arrayed along thesparkling ocean beaches (above). Although you’ve climbedto nearly 4000' above sea level, the shoreis still only six miles distant...it feels as ifyou could pick up a rock and throw itstraight down into the sea. Or perhapsyou could fly off the edge and soar all theway out to Channel Islands, massing inpurple majesty, 25 miles offshore. Thereis nothing abstract or distant about thisview. It is overwhelmingly solid andpowerful...a sensory overload.

And that’s not all... Once you reach thehighest ridgetop (right), you discover thatyour ocean view has been joined byanother panorama off the inland side ofthe ridge, looking down into the remote,empty canyons of the Santa Ynez Moun-tains. Camino Cielo tiptoes along thespine of the mountain range for most often miles, and in many places, there arespectacular views in both directions. In atleast one hair-raising spot, the ridgeline

is so narrow that the cliffs drop away onboth sides of the road at once, right fromthe edge of the pavement.... you can lookdown thousands of feet off either sidewith just a little turn of your head. (Lestyou think I’m telling tall tales here, I willconcede that the cliffs are not literallysheer. If you were to fly off the road onyour bike at this point, you wouldn’tlaunch into a 2000' foot free fall. You’dbounce a lot on the way down.) About theonly bad thing I can think of about thisincredible road is the pavement. Most ofit is decent, but there are any number ofgaping potholes that could swallow afront wheel in one bite. You’ll need tokeep all your attention focused on theroad while riding and admire the viewduring breaks.

Beyond La Cumbre Peak, the road descends for nearly athousand feet and then climbs again, regaining 600' beforebeginning the last, tortured plunge off the ridge, dropping1400' in five very busy miles. This brings you to Hwy 154and the Cielo Store (at mile 49.5)...your first shot atmunchies and water since leaving Montecito. You cross 154just as it crosses the mountains...this is San Marcos Pass.Some of you map readers may take a notion to avoid theradical terrain on Gibraltor and Camino Cielo by detouringdown to Hwy 154 and coming up the easier grade to SanMarcos Pass. I strongly advise you to forget it. Not onlywould you miss one of the greatest cycling and scenicadventures in California, you’d be subjecting yourself to amiserable and possibly dangerous ride on 154: loads of fasttraffic and often very little shoulder.

The road on the far side of 154 is called Stagecoach Road.


After a brief climb, it plunges downhill on a steep, curlingpath through the forest on the inland side of the ridge, intothe beautiful Santa Ynez Valley. As the name implies, this isthe old route of stagecoaches, built in 1861...incredible tothink of horse-drawn stages climbing or descending thissteep grade. As it descends, the road bends back into deep,secluded Cold Spring Canyon, and at the deepest turn inthe gorge, you pass the old stage stop, which is still apopular tavern and restaurant. Just beyond the tavern, youride underneath the soaring arch of the bridge that carries154 over the canyon, hundreds of feet over your head(above). In another mile, you hit the intersection withParadise Road, at which point you turn right and headdownhill toward camp. By the time you bottom out at mile54, you will have descended 1400' in four miles. Add that tothe 1400' in the final five miles of Camino Cielo before Hwy154 and you have a pretty intense run of downhill.

Paradise Road is a dead end that serves a number ofcampgrounds along the banks of the Santa Ynez River. Itthrows in some more fast downhill and a couple of small,rolling climbs on the way to the Sage Hillgroup camp, located on the river, justbelow the Los Prietos USFS rangerstation. There are several group siteshere, all right along the water. It’s a lovelyspot, and the only problem is the lack ofshowers. However, the river is verypleasant for swimming. You can get wetright at camp or you can bulk your milesand scenic enjoyment by riding on up theroad another five miles to a great swim-ming hole carved into the deep canyon(ten miles round trip). I suggest youmake camp and then pedal on into thedeeper canyon carrying a day pack withswimming stuff, including sandals orsome other footwear to walk across therocky beach to the water. There are atleast four water fords through the riverbetween camp and the swimming hole.

Water runs over flat, concrete dams in asheet about an inch to two inches deep.These are negotiable on bikes, but yourfeet may get wet. There is also one ofthese to cross to get to the Sage Hillgroup camp. If you are going to theswimming hole to wash off the day’ssweat, be aware that you will have toclimb a couple of small hills on the wayback to camp and may arrive in camp allsweaty again.

There is another, bigger swimming hole afurther mile (and four more fords)beyond the five-mile hole, and there areeven more, prettier holes beyond that,deeper in the gorge. But the pavementends and the going gets tough. I recom-

mend this first hole as being quite pretty, with impressiverock walls overhanging the pool, and a little sandy beachfor lolling about on your towel. Jumping in the pool makesfor a good excuse to come this far on the bike, but thescenery alone would make it worthwhile, with huge viewsup the rocky canyon...a wild, rugged, impressive landscape.

When we camped here, only a few people did the bonusmiles out to the swimming hole. Almost everyone wascontent to splash around in the river right at camp (below).It may not have been deep enough for diving, but it waswet, peaceful, and convenient.

There is a minimum number of 25 campers specified forthe Sage Hill group sites, so if your group is smaller thanthat, you’ll be heading for nearby Paradise campground,which is where the reservable individual sites are. It’s acouple of miles before Sage Hill. Paradise Camp is abeautiful campsite, but it too is lacking showers, and itdoesn’t have the river running through it either. However,the river and good swimming holes are not too far away.


This seems like too good a spot to pass by with a singleovernight, so I’m suggesting you throw in a layover dayhere, if you can afford the time. It’s a great place to spend aday doing nothing amid great beauty, and if you want to beactive, there are all the miles of Paradise Road upstreamfrom the camp—depending on which camp you’re in—thatare worth exploring...where some of the most beautifulswimming holes and waterfalls are. There are also manymiles of trails through the canyons.

Just so you don’t ask why I didn’t consider it, let me notethat there is another camp a few miles away that does haveshowers. This is at Lake Cachuma, a large reservoir andcampground very similar in appearance and function toLake Casitas, only bigger. The campground is one of thelargest and most complete you’ll find anywhere. It’s almosta town, with 625 individual campsites and nine group sitesfor anywhere from 32 to 120 people. It has all the thingsyou need for that perfect outdoor camping experience:miniature golf, patio boat and power boat rentals, videoarcade, gift shops, swimming pool, fast food, laundromat,etc. It’s quite nice, as giant, RV-oriented camp-grounds go, and if you really want all those conve-niences, you can stop here instead. It’s right ontomorrow’s route and staying here only changes themileage a little.

Day 5: Paradise (Sage Hill) to Buellton

44 miles, 1700' up, 2200' down

70 miles, 6000' up, 6500' down

Bonus miles: 12 miles, 500'

This stage offers a very easy, very short route of 44miles to the next camp. A quick look at the mapshows it could be made shorter still—barely 30miles—by taking Hwy 154 to Hwy 246 and followingthis main drag straight to the finish. But thatwouldn’t be much of a ride. Instead, we bail off themain highway as soon as possible and loop the route

out onto some quiet backroads. In addition, wesuggest an optional out-&-back that adds as much as12 miles to the 44. Finally, we throw out thechallenge to the really hard-boiled members of thecrew to take on the remote, steep, extremelyspectacular, longer route up and over FigueroaMountain Road. Both routes begin together. Let’s hitthe road...

You begin by retracing yesterday’s route alongParadise Road for almost five miles, back up to theStagecoach Road junction. Turn right on Stagecoachand head downhill for a mile and a half to where theroad tees into Hwy 154. Turn right on 154 andcontinue downhill. You’ll be on 154 for about tenmiles, and over that stretch, the road will be almostconstantly floating up or down over rollers of around50' each. Midway along this stretch you pass the bigcampground at Lake Cachuma. Various arms of thereservoir are visible from the road for several miles.

At mile 16.5, you leave 154 for a right on Armour RanchRoad, which climbs gently for a mile or so to a junctionwith Happy Canyon Road. Turn right and descend slightlyinto this beautiful valley.

At 19 miles, Happy Canyon bears right, while our basicroute turns left on Baseline Road (above). Happy Canyonleads to the high road around Figueroa Mountain. I’ll comeback to the wild, optional loop later, but for now I’d like tosuggest a compromise between doing the short, basic routeand the long, intense one: Happy Canyon (below) rollsalong very pleasantly—with only a few lazy rollers and agentle climb—for six miles from Baseline to the beginningof the steep climb up the mountain. You could just ride outto this point and return to the basic route, adding a 12-mileround trip to the 44-mile day. Why would you do this?Because Happy Canyon is one of the nicest cycling roads onthe tour (below).

This is a wonderful, peaceful valley. The road is lined with


palatial ranches, many of which specialize in raisingthoroughbreds, including some with impressive KentuckyDerby-level credentials. Behind miles of tidy fences, thesleek, leggy steeds graze in their green paddocks, under theshade of huge old oaks. Bunnies, ground squirrels, andquail scurry across the road as you approach. It’s a delight-ful, dream-like setting...a classic piece of the Californialandscape (above). Adding the 12-mile round trip of thisout-&-back to the basic ride would make it about a 56-mileday, but the elevation gain would still be very minimal,especially compared to what the long route will be doing.

Back to the basic route: Baseline Road connects to MoraAvenue, which connects to Roblar Avenue. Along withArmour Ranch and a bit of Happy Canyon, they form a flatand occasionally rolling, 9-mile detour off Hwy 154. This isall rather open, rolling terrain, with scatteredstands of trees, vineyards, and a decidedlyhorsey feel to the surrounding farms. At mile25, the route returns to 154. Cross thehighway and continue on Roblar. After onemile, the route bears off to the left on AlamoPintado Road at a junction with GrandAvenue. The longer route rejoins from theright at this point. Just a few blocks to theright of this junction is the pleasant village ofLos Olivos. Wander off course and check itout. It’s a nice town and would make an idealspot for a rest stop. While the short routeriders are taking a break under a shade tree inLos Olivos, let’s go back and explore thelonger, much hillier route.

You already know about the first six miles ofthe loop along Happy Canyon...beautiful, butfairly benign. After that mellow beginning, theroad tilts upward for two and half miles(above), gaining most of 1500' in that steep

and twisty stretch. Just near the top ofthe climb, as it’s becoming level, the roadturns to gravel for exactly one mile. Thissection is almost entirely level and is nottoo difficult to ride. As soon as thepavement returns, the road plummetssteeply downhill into a deep, forestedcanyon where there is a small, primitivecampsite along a little creek. The roadimmediately begins climbing again, oftenvery steeply, gaining over 1000' in a mileand change. (Note: those numbers soundbrutal, and it is a wicked climb, but whenwe did it on our previous tour, none ofus—including some less-than-hammer-head riders and one tandem—felt it wasall that difficult.)

