Exploring roads north of Camp Far West

Looking down Long Ravine Road.

Having ridden my new Ritchey Ascent on most of my local training circuits, I decided it was time to do some dirt road exploring with it. I wanted to check out a route which would take me from Camp Far West, off McCourtney Road, eastward to eventually connect to Highway 49 just north of Auburn.

Along McCourtney Road

The ride along McCourtney was uneventful, it was a pleasant morning with little wind. But it was starting to warm up! 

Camp Far West Reservoir

Passing Camp Far West, it looked like the water was quite high. I went up the steep, paved road which goes by the campground entrance and then hit the gravel! The first part of the road was a little chewed up with a fair amount of washboard but the 42mm Gravel Kings handled the rough stuff well. I soon came to the junction of Camp Far West and Long Ravine Roads.

Junction of Camp Far West and Long Ravine Roads

Now I turned east and road down Long Ravine. It was a very good road with just short sections of washboard and practically no traffic!

The start of Long Ravine Road

Along Long Ravine Road.

Long Ravine Road.

Following the main road bearing right I found McCourtney Road again! Apparently a portion which had been cut off by Camp Far West Reservior's construction. (McCourtney actually continues northeast all the way to Grass Valley. That might be an interesting ride for the future!) Continuing  right on McCourtney a short distance brings you to to the junction with White Oak Drive and there is a sign here pointing you to the left, onto White Oak Drive.

If you follow the road which looks the most traveled, you will go in the right direction! Eventually I came to Perimeter Road which I was to follow for quite a while. Eventually, Perimeter Road turns to pavement, although it is still very lightly traveled.

I had to decide where to leave Perimeter Road to get over to Highway 49 without too much meandering! I passed MacDonald Road, which looked like a possibility. Passing that I came to Cabrera Road. This road was shown on my Google map as going through to MacDonald, but it was posted as a private road with no outlet! As I stopped there wondering if I should go back to MacDonald, a fellow drove by and I asked him about the road. Turns out he is something of a cyclist himself! He said to go ahead it actually did go through to MacDonald, and, although it is gated, bikes can get through no problem!

On Cabrera Road, closed to cars, but bikes are OK I guess, but I recommend taking Macdonald road.

Well, while this road gets a little small and feels more like a driveway in some spots, you do get to the gate! As you can see in the above photo a cyclist has no problem getting through. After the gate you follow a narrow drive(and past a small pond) and soon you reach MacDonald Road.

Now on MacDonald Road, looking back at where Cabrerra Rd, (right) joins MacDonald.

Turning around on the point where the previous picture was taken, looking down MacDonald.

All in all, I would recommend just taking MacDonald Road in the future! At the junction with Cabrera, MacDonald Road is dirt with some good climbs. After a mile or so you will come to Garden Bar Road and now the rest of your ride will be on pavement. While stopping at Wolf Road for a snack break I managed to pause my Ride tracking software; not restarting it until I stopped at a Taco Bell in Auburn, so my ride mapping is a little off!

Map of the ride, note that the Mapper was accidentally paused just before getting on Hwy 49!

Overall this was a satisfying ride but the total distance on gravel was a little low, I would guess about 12 to 15 miles was on dirt roads. The Ritchey performed well and was excellent on the dirt. I would recommend this ride during the cooler months of the year since there are few facilities between Camp Far West and Auburn.

No bike photo from this actual ride, but here's the Ritchey it was as pictured but with 2 bottle cages.