Dardanelle is a bend in the Stanislaus River and a name on the map, and it is the last place of any size before Highway 108 starts to climb in earnest. The name comes from the Dardanelles, a long line of dark volcanic cliffs on the ridge above, which early travellers thought resembled the straits of the same name in Turkey. The cliffs are the remains of mudflows from ancient volcanoes, and they give the upper canyon a rugged, castellated look that you notice as soon as the trees open up.
At about 1,700 metres, this is a mountain community of cabins, a small resort and campgrounds by the river, in a forest of pine and fir with cold, clean water running through it. The air smells of resin and wet stone. For riders it is a natural pause on the way up, a place to adjust layers, since the temperature drops steadily as you climb, and to look at what you are about to do. Highway 108 beyond here is a proper mountain road, with narrower lanes, steeper grades and tight switchbacks, culminating in Sonora Pass at nearly 3,000 metres.
The road along the Stanislaus is lovely. It follows the river upstream from Strawberry in a series of rolling curves, with the water close at hand and big granite outcrops above, and the traffic is generally thin outside holiday weekends. Spring snowmelt makes the river loud, and in autumn the aspens colour the roadside. The road is closed by snow in winter, usually from about November until May or June, so check the conditions before you set out. Summer thunderstorms are common in the afternoon.
The region was Miwok country long before gold diggers arrived in the 1840s, and later the mountain roads were pushed over the Sierra by miners and ranchers heading east to the Nevada silver towns. The route over Sonora Pass was a wagon road in the 1860s, and it has never really lost its rough edges.
Dardanelle has a small store and seasonal services, but they are limited, and you should not assume there is fuel. Sonora, the big town on the foothills side, and Twain Harte have petrol stations, and Pinecrest is another stop nearby. Fill up before you start the climb, carry water and warm clothes, and check your brakes. On the east side, Bridgeport is the next fuel, some eighty kilometres away by road, which is a long gap if you are running low.