After you pass the Cachuma rangerstation (in the middle of nowhere andseemingly deserted), the road namechanges to Figueroa Mtn Road, but the

climbing continues much as before, adding another 1500'in less than three miles, reaching the 4400' summit in theshadow of 4652' Ranger Peak just past mile 35.

From here on, the road dances along the ridge much asCamino Cielo does (below), including the bits with thedizzying views off both sides of the road at the same time.It’s difficult to find words to describe how wild and ruggedand vast this landscape is. Once up out of the canyon, theviews are forever. The road is one lane wide, and a rathernarrow lane at that. It often appears to be in imminent perilof sheering off from the bare rock cliff face and plummet-ing in pieces into the gorge...something it actually does ona fairly regular basis. In places, the hills are barren androcky; in others, scruffy pines eke out a living in sturdythickets. In season, wildflowers are everywhere, with


poppies, blue lupine, and blooming yucca much in evi-dence. Two miles beyond and below the summit, Figueroacampground and a CDF fire station offer the only spots forwater resupply on the entire loop.

Between miles 35 and 44, you’re going to drop over 3000'in a series of wild, white-knuckle descents, interspersedwith rollers and brief flat runs across high mountainmeadows (above). When I first surveyed this road, thepavement on this descent was terrible: huge potholes,ragged cracks, loose gravel everywhere. I was not lookingforward to doing it. However, when we arrived at the top ofthe long climb, we were delighted to discover that theentire downhill, begininng right at the summit, had justbeen repaved! What a treat! It wasn’t the best paving jobever, and they did skip some sections ofold pavement that were in decent shape,but overall, the result was a surface thatallowed us to descend as fast as our skillswould allow.

At the bottom of the big descent, the roadcrosses Alamo Pintado Creek and rollsgently downhill for seven miles back toHwy 154 through grassy fields strewnwith wildflower confetti. As you near themain highway, the wild emptiness of themountains gives way to residentialproperties... first, sprawling ranches andthen the small town of Los Olivos, wherewe left the short-route riders taking abreak. Cross 154 and ride down GrandAvenue, the main street of town, and thenbear right on Alamo Pintado Road,following the signs to Solvang. (Now bothroutes are back together again.) AlamoPintando flows gently downhill throughmore rural residential ranchettes to a

junction with Hwy 246, the main commercialartery in Santa Ynez Valley, linking the towns ofSanta Ynez, Solvang, and Buellton, and eventu-ally, Lompoc, much further west.

This is a busy road that’s not ideal for cycling,but it is tolerable. Part of it will be within thetown of Solvang, where it’s more of a bustlingmain street than a highway, and most of thepart that’s out in the country is actually ratherpretty and has wide shoulders to buffer youfrom the passing throng. When I first laid outthis tour, I contrived a bypass around some ofthis busy section. (You can see it on the map:Atterdag > Chalkhill > Ballard Canyon.) Butafter looking at the road a few more times, I’vedecided it’s not that bad to just use the mainhighway for a couple of miles. You can still usethe bypass if you want. It's hillier though,whereas the main road is all flat or downhill.

If you’ve never been to Solvang and knownothing about it, the place is going to surprise you. Thetown was founded in 1911 by a group of Danish immi-grants—educators, farmers, artisans—who wanted to builda model community along the lines of an idealized Danishtown. The fact that they succeeded is both good news andbad. The town is an attractive facsimile of a tidyScandanavian village, with half-timbered houses, copperand thatched roofs, and even a few windmills. Many localsstill speak Danish and observe traditional Scandanavianholidays and customs. The only problem—and you have tobe a grumpy old curmudgeon to see it as a problem—isthat the quaintness and charm of the town have for manyyears attracted a steady stream of visitors, and the town’sburghers have accommodated them in the traditional


American way with energetic commercial savvy. The resultis that, while some folks see it as a delightfully authenticEuropean village, others think it looks like a misplacedportion of Disneyland or Epcot Center: Scandanavialand orsomething like that...a little too precious and ersatz to betrue.

While the aesthetic merits of the town may be debatable,there is no argument about the fact that the place is nowalmost constantly swarming with tourists. On a busyweekend, navigating the main street can be like strollingthrough a rugby scrum. On a weekday though, the crowdsare much thinner. How well you tolerate masses of shop-pers and tourist attractions will determine how much timeyou want to devote to exploring the town. But I urge younot to take my word for it about the place. Spend sometime walking your bike around or just pedaling slowlydown a few of the pretty, quieter side streets. You may loveit. And they have something here that few hungry cyclistscan pass up: vast quantities of delicious Danish pastry.

Just as you enter downtown Solvang on Hwy 246, AlisalRoad turns off to the left. This is the road our route nowfollows to get to our next scenic attractions: Nojoqui Falls.If, for whatever reason, you feel you don’t need those extramiles down to the falls, you can just plow straight ahead on246 and be in camp in less than three miles. But you wouldmiss some good miles if you did so. Follow Alisal out oftown and downhill along Alisal Creek. Once past thecountry club and a few more horse ranches, it meanders off

into the woods (left). The destination at the end of the roadis Nojoqui Falls County Park, seven miles from town. Alongthe way, you’ll climb up and over a rather substantial hill—450' up in a mile and a half—but the climb is about aspleasant as it can be...all in the dappled shade of a beautifulhardwood forest. Once over the top, the road descends in alazy way to the park.

Nojoqui Falls Park exists because of its namesake waterfall,a delicate spill of water dropping perhaps 100' into a prettygrotto (below). It’s an easy uphill ride of about a half-mileon a small paved road from the park gate to the trailhead,and there a sign announces a ten-minute walk to the falls.It’s too far to walk in bike cleats, but you could have a sagmeet you here with walking shoes. Actually, you couldprobably do the walk barefoot, as the trail is all smooth,packed dirt. Whether you want to make the effort dependson how excited you get about waterfalls. This is a nice one.In addition to the main attraction, the park also has all theusual picnic and play facilities of a typical park, spread outover several attractively wooded acres.

When we toured here before, we had the route go back toSolvang from the falls, then west on 246. But some of uswent off on our own and rode for four miles up the shoul-der of Hwy 101 to get to Buellton and camp. It turned outto be a very nice ride. The shoulders are quite wide, except


where the highway crosses some bridges over creeks, andtraffic is relatively light out here in the boonies. It’s mostlya steady, gradual downhill, so it rolls along fairly quickly. Iwas happy enough with that option to make it the officialroute this time around. It is legal to ride a bike on thisstretch of 101, by the way. However, if you are at alluncomfortable about riding on the shoulder of a moder-ately busy freeway, then you can retrace Alisal to Solvang(above). Nojoqui Park is considerably higher than Solvang,so your return journey will be mostly downhill, especiallythat slippery little slide back down through the forest...areally choice descent.

Once back in town—on the no-freeway option—you turnleft on 246 and head for the town of Buellton. As notedbefore, this is not a great stretch of road, but is decent, withwide shoulders and pleasant scenery. You pass several largehorse ranches, including Flag is Up Farm, home to thecowboy who became famous as the Man Who Talks toHorses. Only the final mile of today’s stage, as you approachHwy 101 and Buellton, is full of commercial clutter.

Buellton is the home of Andersen’s Split Pea Soup Factory.If you grew up in California, or if your family vacationedhere in the 50’s and 60’s, you probablyremember the many little roadsidebillboards advertising this restaurant, withtheir two cartoon buffoons, Hap-pea andPee-wee, industriously splitting peas with asledgehammer and wedge...as ubiquitousas Burma Shave signs. The billboards maybe gone, but like many another humbleroadside attraction in California, therestaurant has survived and prospered, andit has done for Buellton what the Danishimmigrants did for Solvang: jump-startedan entire community of tourist-orientedservices...including our destination, theFlying Flags Travel Park.

Make one last left turn off Hwy 246 ontoAvenue of the Flags and then turn into thepark. This is a state-of-the-art camp-

ground: hundreds of RV spaces, and all the modernconveniences. They have a large lawn set aside just for tentcamping (below), and it’s very popular with cycle-tourists,who like to loosen up their knotted muscles in the two hotspas and large swimming pool.

Oh wait...we still have cyclists out on the official route,heading from Nojoqui Falls to the freeway. Nothing toocomplex about that route. Go to the end of Alisal, turnright on Old Coast Hwy, then right again in a mile on 101.Go four miles north on the highway and take the very nextexit you come to. Cross over the highway and turn right onAvenue of the Flags, then right into the RV park. The tentarea is at the far south edge of the park, so when you go inthe main gate, bear right and follow the roads that headsouth. You’ll find the area eventually.

Day 6: Jalama Beach Out-&-Back

69 miles, 4000' up, 4000' down

70 miles, 4200' up, 4200' down

Short-cut: 35 miles, 1000'

This stage is made up for the most part of two roads thatprobably appear in few cycling guide books and almostcertainly aren’t part of the itineraries of any catered biketours. And yet they’re wonderful cycling roads, generallywith light traffic, good scenery, and topography thattranslates into some challenging climbs and some reallyfrisky descents. And the ride is right here, at the doorstep ofyour camp, just begging to be done. When we toured here,I was inclined to be a little apologetic when first proposingthis stage to my group. I thought people might feel it was abit of a dud. But it turned out to be one of the most populardays on the tour. Folks loved it.

The two knocks on this otherwise nice ride might be, first,that it’s entirely an out-&-back, and second, that it may bewindy.


As to the first point: I always think of an out-&-back as adeflated loop ride, with the outward bound and return legsof the loops very close together. Everything always feelsdifferent going the other direction...every hill becomes adescent, and vice versa, and you get to look at the otherside of every view. To me, this is not a problem, but if it isfor you, then skip the stage...hang around the pool at campor go shopping in Solvang. Or do the second option, whichdoes some of the out-&-back, but substitutes an alternateroute for part of the return trip. Or, finally, do the Short-cut, which eliminates the out-&-back altogether. I’llexplore each of those possibilities later.

