Heading to the Central Coast for a fam vacation. Any recommendations for low-traffic routes?
Well, they do Scott Tinley’s Adventures there, at Lake Lopez, so there has to be some good routes around there. Check out the website for more possible information. I know there is a HIM as part of that, so maybe their course map could help.
thanks! seems huasna rd is a good route.
If you want something that isn’t quite low traffic, but has low traffic sections do this: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ca/arroyo%20grande/983125062528470532. Carpenter Canyon Rd is pretty low traffic and then once off the 101 in Santa Margarita it’s almost desolate.
If nothing else, start in AG and ride N on Carpenter Canyon Rd. There is a nice climb on this road; not super difficult but just hard enough that you can go at a good strong pace and feel the hurt.
The ride into huasna is really nice, although I’ve only done it once. We stopped at the top of the climb, too so we didn’t make it all the way to huasna. that climb is pretty tough, but it’s fun.
thank you very much for your Carpenter Canyon Rd suggestion. i will probably incorporate that route in our schedule since we’ll be there for a number of days.
Also, the south end of Carpenter Canyon meets up with Corbett Canyon which then runs parallel to Carpenter Canyon and meets up with it again. You can get a good loop out of those two roads as part of a ride.
Orcutt road off of Lopez Drive runs to SLO, and has some nice rollers. You also can reach it off of Tiffany Ranch road off of Corbett Canyon, as well, so can incorporate it into the loop described above.
If you take Lopez Drive out just about to the entrance of the lake and then make a right on Hi Mountain, thats a nice low traffic ride. It goes out about 7 miles and ends with a nice little climb that pitches up to 17% at the turnaround point (turns to gravel after that).
Huasna Road out to the Huasna townsite is ok…but be alert for horse trailers on the windy parts.
I wouldn’t consider Carpenter Canyon low traffic (it’s also known as HWY 227). There is a landfill off of it, and you get a fair amount of trucks/trailers with crap flying off the back. Plus its a shortcut to SLO for people who don’t want to take the freeway. I think Corbett Canyon is quieter, traffic-wise.
Orcutt road is pretty quiet, as well.
excellent. Corbett Canyon rd is merely 2 mi from where we’ll be staying. much appreciated!