Why this ride
A one-way ride of 436 km, Kentfield to Pacifica - roughly 7 h 36 in the saddle. On the way it passes Stinson Beach, Point Reyes Station, Tomales Bay and Mount Tamalpais.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
California · Mount Tam and Point Reyes + Sonoma Coast and Russian River
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 436 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 36
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Pacific Coast Highway
For 38 km this is Pacific Coast Highway, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
- Named road
- Pacific Coast Highway
Highway 101
58 km on Highway 101.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 58 km
- Named road
- Highway 101
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Mount Tamalpais
Mount Tamalpais is the hill every San Francisco rider eventually points a front wheel at. It stands just across the Golden Gate in Marin County, with the east peak at roughly 780 metres, which sounds modest until you remember that it rises almost straight out of the bay, so the whole thing reads as a proper mountain. The Miwok people saw a sleeping woman in its outline, and from certain angles in the city she still lies there, flat on her back against the sky. Kentfield, Mill Valley and Larkspur lie at its foot, and any of them will sell you petrol and coffee before you climb.
Read the complete Mount Tamalpais write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Tamalpais is where the day begins. Next is Stinson Beach.
2. Stinson Beach
Stinson Beach is where the Pacific finally gets its way with Marin. After the long curves of Highway 1 down from the ridge, the road drops to sea level and a pale crescent of sand runs out for about three miles, with a spit of dunes at one end and the steep green slope of the mountain at the other. The village behind it is tiny, a scatter of beach houses, a few cafes, a grocery and a bookshop, and it feels both sleepy and expensive, as seaside places near big cities often do.
Read the complete Stinson Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stinson Beach comes up about 11 km into the recorded legs. Next is Point Reyes Station.
3. Point Reyes Station
Point Reyes Station is a single street of low wooden buildings in a green valley north of San Francisco, and it has more good food per metre than most cities. It sits on the Pacific side of Marin County, at the southern end of Tomales Bay, beside Highway 1, with dairy farms and cattle ranches stretching away toward the hills. The town has a bakery that draws queues on weekend mornings, a famous creamery that makes cheese from local milk, an old-fashioned feed store and a bookshop, and the pace is slow and friendly.
Read the complete Point Reyes Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Tomales Bay.
4. Tomales Bay
Tomales Bay is a long, thin finger of water that points north-west from Point Reyes, and it lies exactly on the San Andreas Fault. The Pacific plate on the western side is moving north, slowly, against the North American plate on the east, and the straight, narrow shape of the bay is the scar left by the rift. In 1906, the fault slipped here with such violence that fences and roads were displaced by several metres, and you can still see where in places near Point Reyes Station.
Read the complete Tomales Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tomales Bay, early in the day. Next is Back to Mount Tamalpais.
5. Back to Mount Tamalpais
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Tamalpais write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Mount Tamalpais. That is the ride. Next is Sonoma Coast and Russian River.
6. Fuel stop in Pacifica
For decades the most nervous stretch of Highway 1 south of San Francisco was Devil's Slide, a ledge carved into crumbling cliffs above the Pacific between Pacifica and Montara, which slid into the ocean so often that the road was closed for months at a time. In 2013 twin tunnels finally bypassed it, and the old road became a walking and cycling trail where you can stand on the cliff edge and see what the engineers were up against. Pacifica sits at the northern end of that story, a string of beach neighbourhoods tucked into coves and valleys between the coastal hills and the surf.
Read the complete Near Pacifica write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sonoma Coast and Russian River is the fuel stop for this leg. Next is Sonoma Coast and Russian River high point.
7. Montara
For years, the stretch of Highway 1 just north of Montara was the road everyone worried about. Devil's Slide, a crumbling headland of rock above the Pacific, kept sliding into the sea and closing the highway, sometimes for months. Since 2013 the traffic has passed through a pair of tunnels bored through San Pedro Mountain, and the old road along the cliff has become a walking and cycling trail with some of the wildest views on the San Mateo coast. If you have twenty minutes, walk a piece of it.
Read the complete Montara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 169 km into the recorded legs you reach Sonoma Coast and Russian River high point. Next is Sonoma Coast and Russian River checkpoint 8.
8. Near Daly City
South of San Francisco's city limits, the land runs out abruptly. Daly City's houses, the ones with the colourful matching boxes that inspired the song Little Boxes, cover the hills right up to the edge of high, crumbling sea cliffs, and below them the Pacific pounds a long empty beach.
Read the complete Near Daly City write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Sonoma Coast and Russian River checkpoint 8. That is the ride. Next is Scenic stretch near Kentfield.
9. Scenic stretch near Kentfield
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Kentfield sits at 319 km, about halfway. Next is Photo stop near Lucas Valley-Marinwood.
10. Photo stop near Lucas Valley-Marinwood
Planning note
Photo stop near Lucas Valley-Marinwood comes up about 269 km into the recorded legs. Next is San Francisco Bay Area return.
11. Near San Ramon, on the way back
Mount Diablo dominates everything here. The mountain rises alone to 1,173 metres above the eastern side of San Francisco Bay, its brown summer slopes dotted with dark oaks, and on a clear winter day, after rain, the view from the top is said to be one of the widest in the world, reaching the Sierra Nevada to the east and the Golden Gate to the west. San Ramon, Danville and the gated enclave of Blackhawk spread along its western foot, a valley of tidy suburbs, office parks and golf courses.
Read the complete Near San Ramon, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 355 km into the recorded legs you reach San Francisco Bay Area return. Next is Food stop near Fairview.
12. Food stop near Fairview
The hills behind Hayward rise steeply from the flat bay plain, and Fairview sits right on top of them, a semi-rural community of ranches, winding lanes and houses with long views across San Francisco Bay. On a clear day, you can see the bridges, the city skyline and the Peninsula hills beyond. It is a peaceful spot above one of the busiest urban areas in the country.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Fairview write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Somewhere to get off the bike, about 376 km into the recorded legs. Next is Back to Sonoma Coast.
13. Back to Sonoma Coast
Pacifica is the last proper coastal town before San Francisco, a long strip of fog, surf and low houses squeezed between the Pacific and the steep ridge of the Coast Range. It is a place that feels slightly overlooked, which is part of its appeal. The beach at Linda Mar is one of the Bay Area's best-known surf spots, and on a gray winter morning you can watch wetsuited figures bobbing in the breaks while commuters stream by on Highway 1.
Read the complete Sonoma Coast write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Sonoma Coast closes the day.
Leg by leg
Mount Tamalpais to Stinson Beach
Mount Tamalpais → Stinson Beach is 11 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stinson Beach to Point Reyes Station
Stinson Beach → Point Reyes Station is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Point Reyes Station to Tomales Bay
Point Reyes Station → Tomales Bay is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tomales Bay to Back to Mount Tamalpais
Tomales Bay → Back to Mount Tamalpais is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Mount Tamalpais to Fuel stop in Pacifica
Back to Mount Tamalpais → Fuel stop in Pacifica is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop in Pacifica to Montara
Fuel stop in Pacifica → Montara is 9 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Kentfield to Photo stop near Lucas Valley-Marinwood
Scenic stretch near Kentfield → Photo stop near Lucas Valley-Marinwood is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Lucas Valley-Marinwood to Near San Ramon, on the way back
Photo stop near Lucas Valley-Marinwood → Near San Ramon, on the way back is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Fairview to Back to Sonoma Coast
Food stop near Fairview → Back to Sonoma Coast is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.