As for the wind: you can almost certainly count on it.You’re heading to a beach that’s very popular with windsurfers. That about sums it up, and the prevailing windblows pretty much straight into your face on the outwardbound leg of the stage. But while you may beat into thewind on your way out to the coast, there’s a good chanceyou’ll be blown home on a tailwind, and as the wind usuallyblows harder later in the day, you could even end up with anet gain in the wind wars. This is essentially what happenedto us. We faced almost no headwind on the way to thebeach, but a nice tailwind sprang up in the afternoon andblew us all back to camp.

Flying Flags Travel Park is on Avenue of the Flags, but soonafter you turn left out of camp the road name changes toSanta Rosa Road (above). This will be your home for thefirst—and last—17 miles of the ride (if you do the full out-&-back). It starts out nearly level, as it bends along theedge of the flat valley of the Santa Ynez River. (Yes, thesame river you swam in up in the mountains, no longer arock-hopping wild stream, but now a lazy river, curvingback and forth along the wide valley.) The valley floor fansout on the right side of the road, while on the left, steep,wooded foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains rise up athousand feet. Part of the valley floor is given over to

produce, part to vineyards, and part towalnut orchards. (I think those are walnuttrees.)

Twice along the road, the flat run is inter-rupted by small climbs, where the roadhumps up and over the foothills. Each climbis less than 200' and is followed by a similardescent back to the flat perimeter of thevalley. Finally, at its end, the road climbsone more time for a short distance to a leftturn on Hwy 1. This looks almost like afreeway—four lanes wide in places—but isactually a relatively untraveled stretch of 1,connecting only Lompoc to the north withHwy 101 to the south. (Most of the traffic ison 101.) In any event, you’ll only be on itswide, smooth shoulder for 2.5 miles beforeturning right onto Jalama Road (below).

The theme song on Jalama Road will beclimbs and descents...that and beautiful,

empty countryside. Some of the hills are little more thanglorified rollers, but some are quite substantial. At aboutmile 22 on the day—after a few small ups and downs, youbegin the biggest climb on the outward bound leg of thestage: beginning at around 600', you grind uphill steadilyfor a mile and a half to 1104' Jualachichi summit, andimmediately plunge off the far side of the hill on a sweetdownhill run...over three miles of slithery, sensuous fun, all


on smooth pavement. If you like descending, you’ll lovethis one. At the bottom, you ride through beautiful oakforest along the bank of crystal clear Jalama Creek, andthen climb another small hill—less than a mile—beforedescending for another two and a half miles into a littlecanyon. Finally, at around mile 31, you tackle a climb ofover three miles up from the creek to the ridge line. It’s notvery steep, gaining only around 100' in the three miles.When you crest the final rise, the ocean is spread out beforeyou in a great panoramic sweep, with Jalama Beach belowyou on the shore, just a mile and a half away.

If you look at a map of California, you’ll see a sort of elbowjutting out into the Pacific a third of the way up the state.That’s what gives Santa Barbara its more-or-less south-facing coastline, tucked in as it is below the elbow. Thisrocky outcrop is made up of two headlands—Point Arguelloand Point Conception—and Jalama Beach is the only,lonely settlement nestled down in the long stretch of beachbetween them. Well, hardly a settlement...just a countycampground.

This rocky pair of headlands jutting out into the Pacific hasbeen a menace to maritime navigation for centuries, andthis stretch of coast is littered with wrecks from everyepoch of California’s history. The most notorious happenedin 1923, when a convoy of no less than seven US Navaldestroyers ran aground just north of here. All seven shipswere lost, along with the lives of 21 sailors. It is probablythe worst peacetime disaster in the history of the US Navy.

You can ride down the last hill to the camp and play on thebeach (above). Some in our group even went body surfingwith some friendly dolphins. Or have a bite to eat in thefunky little cafe overlooking the beach, where they makefantastic burgers. (I had read about these burgers ahead oftime, and mine really did live up to its rave reviews.) Or youcan just admire the view from the last ridgeline and thenretrace your route to Buellton. Cutting off the last drop to

the sea would reduce the mileage to about 70. Butthe camp is the only place on the entire out-&-back route where you can get water, so unless youhave a sag driver hauling water for you, you mayneed to ride all the way to the beach. (There will bespots to get water on the alternate route.) Now youturn around and head back to camp, and with anyluck, most of your return trip will be on the wingsof a zephyr tailwind.

Now for the alternatives... Just north of our out-&-back route on Hwy 1 is the town of Lompoc,connected to Buellton by Hwy 246. Lompoc has acertain amount of small-town charm, but I can’thonestly rate it as a must-see destination. How-ever, there is one good reason to come this way(other than to avoid retracing the route on SantaRosa Road): that would be La Purisima MissionState Historic Park, on the eastern edge of town.

Mission la Purisima Concepcion (below) wasfounded in 1787, but by the middle of the 19th

century it was an abandoned ruin, and by the early 20thcentury little more than a pile of rubble. However, in the1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps undertook anambitious restoration of the facility, reconstructing every


part of the compound using only traditional methods andmaterials...one of those wonderful Depression-era make-work projects. Now it stands as probably the most fullyrestored of the California missions, with not only thechurch, but an assortment of cloisters and outbuildingsforming a self-contained village. The mission is set amongseveral hundred acres of grounds which look much as theydid 200 years ago. With the modern world held at bay bythese sprawling, natural acres, it makes it very easy to shutout the 21st century and cast yourself back in time to thedays when the mission was in its prime.

Once you’ve seen the mission though, thebest of this loop is behind you. For thebalance of the stage—almost 14 miles—you’ll be riding on the shoulder of Hwy 246,a wide and somewhat busy highway...just afew technicalities short of being a freeway. Itisn’t absolutely awful riding. In fact, we willdo six miles of this stretch at the start oftomorrow’s stage, and the Solvang doublecentury uses this whole section. So it can’tbe all that bad. It’s just sort of boring.

There are three small hills between themission and Buellton that provide somevariety without making you work too hard.And then there’s always the possibility ofthat afternoon tailwind to blow you throughthese miles quickly. In my opinion, this loopcan only be justified if you have an interestin the mission. The road alone would notmake it worth coming this way. As you can

see from your route slip and elevation profile, thetwo routes are very similar in mileage andelevation gain.

The third alternative today is the official Short-cut, which does Santa Rosa Road and the Missionloop, but simply skips the Jalama Beach out-&-back entirely. I can’t wholeheartedly recommendthis option, if only because the Jalama Beach partof the stage includes the best backroad bike riding.However, if you want a short, easy day—35miles—this is a reasonable premise.

Day 7: The Canyons Loop #2

59 miles, 4000' up, 4000' down

We began the tour with Canyons Loop #1, andnow we conclude the week with another CanyonsLoop. Today’s stage explores four roads withcanyons in their names: Drum Canyon, CatCanyon, Foxen Canyon, and Ballard Canyon. Thebest known of them all is Foxen Canyon. It hasprobably been ridden by as many cyclists as anybackroad in the state, as it’s part of the route ofthe extremely popular Solvang century, and nowthe newer Solvang double century as well.

Although this loop could be considered as optional as theJalama Beach stage, I consider it a must. It is the essentialSanta Ynez Valley cycling experience, and your tour wouldnot be complete without it.

The ride begins with a run of six miles heading west alongHwy 246 toward Lompoc. Most of it is a divided, four-lanehighway—essentially a freeway—but it does have very wide,smooth shoulders, a relatively light traffic load, and nicescenery along the way. In spite of the size of the road, it’s


really rather pleasant riding. There is one moderate climbof about 200' between miles four and five, followed by amatching descent to the right turn onto Drum Canyon atmile six.

Beautiful, quiet Drum Canyon Road (photos, previous page)begins with a long, gentle climb through mostly openfields. At nine miles, it levels out a bit, and then, a milelater, the road narrows to one lane and rears up into atwisting, switchbacking ascent of two miles through theforest...a good, stiff pull to the 1400' summit. Take a breakat the top to admire the view to the north. It’s reallylovely...looking down into the deep green canyon, with yourlittle road slinking this way and that down the hillside farbelow. Then tumble down the canyon on that slinky littleroad...over two miles of wild, technical descending beforethe grade eases off along the valley floor. At mile 16, youpass Los Alamos County Park—a good place for a stop—and then you roll into the sleepy town of Los Alamos. Turnleft at the center of town on Hwy 135, and in less than halfa mile, bear right on Bell Street, following the sign to Hwy101. Although it doesn’t say it, this is also the road to CatCanyon.

To get to Cat Canyon, you must cross busy Hwy 101...noton an overpass or an underpass, but right on the roadway,amidst all that 70-mph traffic. This takes a little doing, butthere are often breaks in the traffic, and there’s enoughroom in the median strip to be able to go halfway and thenwait for another break to finish the crossing. There is a signat the beginning of the road that says something like,“Winter storms may damage road.” I think this is thecounty’s way of saying the pavement sucks. It’s true thatthe pavement in places is in disrepair, with numerousyawning craters and plenty of small rock tumbled about,but it’s nothing that can’t be managed with a littlecare...certainly no worse than Camino Cielo or FigueroaMountain. From its beginning at 101, Cat Canyon climbs

steadily but not too steeply for a mile and a half.Then, like Drum Canyon, it levels out before flaringup into a short, steep, switchback climb to thesummit at 1250' Gato Ridge.

Once on the summit, you enter a weird world. This isan old petroleum field, with all the scabrous,industrial dreck associated with oil drilling: pipelinesand tanks, and big dinky-bird pumping rigs scatteredhere and there over the rugged hillsides. Most of theequipment looks derelict, and the whole setup has arusted-out, desolate, ghost-town sort of feel, like theset for a post-apocalyptic movie. It sounds rathergrim, but actually it’s sort of intriguing: so ugly, it’skind of interesting. Anyway, soon after you beginyour descent on the other side of the hill (left), youleave all the junky stuff behind and the beautifulnatural scenery takes center stage again.

The steep downhill lasts for about a mile, and thenyou roll along, gradually losing elevation, for fourmore miles to a junction with Palmer Road, where

you turn right...still heading mildly downhill. Two milesalong Palmer bring you to the tiny village of Sisquoc and aturn to the right on Foxen Canyon Road (below). This is aneasy turn to miss. Although it’s well marked, it still pops uprather unexpectedly. This marks a sort of demarcationpoint on Foxen Canyon. To the north, the land flattens outinto the produce fields surrounding Santa Maria. To thesouth—the way our route goes—the road becomes more


interesting, with rolling terrain and more varied scenery.Usually, most bicycle tours (as well as the century anddouble) do the entire road, including the boring section tothe north, but by sneaking over the hill on Cat Canyon, wemanage to avoid having to do those empty miles.

