2008 Grand Tour of Pashnit California
The variety of California's diverse landscapes is presented on this exciting 4-Day Grand Tour of Pashnit California that circles the central portion of the state highlighting the Santa Cruz Mountains & Redwoods, Hwy 1 Big Sur Pacific Coast Highway, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, Sierra Nevada Mountains, & Gold Rush Sierra Foothills - all connected by wondrous roads that make a perfect 4-Day Holiday Weekend.
This 4-day tour takes place on the 2008 Labor Day Holiday Weekend and also has an optional 3 Day Extension to make this is a 7 Day Tour for those not quite ready to head home!
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This tour is similar to the High Sierra Tour, but focuses on CA Big Sur Coastline and the southern portion of the Sierra Nevada instead.
If booking this tour, consider the 3 Day Extension to make this a 7 Day Tour. The additional 3 days gives you the experience of the much exalted Northern California Ride Paradise visting Mt Lassen, Highway 36 and even more of the Pacific Coast before wrapping up in San Francisco.
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Moments away from our launch lie the Santa Cruz Mountains which Bay Area motorcyclists treat as their personal playground. This is a narrow low mountain range crisscrossed with mountain roads. There's even a grove of fantastic Redwood trees to explore, plus twisty deserted roads in every direction. And ever present, just moments away is the Pacific Ocean.
After checking out Big Basin Redwoods State Park, A few miles south is Santa Cruz and its unique amusement park along the ocean with one of the last wooden roller coasters. This is a surfing town, and you'll notice the influence everywhere you look.
Monterey sits on a wide peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean. Home to world famous Pebble Beach Golf Course, Laguna Seca Raceway, and even the home of actor Clint Eastwood. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is here, and also the original mission Monterey which we explore during the MotoGP Tour in July. There’s more to do here than you’ll have time for.
The Big Sur Coastline has been regarded as one of the most scenic rides in the United States. We’ll stop numerous times to stand in awe at the crashing surf hundreds of feet below and taking in some fine dining overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Along the way, Hearst Castle sits prominently on a distant hill, plus we'll have to check out the seals napping on the beach! We might even take a twisty road or two up into the coastal mountains before heading into San Luis Obispo for an evening BBQ.
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Day 2 is The Greatest Day! We'll ride up Rossi's Driveway, swing by Cholame to check out the James Dean Memorial (The Central Coast 3-Day Tour explores this region in greater detail) and get out of Dodge making across the Central Valley. The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range looms on the horizon growing ever larger until the foothills begin and along with it fantastic deserted motorcycle roads north of Bakersfield.
The California Foothills are a band of hilly terrain between 1000-3000 feet. Think old stage roads cut into the sides of rolling hills. Glue a few of these foothill roads together and you've got a bunch of riders with mile wide grins. |
We started the morning at sealevel, now hours later we'll standing at 7300 feet atop Portuguese Pass on one of California's most unknown roads - Rd 23S16. Much like Forest Rd 1 in on the NorCal 3-Day Tour, this is Ultimate Goat at its best! We're only a 1000 ft below the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain tops. With Lake Isabella and Sherman Pass in the distance- add in the Kern River Valley thousands of feet below us - This Road with no Name has quickly become a Pashnit favorite! |
If you were thinking, how are you going to top the ride atop the Sierra Nevada Range, behold the next entry into The Greatest Day! Giant Sequoias fill our vision along the Trail of a 1000 Giants, or rather our brains attempt to comprend these giant trees, some are 3000 years old.
Many a rider we've been with have never seen anything like this other than in photos. The photo below attempts to give you an idea of what's in store for you- you just have to see it to believe it. |
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Mind if we finish off the day with more curves? What goes up, must go down. It's a spirited ride along the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway, as we descend off the range and to the valley below. Throw in awe-inspiring foothills rides like Balch Park Rd & Yokohl Valley Rd for good measure and you've got a recipe for The Greatest Day!!
Day 3 the Generals Highway lies in waiting, and we’ll ascend over 5000 feet (1500 m) in a few short miles, climbing back into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. |
Morro Rock introduces this amazing place where we'll stand over a mile in the sky at 6725 feet (2017 m) and look down on California's Central Valley at nearly sea level. Here we’ll see several groves of sequoia trees. Just looking at the roots of the toppled sequoia, you might get a glimpse of their size. These amazing trees will leave you struggling to comprehend the sheer size of their mammoth proportions, said to be the largest living things on earth. One massive Sequoia, named General Sherman, is even said to be over 2700 years old.
Some twisty foothill roads await on Day 3 and the group will weave its way out of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and head northward.
We'll ride over to Yosemite National Park where the list of things to do is endless. After crossing off Glacier Point, and the valley itself, we'll explore 9945 ft. (2983 m) Tioga Pass with its alpine meadows and incredible vistas! |
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Experience a stroll below granite spires that tower a soaring 3000 feet (900 m) above your head. Yosemite is talked about the world over, and you'll quickly see why! Climbing up out of the Incomparable Valley, the group will make its way into the heart of the Gold Country to Sonora. While many of the towns we'll pass through will seem like small sleepy hamlets, many of them held as much as 15,000 gold seekers in a single town. When the gold dried up, many of them moved on to the next big strike.
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After lunch at the historic Ahwahnee Hotel, Most of the group will be headed home, but we have something exciting in store for those that choose to continue riding!
For those headed home, we can point you the way of the twistiest route home if you'd like. The rest of the riders that signed up for the 3 Day Extension, keep reading! There's much more in store for you in this Grand Tour!
 See pics from the 2007 ride...
See pics from the 2006 ride...
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| The Best of NorCal - 3 Day Extension |
Due to popular request from out-of-state riders, we've added a 3-Day Extension to this tour if you'd like to continue the ride. The main tour for participants wraps up in Yosemite National Park on Monday, September 1st (Labor Day). So for those that can't get enough, the ride continues. |
Extension riders will leave the Yosemite Valley behind and begin climbing to nearly 10,000 feet up and over Tioga Pass and descending to Mono Lake. |
After a night in Coleville, the ride continues northward up and over Monitor Pass, onto Carson Pass, and towards Lake Tahoe. After taking in Emerald Bay, Hwy 89 out of Truckee leads into some pristine Sierra Nevada Mountain landscape of wide open valleys ringed in pine tree shod hillsides.
Lake Almanor comes into view, and the tour will bed down in Chester to be poised for the next day's ride.
Mt Lassen fills our view, and a visit to this volcanic mountain to see its boiling history of mudpots and steamy mountain sides has the added bonus of twisty curves to the summit. All that, and it's still morning. And did we mention the unencumbered view that stretches off for miles across the Northern Sierra! |
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After our visit to Mt Lassen, there's no better direction to go than Wesward Ho! Highway 36 cuts across the entire state in this region and is regarded as the best motorcycle road in California. No visit to the NorCal Moto Paradise would be complete without a run down Hwy 36 out to the Pacific Ocean. |
Our last day is spent riding back to San Francisco and there are several ways riders can go depending on the amount of time they have. Most will opt for a run down the Pacific Coast on Highway 1 back to San Francisco. It's a relaxed ride. It's a spirited ride. You pick It's your motorcycle dream vacation! |
| This tour covers: |
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 Santa Cruz Mountains & Redwoods
Highway 1 - Big Sur Pacific Coastline
Sequoia National Park |
Kings Canyon National Park
Yosemite National Park & Glacier Point
California Sierra Nevada Foothill Roads |
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