Dual-Sport Riding in Big Sur
July 12, 2010 by Clement Salvadori - Contributor, Rider Magazine
It is curious how dual-sport riders are willing to ride for an hour or two on good pavement just to get to a couple dozen miles of bad dirt road. A couple of friends had never had the dubious pleasure of riding up the old South Coast Ridge Road–a rare opportunity for dual-sport riding in Big Sur, so Kurt and I decided we would take them up one summer morning. As Mark Twain once observed, “The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco.” And Big Sur has the same foggy climate.
Counting heads at Gorda; last chance for gas.
We met up in Cambria, at the south end of Big Sur, with two Suzuki DR650s, a Kawasaki KLR650 and a BMW R100GS…average age of the four bikes was over 15 years. Which is quite suitable, as no one sensible wants to bang up something new and shiny. It was overcast, the fog about 1,000 feet above our heads. And downright chilly, in the 50s.
We rode 40 miles north to the gas station/restaurant/motel complex at Gorda, then another mile to the turn-off for Los Burros Road and 23 miles of dirt, mostly in pretty acceptable shape. This was built long ago to haul supplies from where ships would off-load them at Cape San Martin to the mining town of Manchester. That town was the center of the Big Sur gold rush back in the 1880s, played out by 1900, the remnants destroyed in a forest fire in the 1970s. After a couple of steep miles we got into the fog, and after another two miles had risen above it. We passed the turn-off for Alder Creek campground, a steep downhill road going to the few remains of the old Manchester.
Coming out of the fog on Los Burros Road at about 2,000 feet.
A couple more miles and Los Burros Road turned into South Coast Ridge Road, built to supply the miners from the Salinas Valley – it would have been a long haul in an ox-powered wagon. The ridge road twists up and down and around, a delight to ride. We arrived at the turn to Prewitt Ridge, where the Los Padres forest service has a campground – no facilities, but at 3,300 feet right above the Pacific Ocean it is a wonderful place to spend the night. Though all we could see that morning was fog.
Another five miles along the ridge road, and we were on the pavement of the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, which connects the coast with the Salinas Valley. This road goes through Fort Hunter Liggett, a 165,000-acre US Army training site, and then comes out on County Road G14, which led us to Lockwood township and the Lockwood Diner. The temperature was now in the 80s, and the lunch and iced tea was well-appreciated.
 Where Los Burros Road ends, butting into South Coast Ridge Road. |
 Standing atop Prewitt Ridge at 3,300 feet. |
 Fording the Nacimiento River in Fort Hunter Liggett. |
 The Lockwood Diner, at the intersection of Monterey County roads G14 and G18. |
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[...] so I thought those of you who have done the fergusen-nacimiento ride might like seeing it again… Dual-Sport Riding in Big Sur _____________________________________________________Reg71 – Central Coast, CA98 VFR 800 – 5G [...]
Always a good ride! We just took the ride to the Deer Lodge from highway 33 (starting from Atascadero, riding through New Cuyama then up and over.) Lovely ride. I hope to meet you soon…would love to have you mentor /advise me on an upcoming project, Denny and Bev have said many good things about you and I have enjoyed your writing.
Molly Kight
The starting point of the dirt road portion of this trip in just north of the Gorda Springs Resort, which is niether in Gorda (famous for being the most expensive gas station in the USA) nor Gorda Springs. A Google Maps search for Los Burros Road a better way to find this turn off than looking for Gorda. Thanks for a great ride idea Clem. I’ve ridden the Big Sur many times but never strayed from Hiway 1. Next time i’ll take the back road.