You’ll be on Foxen Canyon for about 21 miles...the bestsection of this popular cycling road. For the first 12 miles,you ride over terrain that is level, rolling, or climbinggradually, gaining about 800' in elevation along the way.Some of the surrounding fields are given over to grazing,some are in produce crops, and some support the premiumvineyards for which the region is famous...and always, thereare grand old oak trees, standing alone or in small groves.

At about mile 42, the grade becomes a bitsteeper and you climb for a fraction of a mile toa 1500' summit—actually the high point of theday—and then descend quite briskly for mostof the next four miles. This is excellent riding!It’s easy to see why this is such a popularcycling road: the scenery is superb, theweather is usually balmy, traffic is light, andthe contours and curves of the road are exactlyscaled to a bicycle. In some places the pave-ment is excellent, but in other sections it’s abit too abrasive to be ideal.

There is only one tricky intersection on FoxenCanyon: in the fast roll-out after that nicedescent, the road straight ahead becomes ZacaStation, while our road—Foxen Canyon—turns 90° left, as if it were a side road. In spiteof knowing this was coming up, and in spite ofhaving warned my riders about it, it stillsurprised me...so much so that I was half waythrough the intersection and going way toofast before I realized where I was. I should havejust rolled on down Zaca, slowed and turned

back. But no, I had to try and crank off afast turn at the last second, and I endedup laying it down in the loose gravel,picking up a good bit of road rash. Veryembarrassing for the tour leader!

After that nifty descent and a short runacross the valley floor, you climb a coupleof hundred feet (in a mile) to anotherlittle hilltop and fly downhill again formost of three miles to a junction withHwy 154. Cross the highway and beginthe fourth of the day’s canyon roads:Ballard Canyon (both photos). It beginswith a short, steep climb of about a half-mile, followed by a steep, twisty drop of afew tenths and then several miles ofgentle downhill. This area is a little morethickly settled than the earlier portions ofthe ride, as you work your way throughthe rural residential neighborhoodssurrounding Los Olivos and Solvang. It’s

still an essentially rural setting though, and all of it is verypleasant riding. At mile 56, you hit a junction withChalkhill Road. Bear right on Ballard Canyon and headdownhill to Hwy 246. Turn right on the highway and do thefinal, busy mile of 246, over the freeway to the Flying FlagsTravel Park.

That concludes the tour! However, in the interest of leavingno stone unturned, I want to throw out a couple of otherscenarios for folks who may need to set this tour up as aloop. Perhaps you need to leave a car at the start to retrieveat the finish. This was my original premise when I beganplanning the tour, with a start/finish in Santa Maria, northof Solvang. I tried hard to make it work, but there were


simply too many little problems that kept it from adding upto a quality cycling adventure. But I did put the routestogether, and while I prefer the basic route, this loop routewill work.

Day 1 on this alternate route is different, as is the first halfof Day 2. At the end, I offer a few possible ways to modifythe end of the basic tour to return you to Santa Maria.

Alternate Day 0: Arrive at the start in Santa

Maria.

The campground at the start in Santa Maria is just so-so.It’s a typical RV-oriented park tucked into the bend of afreeway off-ramp on the north edge of town, (the Broadwayexit from Hwy 101). It has all the normal amenities oneexpects to find in such a facility. Therereally isn’t anything wrong with it, exceptfor being a bit short on ambience. SantaMaria is 260 miles (about five hours) fromthe Bay Area and 160 miles (less than fourhours) from LA.

Day 1: Santa Maria to New

Cuyama

68 miles, 3500' up, 1600' down

Getting out of Santa Maria isn’t much fun.After leaving the RV park, you have to rideright into the heart of town, past fast foodjoints, gas stations, and malls. Afterturning off the main drag, you ride eastthrough residential streets for another twomiles before finally breaking out intofarmlands at just over three miles.

For the next eight miles, you roll over flatroads through vast, sprawling fields ofvegetables (left). Finally, near mile 12,you see the first small hill of the daywhen you turn left onto Santa Maria MesaRoad. (The sign says, “S. M. Mesa.”) Thispleasant road crosses the Sisquoc Riverand climbs very gradually along the baseof the hills for five miles until it ends atTepusquet Road (below), where you turnleft. This begins the best part of today’sride: the big climb along Tepusquet Creekand then the descent into BuckhornCanyon on the far side of the ridge.

Tepesquet climbs for 11 or 12 miles to asummit and then descends for about fivemiles to a tee at Hwy 166. It climbsmildly for two miles, bumps up and downthrough rolling terrain for five miles, andfinally climbs about a thousand feet inthe last four miles to the 2100' summit.

At first you pass a few homes, vineyards, and ranches, buteventually the landscape becomes quite wild...nothing butoak and pine forest and high meadows. When I rode up thishill, I had a thrilling, up-close encounter with a bobcat thatreally made my day. It pranced across the road just in frontof me, hopped onto a low branch of a tree and just settleddown to watch me from about 15 feet away.

Over the summit, you get to enjoy a wild ride down theother side into Buckhorn Canyon. At five miles, the descentis much shorter than the climb, but it makes up in inten-sity for what it gives away in length. It’s a live-wire,whirling dervish of a downhill, especially at the top. Youlose 1000' in the first three miles and have a blast doing it.

I hate to tell you, but once you finish with Tepesquet Road,


that’s about as good as it’s going to get today. At the bottomof the hill (mile 33), you turn right on Hwy 166 and headeast for New Cuyama, still 35 miles away. Hwy 166 ought tobe a small road to nowhere, but in fact, it serves as a usefullink between Hwy 101 at Santa Maria and Interstate-5 nearMaricopa and Bakersfield, and as a result carries a ratherhigh volume of traffic, especially trucks. I don’t mean toimply that there is a constant stream of traffic. Most of thetime you’ll have the highway to yourself, and the roadgenerally has wide shoulders, but it only takes an occa-sional 18-wheeler roaring by at 60 to keep you on edge.

The road travels near or next to the Cuyama River all therest of the way, but it’s not really much of a river from ascenic standpoint...nice when you can see it, but it gener-ally keeps a rather low profile. (Like all of these mostly drySouthern California rivers, if it rains enough, they canbecome raging torrents. This little trickle made the news afew years back by somehow engulfing and entirely buryinga California Highway Patrol car, with two patrolmeninside.) Aside from the river’s comings and goings, thescenery is classic central California (above): farms fieldsand rolling grassy hills, dotted with old oaks and scatteredoutcroppings of rock.

The town of New Cuyama is at 2150'...slightly higher thanthe summit back on Tepusquet Road. That means allthe elevation you tossed away so profligately on thefun downhill to 166 will have to be regained on theway to the finish at 68 miles...about 1300' in 35miles. That’s an average grade of less than 1%.You’ll hardly notice it, and if you have a tailwind,you probably won’t notice it at all.

New Cuyama is a quiet town...just a few buildings inthe middle of nowhere. There aren’t any camp-grounds here either. I had aimed for a small campon a side road outside of town, but it turned out tobe really primitive and the connector road hadterrible pavement, so I crossed it off my list. Instead,you have two choices here: you can camp on thegrounds of the high school or you can stay at theCuyama Buckhorn Motel, the only public lodgingsin town.

The high school is on the far side of town. It’s a nice

facility, with a large campus(plenty of room to set up a littlecamp in a far-off corner of lawn).There is even a swimming pool,which may look really inviting ifyou’re here in the hot season. Ifthe pool is open, you may nothave to pay anything extra tohave a caretaker open the showerrooms for you. The trick isgetting the school authorities togrant you permission to stay. Thebest night to be here would be aSaturday, so you wouldn’t

intrude on school functions on either the evening of yourarrival or the morning of your departure. That meansbeginning your ride on a Saturday, which means driving toSanta Maria on Friday evening.

Like Canyon Meadows sports camp, the school here is notreally in the business of catering to cycle tourists, and mayor may not agree to host you. If for some reason the schoolwon’t grant permission for your stay, the alternative is theBuckhorn Motel. It’s a standard motel...nothing fancy at all.They do have a restaurant, and the manager will be happyto work with you in preparing a special meal for a largegroup...perhaps a big barbecue out in their courtyard. Ratesare $50 per room (double occupancy), and they’ll throw inthe dinner for another $5 per head. The Buckhorn is thefirst thing you see when you get to town...three milesbefore the high school.

Day 2: New Cuyama to Reyes Creek

73 miles, 5500' up, 4000' down

This is an epic journey...one of the better days on the tour.It starts with a lot of climbing and ends with a lot ofdescending...nicer than the other way around, right? You


begin by continuing east on Hwy 166. At mile 9 you pass ajunction with Hwy 33, which heads off to the south. Aquick look at the map tells you that turning right on 33will put you on a quick shortcut to today’s destination...infact, a 35-mile run with a fairly easy 1500' of climb. I don’treally recommend this shortcut because it bypasses some ofthe best miles on the tour. However, there is nothing wrongwith the roads—no heavy traffic or blighted scenery—tocause me to warn you away from them. It’s not a terriblyexciting ride, but if some of the folks in your party want toavoid a long, hilly day, this is the way to do it. This sectionof Hwy 33 is a generally flat run through pistachio grovesand then a rolling section above the flood plain of theCuyama River.

Just beyond the Hwy 33 junction the route along 166ramps up into a long, steady climb...nearly 500' in justunder five miles to the point where you leave 166 for aright turn onto Cerro Noroeste. Justbeyond the turn, a sign announces thatyou’ve entered the Bitter Creek NationalWildlife Refuge. The sign features apicture of a soaring condor, but that’sabout as close as you’re likely to come toseeing one of these rarest of birds.(However, I rode right past an eagle—munching on a kill—right next to thesign.) It’s a beautiful area of wide openhills with views over miles of emptycountry in almost every direction (above).Were it not for the fact that you’reclimbing almost constantly, it would rankas one of the great dream roads.

From the turn onto Cerro Noroeste, yougain almost 3000' in the next 22 miles.None of this ascending is really brutal,and the great views should make it a littleeasier to manage. At one point, you canpeer off the ridgeline to your left and look

down into a beautiful canyon of rugged, redrock walls. It’s not really obvious and thereare no official scenic overlooks to alert you.You have to keep glancing that way andsooner or later, you’ll see it. I’ve been toldthat this impressive chasm is a rift in thefamous San Andreas Fault. Spaced outamidst all the climbing are three or foursaddles that in some cases grow intomoderately exciting downhills. By the way,almost every mile you ride today is part ofthe course of the Heartbreak double century(formerly known as the Tour of Two For-ests), only they go in the opposite direction.

