Gazos Creek Road

Bill Bushnell — February 22, 1992

I had gone on a 44-mile ride on Saturday with another friend of mine, so I didn’t know if I’d feel up to doing this long ride the next day. Also, I decided to ride up to Saratoga Gap first and then decide whether or not to attempt the whole loop. A few things I noticed on the ride:

· Once I got past Saratoga Gap, I saw very few other bicyclists. I saw one bicyclist just before I reached Big Basin, and along Gazos Creek Rd. I passed several mountain bikers during the first mile. After that I was on my own for the next 10 miles or so until near the bottom of Gazos Creek Rd. where I passed two mountain bikers struggling up the hill.

· At the top of Haskins Hill two Sheriff’s cars passed me with sirens blaring. I soon found out why. There was an accident about half way down, at the large-radius 180-deg. turn next to the Sam McDonald Park, a section of road over which I usually attain my highest speed. Fortunately, someone had put out flares so that I wouldn’t add to the mess.

· The trip home was such a contrast to the quiet and tranquillity of Gazos Creek Rd. I had to contend with everything from obnoxiously loud motorcycles pounding out my eardrums to juveniles shouting at me from closely passing cars. It’s too bad that one has to fight the auto traffic for more than half the ride before one can enjoy the quiet roads.

· The weather was perfect. Temperatures were in the upper-60’s to lower-70’s F with only a slight northeast breeze.

Gazos Creek Rd. in detail:

The first 3 miles or so is inside Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The park service has put gravel and large-guage broken rock (1-2” dia) on the road to keep it from turning into a bog. I imagine this would be trickier on thin tires as one rides across sometimes sharp rocks, increasing the likelihood of pinch flats. Fortunately, during most of this section there is a fairly generous shoulder covered with redwood mulch on which riding is much smoother and faster.

Once past the far gate at the western end of Big Basin SP, the rock disappears. The road surface is now dirt and some sand/gravel. When I was there, the ground was still wet but firm. There were some places where small trees and branches had fallen on the road, but these did not prove to be major obstacles. The road continues like this until Sandy Point, 6.4 miles from Big Basin.

The topo map reads, “Sandy Point Guard Station”, but there doesn’t appear to be anything standing now. All I saw were what looked like the foundations of some buildings. Someone had set up some makeshift benches; there was even an old upholstered sofa sitting up under the trees! What was this station for? Was this another WWII military emplacement in anticipation of a Japanese invasion from the sea or a training camp for the National Guard? Sandy Point seems to be a junction for some other roads in the area. In particular, Johansen road travels steeply up the ridge-line to the east, and the road to Chalk Mountain heads south, the latter stating that there is no through bicycle route. Something to remember: Two thin chains stretch across Johansen Rd. at the bottom of a steep hill before it reaches the junction with Gazos Creek Rd.

From Sandy Point, Gazos Creek Rd. descends steeply down to Gazos Creek. This is the most technical part of the road, requiring careful negotiation around and over crevasses in the road while descending out of the saddle. This is also the most beautiful section as the road descends down a steep, narrow canyon with Gazos Creek cascading right next to the road. This section is about 2 miles long.

When I was younger, my parents sent me to a summer camp, Chuck Taylor’s Mountain Camp, which used to be at the bottom of the steep descent. I guess Chuck Taylor sold it, because it seems there is a Chinese camp of some sort there now, Villa Cathay. One of the camp activities was a “backpacking” trip where we hiked a ways up the mountain to a clearing about a mile or so up from the main camp. It’s changed now, much more overgrown, but it brought back memories.

The next three miles past Villa Cathay are mostly level. The biggest inconvenience here is the occasional mud bog or two, but these were passable last weekend, and I suspect they will become more passable as things dry out. There was one section along here where I could see and hear rock falling from a cliff right next to the road. It startled me for a moment until I realized that it had probably been doing this since the rains.

At Cloverdale Rd. Gazos Creek Rd. becomes paved. [Since I rode this in 1992 Gazos Creek Rd. has now been paved from CA-1 to what used to be Villa Cathay, now a recent addition to lands held by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, just before the steep part along the creek.]

Ride stats:

distance: 81.5 miles

climbing: 6520 feet

total time: 8:10

riding time: 6:41

average speed: 12.2 mph

maximum speed: 35.5 mph

©2004, Bill Bushnell

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