Eventually, at mile 35, you reach thesummit at Apache Saddle (at 5700', the highpoint of this tour). This is at the junctionwith the road that climbs to near the top of

Cerro Noroeste (also known as Mt Abel). It’s a nice road,climbing over 2000' in less than eight miles to a lodge inthe tall pines near the 8286' peak. Much the same could besaid for the up-&-back to Mt Pinos, which you pass in just afew miles: it also climbs around 2000' in just over eightmiles. Both are good roads, and I considered listing themas official, bonus-miles out-&-backs, but I finally decidedthey’re probably more than most riders will want on thislong day.

By the time you reach Apache Saddle, you’ve left the openhills of the Bitter Creek Refuge behind. Now it’s all denseforest of fir and pine. At the junction, Cerro Noroeste Roadturns right and heads up to the summit, but you continuestraight on Mil Potrero Road. From the 5700' summit atmile 35, you descend more or less constantly—and some-times quite steeply—to the town of Pine Mountain at mile38. This is a private, residential community, but there are acouple of stores and a service station where you can stop


for water and snacks. Pine Mountain is at 4800' but theroad continues to drop beyond the town for another fewhundred feet. Then, at mile 39, it bottoms out and beginsclimbing again, gaining 1000' in the next four miles. Mostof the ascent is fairly easy, but there are a few steep sec-tions. The next summit is at the Mount Pinos Road junc-tion at 5600'.

Once again, the road name changes...to Cuddy Valley Road.You descend from the summit for five fast miles along thevalley wall above Cuddy Creek (photo, bottom, previouspage). This is a flying descent: no tricky curves...just a long,fast roll. Just at the base of the downhill, you hit the townof Lake of the Woods (at 5150'). At this point, you mergewith the Day 2 route on the basic tour, and you can pick upthe description for the rest of the stage from that portion ofthe write-up.

Returning to Santa Maria at the finish

There are several ways you could wrap up this tour, if yourgoal is to return to Santa Maria. The first alternative is toride directly from Paradise to Santa Maria, skipping all theSolvang and Buellton stuff. You would follow the basic Day5 route along the side roads off of Hwy 154—ArmourRanch, Baseline, Roblar—and then, at the junction with154 near Los Olivos, just whip around the corner and headnorth on Foxen Canyon, eventually picking up the routeout of Santa Maria that began the tour. This yields a stageof about 50 miles with only around 1200' of climbing. Addin the Happy Canyon-Figueroa Mtn loop and you have astout, 75-mile stage with a lot of steep climbing.

Or you could do the basic Day 5 stage to Buellton—eitherthe long or short option—and then on Day 6, double backover Ballard Canyon and pick up Foxen Canyon headingnorth to Santa Maria. That would produce a 45-mile stage.Finally, you could begin with the basic Day 6 route overDrum Canyon and Cat Canyon, peel off the route inSisquoc, and head for Santa Maria from there. This toowould produce a stage of about 45 miles.

• Details •

Day 0 (Arrive at Lake Hughes):

Canyon Meadows Camp

41600 Lake Hughes RoadLake Hughes, CA 93532

Kasey Wilson, Jill Hudspeth 661-724-1225

Rates negotiable; approximately $7 per person

Alternate Day 0 (Arrive in Santa Maria):

Santa Maria Pines Campground

On Preisker Lane, just off the Broadway exit from Hwy 101at the north edge of Santa Maria

Camp hosts (Duane & Marion Barnes) 805-925-9534

Camp fees:Per site $17.00Extra adults $4.00Group rates are negotiable.

Camp facilities: 40 RV sites, 27 tent sites, open all year;showers, restrooms, water, swimming pool, propane, mini-golf, barbecues.

Nearby lodging, food:Best Western Big America 805-922-5200Santa Maria Airport Hilton 805-928-8000Santa Maria Inn 805-928-7777

There are numerous restaurants in Santa Maria.

Alternate Day 1 (New Cuyama):

Cuyama Valley High School 805-766-2293

Nearby lodging, food:Cuyama Buckhorn (motel & restaurant)PO Box 178, New Cuyama, CA 93254 805-766-2591

General Manager: Thomas Studer, Jr.

Day 2 (Camp Scheideck/Reyes Creek):

Camp Scheideck

Star Route 1, Box 160; Maricopa, CA 93252

805-649-9738 (Phone is a service in Ojai. They will returncalls.)

Hosts: JR & Rose Purtzier

Camp fees:Group site (Camp Scheideck) $100

Reyes Creek USFS camp.

37 tent sites, no reservations. $5.00 per site (see text).

Camp facilities: showers ($3.00), bar and grill (breakfastand lunch only), creek access.

Day 3 (Lake Casitas):

Lake Casitas Recreation Area

11311 Santa Ana Road; Ventura, CA 93001

805-649-2233

Camp fees:Individual sites (8 people): $17.00, + $6.00 res. feeGroup rates negotiable approx. $2.00 per person.

Camp facilities: 458 sites, open all year, showers (pay),store, snack bar, bike rentals, horse-drawn carriage rides,


boating, fishing, playgrounds, model airplane field.

Nearby lodging, food:There are numerous B&Bs, inns, and restaurants in theOjai area.

Day 4 (Paradise):

Sage Hill Group Recreation Area

HC58, Paradise Road; Santa Barbara, CA 93105

Los Prietos Ranger Station 805-967-3481

Group sites reserved through the US Forest Servicebooking agent, Biospherics, at 1-800-280-2267. There arefive group sites accommodating up to 50 campers each.Minimum of 25 campers required to reserve a site. Thereare also four campsites in the vicinity that have individualsites, but only Paradise camp may be reserved. Reservationsmay be made up to 360 days in advance.

Camp fees:Individual site (Paradise) $8.00Reservation fee $6.75 (first night only)Group site (Sage Hill) $50.00Reservation fee $18.65 (first night only)

Camp facilities: running water, fire pits, nearby river andnature trails.

Alternate: Cachuma Lake County Park Recreation Area

There are 625 individual sites, 125 of which are for tentsonly. There are also nine group sites accommodating from32 to 120 campers. All group site reservations are subject toa two day minimum on weekends (three days on a holidayweekend). The smallest group site is $96.00 per nite and itgoes up from there.

Reservations 805-686-5054

Camp fees:Individual site $14.00Hiker/biker site (per person) $4.00

Camp facilities: showers (some free, some pay), store,laundry, fishing, swimming, boating, mini-golf, play-grounds, video arcade, etc.

Days 5, 6, & 7 (Buellton):

Flying Flags Travel Park 805-688-3716

333 tent/RV spaces. Reservable. Area set aside for groups oftents.

Camp fees:Individual tents, (two people, no hook-ups) $17.00Each additional person $2.00Group rates negotiable; approximately $7.00 per person.

Camp facilities: showers, swimming, spas, laundry, etc

Nearby lodging, food:

Best Western Andersen’s Inn 805-688-3216Econo Lodge 805-688-0222Rancho Santa Barbara Marriott 805-688-1000Windmill Motor Inn 805-688-8448

There are several restaurants in Buellton, includingAndersen’s Split Pea Soup Factory.

Adventure Passes

Both the Angeles and Los Padres National Forests arecurrently running a pilot program designed to generateadditional revenues for campground maintenance. Underthis program, all vehicles that park in the national forestsare required to purchase and display an Adventure Pass.Bikes are exempt.

Adventure Passes may be purchased as a day pass or as anannual pass. A day pass costs $5 and an annual pass costs$30. When you buy an annual pass, you can get a sticker fora second vehicle for an additional $5. If you have one ormore vehicles following you on this tour, the annual passprobably makes more sense, because you will be onnational forest lands every day except the last two.

Those in charge of this program have not done a good jobof making the passes easy to acquire. They cannot bepurchased through the mail or over the internet, and theyare not available at Forest Service offices in any other partof the state. In fact, they’re not even available at mostForest Service sites within the program area. Some rangerstations have them, but more commonly, they can be foundat selected retail outlets in towns near the forests. If youcall a USFS ranger station in the appropriate district, theyshould be able to give you a list of outlets where you canpick up your pass when you arrive in the area.


38003600340032003000280026002400220020001800160014001200

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

The Condor Country TourDay 1: Canyons Loop #166 miles, 4800’ up, 4800’ down42 miles, 3000’ up, 3000’ down

R on Lake Hughes Road ............................................ 0.0R on Newvale Drive ................................................... 4.2R on Elizabeth Lake Road .......................................... 4.5Bear R on Elizabeth Lake Road .................................. 8.9R on San Francisquito Canyon Road ......................... 9.7Short route goes straight.Summit...big descent ............................................... 10.5L on San Francisquto/Copper Hill Drive ................... 29.0Suburbs of city of Saugus.R on Haskell Canyon Road ...................................... 30.8L on Bouquet Canyon Road ..................................... 32.0Heading back out into the country...L on Spunky Canyon Road ...................................... 47.7Short route rejoins.Summit...big descent ....................................... 50.5/25.8Town of Green Valley. Store. ............................ 52.4/27.7R on San Francisquito Canyon Road ............... 53.1/28.6L on Elizabeth Lake Road ................................. 56.1/31.6L on Newvale Drive .......................................... 61.3/36.8L on Lake Hughes Road ................................... 61.6/37.1L into camp ..................................................... 65.8/41.6

Short route:S on Elizabeth Lake Road .......................................... 9.7R on Bouquet Canyon Road ..................................... 16.5Summit...downhill ................................................... 19.8R on Spunky Canyon Road ...................................... 23.0


The Condor Country Tour

Day 1: Canyons Loop #166 miles, 4800' up, 4800' down41 miles, 3000' up, 3000' down

�

Start/Finish�

�

●

�

LEONA VALLEY3200'

ANGELES

NATIONAL

FOREST

▲

▲

▲

MOUNTAINS

Grass Mtn4605'

Red Mtn3996'

Jupiter Mtn4431'

BouquetReservoir

➛

SAUGUS1165' CMR

COTTONWOODUSFS

CAMPGROUND

Saugus detail© 2000 Bill Oetinger

●

ElizabethLake

MunzLake

LakeHughes

CANYON MEADOWSCONFERENCE

CENTER

LAKE

HUGHESRO

AD

ELIZABETH

LAKE

LAKE

ELIZABETH

ROAD

ROAD

SAN

FRANCISQUITO

ROAD

BOUQUET

CANYON

ROAD

SPUNKY

CANYON

ROAD

NEWVALEDRIVE

SIERRA

PELONA

DEL

SUR

RIDGE

RIDGE

TULE

LEONA

VALLEY

GREEN VALLEY

M

SAWMILL

COPPER HILLDRIVE

HASKELLCANYON

ROAD

Today’s route

Optional routes

Other roads

Bigger towns

Smaller towns

Cafe

Market

Restrooms

Hospital

Point of interest

Campsite

●

C

M

R

✚

�

�

�N2

�N2

➛

➛➛

➛➛

➛ ➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

SAN FRANCISQUITOCANYON ROAD

COPPER HILL DRIVE

HASKELLCANYON

ROAD

BOUQUETCANYON

ROAD

SECO

CANY

ONRO

AD

Some residential streets not shown

➛

➛

➛➛

➛

CANYON

●LAKE HUGHES3240' M

�


5600540052005000480046004400420040003800360034003200300028002600

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

The Condor Country TourDay 2: Canyon Meadows to Reyes Creek68 miles, 6000’ up, 5050’ down

R on Lake Hughes Road ............................................ 0.0L on Pine Mountain Road (Route N2) ........................ 4.3S on N2 (summit...big descent) ............................... 11.5L on Pine Mountain Road (Route N2) ...................... 14.0R on Ridge Route (still N2) ...................................... 22.3L on Hwy 138 .......................................................... 24.5R on Gorman Post Road .......................................... 27.0L on Gorman School Road (under I-5) .................... 31.9Town of Gorman (3811’).R on Peace Valley Road ........................................... 32.1Climb to Tejon Pass (4144’).L on Frazier Park Road (town of Lebec: 3500’) ........ 35.2Town of Frazier Park (4600’) .................................... 38.3L on Lockwood Valley Road .................................... 42.1Town of Lake of the Woods (5150’).Owl’s Barn summit (5525’) ...................................... 45.4Lockwood summit (5516’) ...................................... 53.8Wagon Wheel summit (5140’) ................................. 59.7L on Camp Scheideck driveway ............................... 65.8Camp Scheideck/Reyes Creek camp ........................ 67.5


The

Con

dor

Cou

ntry

Tou

r

Day

2: C

anyo

n M

eado

ws t

o R

eyes

Cre

ek68

mile

s, 60

00' u

p, 5

050'

dow

n

�

Star

t

�

AN

GE

LES

NA

TIO

NA

L

FOR

EST

▲

▲

▲Gr

ass M

tn46

05'

Burn

t Pea

k57

88'

Jupi

ter M

tn44

31'

© 2

000

Bill

Oetin

ger

Eliz

abet

hLa

ke

Mun

zLa

keLake

Hug

hes

CANY

ON M

EADO

WS

LAKE

HUGH

ES

ROAD

Toda

y’s ro

ute

Optio

nal r

outes

Othe

r roa

ds

Bigg

er to

wns

Small

er to

wns

Cafe

Mar

ket

Restr

oom

s

Hosp

ital

Poin

t of i

nter

est

Cam

psite

● C M

R ✚

�

�

�N2

�N2

CAM

P SC

HEID

ECK/

REYE

S CR

EEK

�

▲

▲

● LAKE

OF

THE

WOO

DS51

50'

M

➛

▲

▲

▲▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

●

Lock

wood

Sum

mit

5516

'

Owl’s

Bar

nSu

mm

it55

25'

Eagl

e Res

tPe

ak59

55'

Brus

h M

tn70

00'

Antim

ony P

k68

48'

▲Sa

n E

mig

dio

Mtn

7495

'

Cerro

Nor

oeste

(Mt A

bel)

8286

'Sa

wmill

Mtn

8800

'

Mt P

inos

8831

'

Tecu

ya M

tn71

55'

Lock

wood

Pk

6273

'Sa

n Gu

iller

mo

Mtn

6569

'

CUDD

Y

VALL

EY

SAN

AND

REAS

F

AULT

LOCK

WOO

D

VALL

EY

BLUE

R

IDGE

Apac

he S

addl

e57

00'

Fini

sh

PINE

MTN

480

0'

CU

DDY

VALL

EYRD

LOCK

WOO

DVA

LLEY

ROAD

Can

yon

Dry Wag

onR

oad

Can

yon

Lockwood

Creek

LOS

PAD

RE

S

NA

TIO

NA

L

FOR

EST

Wag

on W

heel

Sum

mit

5140

'▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

SAN

AND

REAS

FAUL

T

●

●

●

●

MOUNT

AINS

SAW

MIL

L

LIEB

REM

OUNT

AINS

Redr

ock M

tn44

89'

Sawt

ooth

Mtn

5175

'

Bald

Mtn

4460

'

Bear

Mtn

4777

'Go

ld H

ill48

38'

Fraz

ier M

tn80

13'

FRAZ

IER

PARK

4610

'

LEBE

C35

00'

CM

R

GORM

AN38

11'

CMR

THRE

E PO

INTS

3424

M

LAKE

HUG

HES

3240

' M

●

Qua

ilLa

ke

PINE

MTN

ROA

D

RIDG

E RO

UTE

GORM

ANPO

ST R

OAD

PEAC

E VA

LLEY

ROA

D

FRAZ

IER

MTN

ROA

D13

8

��

138

��

�5

�5

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

OZEN

A

VALL

EY

Tejo

n Pa

ss41

44'

LAKE

ELI

ZABE

TH R

OAD


5200500048004600440042004000380036003400320030002800260024002200200018001600140012001000

800600400200

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

The Condor Country TourDay 3: Reyes Creek to Lake Casitas58 miles, 4000’ up, 6100’ down49 miles, 3300’ up, 5400’ down

Camp road (leave campground) ................................ 0.0L on Lockwood Valley Road ...................................... 1.9L on Hwy 33 .............................................................. 5.4S on Hwy 33 (Pine Mountain summit: 5084’) .......... 11.3S on Hwy 33 (Matilija summit: 3500’) ..................... 27.3S on Hwy 33 (Wheeler Gorge; three tunnels) .......... 35.4L on Fairview Road .................................................. 39.2Short route goes R.R on Foothill Road ................................................... 40.6L on Matilija Street .................................................. 41.4R on Signal Street (town of Ojai: 750’) .................... 41.7Cross Hwy 150.RL on Santa Ana St/Ventura Road ........................... 42.0Becomes Creek Road as it leaves town.

L on Hwy 33 ............................................................ 48.0Busy road. Bike path available for part of this stretch.R on Casitas Vista Road .......................................... 50.3R on Santa Ana Road ............................................... 50.8L into Lake Casitas County Park .............................. 56.2Bear R around lake.L into Grebe camping area (Area G) ........................ 57.9

Short route:R on Fairview Road.................................................. 39.2L on North Rice Road .............................................. 39.5R on Hwy 150 .......................................................... 41.6L on Burnham Road ................................................ 42.6R on Santa Ana Road ............................................... 44.5Rejoin long route.


The Condor Country TourDay 3: Reyes Creek to Lake Casitas

58 miles, 4000' up, 6100' down49 miles, 3300' up, 5400' down

CAMP SCHEIDECK/REYES CREEK

Start

�1500'

WHEELERSPRINGS

▲

Reyes Peak7510'

OJAI750'CMR

SANTA

�

LakeCasitas

Finish

LAKE CASITASCOUNTY PARK

PADRES

✚

➛

�

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

Ortega Hill5660'

Nordhoff Peak4485'

Pine Mtn summit5084'

White Ledge Pk4640'

Chismahoo Mtn2923'

Black Mtn1797'

Janice Peak1476'

�

�

�

33

33

�

33

150

�

150

Sespe

Creek

Cuyama

River

Reyes

Creek

Mat

alija

Cre

ek

●

●

Riv

erV

e nt u

r a

MatalijaLake

YNEZ

MOUNTAINS

LOS

NATIONAL

FORESTWheelerGorge

LOCKWOOD

VALLEY

FAIRVIEW RD

CREEK

ROAD

BURNHAMROAD

SANTA

ANARD

FOOTHILLROAD

SANTA ANABLVD

NORTH RICEROAD

MEINERSOAKS750'CMR

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

Matalijasummit3500'

Today’s route

Optional routes

Other roads

Bigger towns

Smaller towns

Cafe

Market

Restrooms

Hospital

Point of interest

Campsite

●

C

M

R

✚

�

�

�

© 2000 Bill Oetinger

�

➛➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

�

CASITASVISTA

RD

Bike path

FOOTHILLROAD

FAIRVIEW RD MATALIJA

CREEK

ROAD

VENT

URA SIGN

AL

�

33

33

�

�

150

RICE

RD

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

Ojai detail


0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

42004000380036003400320030002800260024002200200018001600140012001000800600400200

0

The Condor Country TourDay 4: Lake Casitas to Sage Hill60 miles, 6700’ up, 6400’ downBonus miles: 10 miles, 400’

Lake Casitas camp road (leave Grebe campground) .. 0.0L on Santa Ana Road (leave Lake Casitas Park) ......... 1.7L on Hwy 150 ............................................................ 1.8East Casitas Pass (1143’) .......................................... 7.7West Casitas Pass (970’) ........................................... 9.5R on Gobernador Canyon Road ............................... 12.9Hard right at bottom of descent.R on Hwy 192 (Casitas Pass Road) ......................... 16.0Town of Carpenteria.R on Hwy 192 (Foothill Road) ................................. 20.9Bear R at Nidever Road junction.R on Hwy 192 (Toro Canyon Road) ......................... 22.4

S on Hwy 192 (East Valley Road) ............................ 23.1Toro Canyon turns R; you bear L.R on San Ysidro Road (town of Montecito, 190’) .... 26.7L on East Mountain Drive ........................................ 27.5R on Gibraltor Road ................................................. 33.7L on El Camino Cielo Road ...................................... 40.5Sign says, “To State Hwy 154.”S on Stagecoach Road (cross Hwy 154) ................. 51.7San Marcos Pass (2224’). Cielo store.R on Paradise Road ................................................. 55.7L into Sage Hill Group Camp driveway .................... 60.0At Los Prietos Ranger Station.Finish ....................................................................... 60.4

Bonus miles at finish: out Paradise road to various swim-ming holes.


SAG

E H

ILL

GR

OU

P CA

MP

SAG

E H

ILL

GR

OU

P CA

MP

The

Con

dor

Cou

ntry

Tou

rD

ay 4

: Lak

e C

asit

as to

Sag

e H

ill60

mile

s, 67

00' u

p, 6

400'

dow

nB

onus

mile

s: 10

mile

s, 50

0'St

art

��

�

SANT

A

�

Lake

Cas

itas

Fini

shLA

KE C

ASIT

ASCO

UNTY

PAR

KPA

DR

ES

�

▲

▲

Cielo

St

ore

Gib

ralto

rR

eser

voir

YNEZ

MOU

NTAI

NS

LOS

NA

TIO

NA

L

FOR

EST

Pain

ted C

ave

▲

▲

▲

▲▲

Paci

fic

Oce

an

Mon

teci

to-C

arpe

nter

ia d

eta i

l

��

150

��

��

��101

101

192

SANT

A BA

RBAR

A33

'

�

Cold

Spr

ing

Tave

rn

▲Sage

Hill

2421

'

La C

umbr

e Pk

3985

'Ca

thed

ral P

k33

33'

Noon

Pea

k40

84'

Snow

ball

Mtn

1680

'

Rinc

on M

tn21

61'

Mon

tecito

Pk

3213

'Ea

st Ca

sitas

Pass

1143

'

Wes

t Cas

itas

Pass

969'

San

Mar

cos

Pass

2224

'

Brus

h Pe

ak30

69'

●�

�

�

CAMINOCI

ELO

RDGIBR

ALTO

R RD

E.M

TNDR

STAG

ECOA

CHRO

AD

PARA

DISE RD

SAN

YSID

RORO

ADGO

BERN

ADOR

CANY

ON R

D

➛

➛

➛➛➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

Swim

min

gho

lePA

RADI

SECA

MP

CARP

ENTE

RIA

30'

●

●

��

��

��

192

101

192

MON

TECI

TO19

3

CM

R

GIBRALTORRD

E.M

OUNT

AIN

DRIV

E

SAN YSIDRORD

TOROCANYON

RD

GOBE

RNAD

ORCA

NYON

RD

CASI

TAS

PASS

RDFO

OTHI

LLRO

AD

EAST

VALL

EY

RD

NIDE

VER

RDLI

NDEN

AV

E

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

Toda

y’s ro

ute

Optio

nal r

outes

Othe

r roa

ds

Bigg

er to

wns

Small

er to

wns

Cafe

Mar

ket

Restr

oom

s

Hosp

ital

Poin

t of i

nter

est

Cam

psite

● C M

R ✚

�

�

�

��

154

��

154

© 2

000

Bill

Oetin

ger


The Condor Country TourDay 5: Sage Hill to Buellton44 miles, 1700' up, 2200' down70 miles, 6000’ up, 6500’ downBonus miles: 12 miles, 500’ (short route only)

Sage Hill driveway; leave camp.................................. 0.0R on Paradise Road ................................................... 0.4R on Stagecoach Road .............................................. 4.6R on Hwy 154 ............................................................ 5.8Lake Cachuma County Park ..................................... 12.0R on Armour Ranch Road ....................................... 16.3R on Happy Canyon Road ........................................ 17.6L on Baseline Road .................................................. 18.8Long route stays straight on Happy Canyon...R on Mora Avenue > Roblar Avenue ........................ 21.2Cross Hwy 154 to Alamo Pintado Road ................... 24.0Bear L on Alamo Pintado ................................. 25.9/52.0Or go R off course to explore village of Los Olivos.Long route rejoins.R on Hwy 246 into village of Solvang (495’) .... 30.0/56.1L on Alisal Road .............................................. 30.6/56.7

L into Nojoqui Falls County Park ...................... 37.1/63.2Trailhead to falls ✰. ......................................... 37.4/63.5Ten-minute walk to falls. Walking shoes advised.Retrace to park entrance; L on Alisal Road ...... 37.7/63.8Or go R to return to Solvang and avoid Hwy 101 section.Add 3 miles for route back via Solvang and Hwy 246.R on Old Coast Hwy ......................................... 38.5/64.6R on Hwy 101 .................................................. 39.5/65.6Busy freeway but with wide shoulders.Santa Rosa Ave off-ramp, then L over freeway 43.5/69.6First exit from 101 that you come to.R on Avenue of the Flags ................................. 43.7/69.8R into Flying Flags Travel Park ......................... 43.8/69.9Tent camping is to the right at south end of park.

Long route:Straight on Happy Canyon Road .............................. 18.8Summit (2400’). One mile of gravel (level road) ...... 27.2L on Figueroa Mtn Road (same road, new name) .... 31.4Summit (4400’) Big descents ahead ........................ 35.1Cross Hwy 154 to Grand Ave into Los Olivos .......... 51.1R on Alamo Pintado Road ....................................... 52.0Rejoin short route.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75

440042004000380036003400320030002800260024002200200018001600140012001000

800600400200


The

Con

dor

Cou

ntry

Tou

rD

ay 5

: Sag

e H

ill to

Bue

llton

44 m

iles,

1700

' up,

220

0' d

own

60 m

iles,

6000

' up,

650

0' d

own

Bon

us m

iles:

12 m

iles,

500'

SAGE

HIL

LGR

OUP

CAM

P

Star

t

�SA

NTA

Lake

Fini

shFL

YING

FLA

GSTR

AVEL

PAR

K

PAD

RE

S

YNEZ

MOU

NTAI

NS

LOS

NA

TIO

NA

L

FOR

EST

▲

● SANT

A YN

EZ56

0'

CM

R

Sage

Hill

2421

'

�

�

➛

Toda

y’s ro

ute

Optio

nal r

outes

Othe

r roa

ds

Bigg

er to

wns

Small

er to

wns

Cafe

Mar

ket

Restr

oom

s

Hosp

ital

Poin

t of i

nter

est

Cam

psite

● C M

R ✚

�

�

�

▲▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

��

��

MOU

NTAI

NS

RAFA

EL

SAN

●●

●

�C

achu

ma

154

101

�

Broa

dcas

t Pk

4028

'Sa

nta Y

nez P

k42

98'

Rang

er P

k46

52'

San

Rafae

l Mtn

6593

'M

cKin

ley M

tn61

82'

Figu

eroa

Mtn

4526

'

Lom

a Alta

2758

'

Noj

oqui

Fal

ls

SANT

A YN

EZ

VALL

EY

CAM

INO

CIEL

O RO

AD

STAG

ECOA

CHRO

AD

PARA

DISE

ROAD

ARM

OUR

RANC

H

BASE

LINE

RD

ROBL

AR R

D

RD

MOR

A

RDHA

PPY

CANYON

ROAD

FIGUEROA

MTN

ROAD

BALL

ARD

CANYON

RD ALAMOPINTADORD

REFUGIOROAD

EDISON

ALIS

ALROAD

ATTE

RDAG

ROAD

/CH

ALKH

ILL

ROAD

SANTA

ROSA

RD

OLD

COAS

T HW

Y

FOXENCANYON

�Fi

guer

oaCa

mp

Alamo

Pinta

do

Creek

Sycamore

Canyon

Lake

Cac

hum

aCa

mpg

roun

d

NojoquiCrk

Alisal Crk

Sant

aYn

ez

Rive

r

Cachuma

Crk

�

➛

➛ ➛

➛

➛

➛

➛ ➛➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

SOLV

ANG

495'

CM

R

LOS

OLIV

OS83

0 '

CM

R

BALL

ARD

BUEL

LTON

360'

CM

R

Happy

Canyon� PA

RADI

SE C

AMP

AVEN

UEOF

THE

FLAG

S

© 2

007

Bill

Oetin

ger

ROAD

AlamoPintado

�C

reek

Sant

aYn

ezRi

ver

ATTE

RDAG

ROAD

/CH

ALKH

ILL

ROAD

��

246

Sant

a Yne

zM

issio

n

FJOR

DDR

��

246

�

Solv

ang

deta

il➛

➛

➛

➛

ALISAL

�


The Condor Country TourDay 6: Jalama Beach Out-&-Back69 miles, 4000' up, 4000' down70 miles, 4200’ up, 4200’ down

L on Avenue of the Flags > Santa Rosa Avenue ......... 0.0L on Hwy 1 .............................................................. 17.5R on Jalama Road ................................................... 20.2Jualachichi summit (1104’) ..................................... 24.5Jalama Beach County Park ...................................... 34.4✰ Have lunch, play on the beach, turn around, go back...L on Hwy 1 .............................................................. 48.7R on Santa Rosa Road > Avenue of the Flags .......... 51.4Optional route stays straight on Hwy 1...R into Flying Flags Travel Park ................................. 68.9Finish ....................................................................... 69.1

Optional La Purisima Mission route:Straight on Hwy 1 .................................................... 51.4R on Ocean Avenue in Lompoc (Hwy 246) .............. 52.9L on Mission Gate Road .......................................... 54.7Cross Purisima Road into mission .......................... 55.1✰ Explore Mission La Purisima Concepcion...L on Purisima Road ................................................. 56.0L on Hwy 246 .......................................................... 56.1R on Avenue of the Flags ......................................... 69.6L into Flying Flags Travel Park ................................. 69.8Finish ....................................................................... 70.0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75

12001000

800600400200

0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75

12001000

800600400200

0


The

Con

dor

Cou

ntry

Tou

rD

ay 6

: Jal

ama

Bea

ch O

ut-&

-Bac

k69

mile

s, 40

00' u

p, 4

000'

dow

n70

mile

s, 42

00' u

p, 4

200'

dow

nSh

ort-

cut:

35 m

iles,

2000

'�

Star

t/Fin

ish �

Toda

y’s ro

ute

Optio

nal r

outes

Othe

r roa

ds

Bigg

er to

wns

Small

er to

wns

Cafe

Mar

ket

Restr

oom

s

Hosp

ital

Poin

t of i

nter

est

Cam

psite

● C M

R ✚

�

�

�

▲

SANT

A

●

�

Palo

Alto

Hill

1394

'

SANT

A

ROSA

Sant

a

Ynez

Rive

r

BUEL

LTON

360'

CM

R

➛

HILL

S

ROSA

HILL

S

Sant

a Ros

aCo

unty

Park

▲Oak M

tn20

14'

Sudd

en P

k21

22'

▲

�

●

101

�

1

�

246

RITA

SANT

A HI

LLS

WHI

TE

SANT

A YN

EZM

OUNT

AINS

Vand

enbe

rg

Air

Forc

e Base

Jalam

a Bea

chCo

unty

Park

Juala

chich

iSu

mm

it11

04'

LOM

POC

98'

CM

R

�

JALAMA

ROAD

SOUT

HERN

PACIFI

C

RR

Jala

ma

Cre

ekSalsi

puedesCreek

ROAD

Paci

fic Oce

an

➛

➛

➛➛

➛

➛➛

➛

➛

© 2

007

Bill

Oetin

ger/S

RCC

�La P

urisi

ma M

issio

nSt

ate H

istor

ic Pa

rk

�

1

OCEA

N AV

E

DRUMCANYON

➛

➛

➛ ➛

MIS

SION

GAT

E RD

PURI

SIM

A

RD


The Condor Country TourDay 7: Canyons Loop #258 miles, 4000' up, 4000' down

R on Avenue of the Flags ........................................... 0.0L on Hwy 246 ............................................................ 0.2R on Drum Canyon .................................................... 6.1Summit (1400’) ....................................................... 12.1Los Alamos County Park ......................................... 14.8L on Hwy 135 in town of Los Alamos (565’) ........... 15.4R on Bell Road ......................................................... 15.9No street sign. Follow sign to Hwy 101.R on Cat Canyon (cross Hwy 101) ........................... 16.7Summit (1256’) Ancient oil rigs ............................... 20.7R on Palmer Road ................................................... 25.9Right on Foxen Canyon at Sisquoc junction (430’) .. 28.9Summit (1500’) ....................................................... 41.1L on Foxen Canyon at Zaca Station Rd junction ....... 44.9Summit (1200’) ....................................................... 46.3Straight across Hwy 154 to Ballard Canyon Rd ....... 49.2Summit (1000’) ....................................................... 50.0R on Ballard Canyon at Chalkhill Road junction ....... 54.4R on Hwy 246 .......................................................... 56.4L on Avenue of the Flags (back in Buellton) ............. 57.3L into Flying Flags Travel Park ................................. 57.5Finish ....................................................................... 57.7

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75

1600140012001000

800600400200

0


The Condor Country Tour

Day 7: The Canyons Loop58 miles, 4000' up and down

�

Start/Finish

�

▲

SOLOMON

●

�

Redrock Mtn1984'

BALLARD

CANY

ON

RD

ALAM

OPI

NTAD

ORD

CHALKHILLROAD

SANTA ROSA

RD

FOXEN

CANYON

Ala

mo

Pint

ado

Cre

ek

Santa

Ynez

River ➛

SOLVANG495' CMR

BUELLTON360' CMR

�101

�

154

Sant

aR

osa

Crk

Cat

Canyon

How

ard

Canyon

Zaca

Crk

Foxen

Canyon

�

246

DRUM

CANY

ON

ROAD

CATCA

NYON

ROAD

PALM

ERRD

ALISOS

CANYON

RDZA

CAST

ATIO

N

RD

➛➛

➛

➛➛

➛➛

➛

➛

HILLS

PURISIMA

GATO RIDGE

HILLS

●

●

LOS ALAMOS565' M

SISQUOC430'

�

135

Los AlamosCounty Park

© 2007 Bill Oetinger/SRCC

TEPE

SQUET

ROAD

ROAD

BELLROAD

Today’s route

Optional routes

Other roads

Bigger towns

Smaller towns

Cafe

Market

Restrooms

Hospital

Point of interest

Campsite

●

C

M

R

✚

�

�

�


24002200200018001600140012001000

800600400200

00 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

The Condor Country TourDay 1A: Santa Maria to New Cuyama68 miles, 3500' up, 1200' down

L on Priesker Lane ..................................................... 0.0R on Broadway .......................................................... 0.1L on Donovan Road ................................................... 0.8R on Suey Road ......................................................... 2.3L on Main Street ........................................................ 3.2L on Foxen Canyon Road ........................................... 6.9L on Santa Maria Mesa Road ................................... 11.7L on Tepesquet Road ............................................... 16.1Summit (2100’) ....................................................... 27.7R on Hwy 166 .......................................................... 32.9Town of New Cuyama (2150’) .................................. 67.4Buckhorn Motel on right.R into New Cuyama Valley HS ................................. 68.2


The

Con

dor

Cou

ntry

Tou

r

Day

1: S

anta

Mar

ia to

New

Cuy

ama

68 m

iles,

3500

' up,

120

0' d

own

�

Star

t

�R

iver

Toda

y’s ro

ute

Optio

nal r

outes

Othe

r roa

ds

Bigg

er to

wns

Small

er to

wns

Cafe

Mar

ket

Restr

oom

s

Hosp

ital

Poin

t of i

nter

est

Cam

psite

● C M

R ✚

�

�

�

▲

●�

Fini

shCU

YAM

AVA

LLEY

HS

NEW

CUY

AMA

2150

' C

MR

CU

YAM

A

VALL

EY

➛

LOS

PAD

RE

S

NA

TIO

NA

L

FOR

EST

Cuyam

a

▲

▲▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

��

��

MOU

NTAI

NS

MAD

RE

SIER

RA

Boar

Pk

1884

'

Huas

na P

k19

04'

Stan

ley M

tn24

75'

Shell

Pk

2445

'

Los C

oche

s Mtn

3016

'

Tepu

sque

tPe

ak32

53'

Mira

nda P

ine

Mtn

4061

'

Tim

ber

Peak

4758

'

Peak

Mtn

5845

'

166

Big

Rock

s21

76'

Twin

Roc

ks

Chalk

Mtn

2401

'C

uyam

a

Riv

er

River

Riv

er

Sant

a

Mari

a

Sisq

uoc

Twitc

hell

Res

ervo

ir

101

TEPUSQUETROAD

SANT

A M

ARIA

MES

A RO

AD➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛➛

➛

➛

➛

ALISOCANYONPERKINSRD

SANT

A M

ARIA

206'

CM

R

SANT

A M

ARIA

PINE

SCA

MPG

ROUN

D��

166

�

➛

➛

➛

➛➛

➛

➛

DONO

VAN

SUEY RDM

AIN

STRE

ET

PHILBRICK

FOXE

N

CANY

ON

RD

SANT

A M

ARIA

MES

A RO

AD

BROADWAY

Sant

a

Mar

ia

River

SANT

A M

ARIA

PINE

SCA

MPG

ROUN

DSt

art

��101

PREI

SKER

LN

Sant

a Mar

ia de

tail

© 1

997

Bill

Oetin

ger


600058005600540052005000480046004400420040003800360034003200300028002600240022002000

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

The Condor Country TourDay 2A: New Cuyama to Reyes Creek73 miles, 5500' up, 4300' down

R on Hwy 166 (leave New Cuyama) ........................... 0.0R on Cerro Noreste .................................................. 13.5S on Mil Potrero Road ............................................. 35.2Apache Saddle summit (5700’).Town of Pine Mountain (5000’) ............................... 37.8S on Cuddy Valley Road .......................................... 43.5Road name changes at Mt Pinos junction.R on Lockwood Valley Road .................................... 48.7Town of Lake of the Woods (5150’).Owl’s Barn summit (5525’) ...................................... 51.9Lockwood summit (5516’) ...................................... 60.4Wagon Wheel summit (5140’) ................................. 66.2L on Camp Scheideck driveway ............................... 71.4Camp Scheideck/Reyes Creek camp ........................ 73.3


The

Con

dor

Cou

ntry

Tou

r

Day

2: N

ew C

uyam

a to

Cam

p Sc

heid

eck

73 m

iles,

5500

' up,

430

0' d

own

Shor

tcut

: 35

mile

s, 15

00'

�

Star

t

CAM

P SC

HEID

ECK/

REYE

S CR

EEK

�

River

▲

▲

●

LAKE

OF

THE

WOO

DS51

50'

CM

R

ROAD

Creek

➛

Toda

y’s ro

ute

Optio

nal r

outes

Othe

r roa

ds

Bigg

er to

wns

Small

er to

wns

Cafe

Mar

ket

Restr

oom

s

Hosp

ital

Poin

t of i

nter

est

Cam

psite

● C M

R ✚

�

�

�

▲ ▲

▲

▲▲

▲

▲

▲

▲

●

●

●

33

��

��

166

Lock

wood

Sum

mit

5516

'Owl’s

Bar

nSu

mm

it55

25'

Eagl

e Res

tPe

ak59

55'

Brus

h M

tn70

00'

Antim

ony P

k68

48'

▲Sa

n E

mig

dio

Mtn

7495

'

Cerro

Nor

oeste

(Mt A

bel)

8286

'Sa

wmill

Mtn

8800

'

Mt P

inos

8831

'

Tecu

ya M

tn71

55'

Lock

wood

Pk

6273

'Sa

n Gu

iller

mo

Mtn

6569

'

Liza

rd H

ead

5381

'

Cuya

ma P

eak

5875

'

CUDD

Y VALL

EY

SAN

AND

REAS

F

AULT

LOCK

WOO

D

VALL

EY

BLUE

R

IDGE

Apac

he S

addl

e57

00'

Bitte

r

Cree

k

Natio

nal

Wild

life

Refu

ge

�

Fini

sh

CUYA

MA

VALL

EYHS

NEW

CUY

AMA

2150

' C

MR

CU

YAM

A

VALL

EY

PINE

MTN

48

00'

CM

R

VENT

UCOP

A29

99'

CERR

O

NOROESTE

MIL

POTR

ERO

ROAD

CUDD

YVA

LLEY

RD

LOCK

WOO

DVA

LLEY

ROAD

Bitter

Bal

linge

rC

anyo

n

Can

yon

Qua

tal

Apach

e

Can

yon

Can

yon

Dry

Wag

onR

oad

Can

yon

Lockwood

Creek

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

➛

SHOR

TCU

T

LOS

PAD

RE

S

NA

TIO

NA

L

FOR

EST

Cuyama

REYE

SST

ATIO

N29

68'

●

Wag

on W

heel

Sum

mit

5140

'

© 1

997

Bill

Oetin

ger

Documents

THE CONDOR COUNTRY - WordPress.com · THE CONDOR COUNTRY TOUR Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties Six to seven days, 350-500 miles THE CONDOR COUNTRY TOUR. THE CONDOR