Ride Bike! Bear Creek Road

New! Topographic map of this route!

For all routes

Take BART to the Orinda station. From the Orinda BART station, take Moraga Way southbound (you have to loop around the station a bit, follow the signs), then get over to the left to turn left at the first light, into downtown Orinda. Take your first left on Moraga way, past the Orinda movie house, then turn right on Bryant Way, right on Davis Road, and onto the sidewalk just before Bates Blvd. These convolutions come to us courtesy of self-styled "bike activitists" lobbying for government funding with no real thought as to what the needs of cyclists are. We're trying to hook up with the St. Stephen's bike path, no relation to the Grateful Dead song of the same name.

The St. Stephen's bike path is uninspiring but useful; it parallels Highway 24 between Orinda and St. Stephen's Road, which turns out to be the most direct and least hilly way between Orinda and Lafayette. The path is separated from the highway, and doesn't get much foot traffic, so it's reasonably pleasant. It climbs gradually for most of its length, before ending at St. Stephen's Road after about 5km. Turn left on St. Stephen's, and then right on El Nido Ranch Road after crossing over the freeway. (The first right after the overpass is a freeway entrance; El Nido Ranch Road is a little further around the bend).

El Nido Ranch Road is a wide residential road with little traffic. It descends gradually to the Lafayette city limits, and then there's a fast downhill curve leading up to a terribly-placed stop sign just before the freeway entrance. Blow through the sign, and then prepare to turn left on Upper Happy Valley Road, the next stop sign.

Upper Happy Valley Road is wooded and residential and has little traffic. It climbs gently for a while and then has a short, steeper section (but it's not too bad). After 2 km it ends at Happy Valley Road.

Turn right on Happy Valley Road. Happy Valley Road is also wooded and residential, but is wider and has slightly more traffic. It has a reasonably nice descent, but the pavement isn't that great. It descends all the way to the BART station, about 3km down the road. Turn left on Deer Hill Road just before the BART parking lot. (Or bail out at BART).

Turn left on Deer Hill Road. Deer Hill is a wide road with moderate traffic. It has a couple of short climbs and short descents, then a short, steep climb and a short, steep descent to a stop light at Pleasant Hill Road after 3km.

For easy route

Go straight across Pleasant Hill. The road changes names to Stanley Boulevard; it gradually climbs through a residential area with little traffic, then gradually descends to Mount Diablo Boulevard. Turn left on Mount Diablo (the intersection is tricky; you have to turn left twice, basically), go under the freeway and turn left on Oakland. Oakland is a low-traffic commercial street that will take you all the way to the Walnut Creek BART station after about 1km. Total riding is 17km.

For intermediate/advanced routes

Turn left on Pleasant Hill and take it about 2km to Reliez Valley Road; turn left again. Reliez Valley Road is a quiet, mostly wooded road lined with ranch houses and farms. This is where the fun starts. The road climbs slightly from the start, and in earnest after about 2 km. The significant part of the climb is short but rather steep; don't attack it, because you've got a lot more to do still.

The descent is pretty fun; the pavement is OK but not great, especially watch out for poorly placed manhole covers. After the descent, the road is mostly flat and rural until it ends at Alhambra Valley Road after about 8 km.

Alhambra Valley Road turns 90 degrees at the intersection with Reliez Valley Road; we go basically straight. Alhambra Valley Road is a rural road with practically no traffic. Don't push too hard on this road; it starts with rolling hills but the trend is gradually uphill, and there's finally a fairly sizable climb after about 3 km. This road is a lot of fun but it will kill you if you let it; save your energy for later, there's more climbing to do. After the climb there's a fun, long descent (Pig Farm Hill), ending at Bear Creek Road after about 3 km more.

Turn left on Bear Creek Road. Bear Creek is one of my favorite roads; wide and pretty with steady climbs and lively descents. It has two significant climbs, Mama Bear and Papa Bear. Both are straight and even at about 7%; get in a low gear and grind up them. They are also unshaded, so be wary of overheating, and pull over and take a drink if you get hot. Mama Bear starts after 2 km and lasts about 1km. There's some rolling on the top and then a nice fast descent to the bottom of Papa Bear, 4 km later. Papa Bear lasts just over 1 km, then there's an awesome 3-km-long fast descent--the only thing to watch out for is the gravel on the shoulders. The road flattens out, then has a short climb (Baby Bear, who by this point is often not "just right") to Camino Pablo.

Turn left on Camino Pablo. Camino Pablo is mostly flat and straight into Orinda.

For intermediate route

Continue on Camino Pablo to BART, which will be on your right after 3 km. Total riding is about 65 km.

For advanced route

After about 2km on Camino Pablo, turn right on El Tonoyal.

El Tonoyal is a pretty rough climb, about as steep and long as the hard part of Centennial. But then the hard part starts. You can continue on El Tonoyal and go over a partially washed-out bridge and hook up with Wildcat Canyon, but we're turning left and going up Lomas Cantadas, which is the hardest climb to Grizzly Peak from the east. It has about three switchbacks where you're already working pretty hard, and you see the hill getting steeper into the switchback, but then instead of easing off it actually gets steeper on the next straightaway. The straight climb towards the stables is the hardest part; once you make the right turn past the stables towards the llama pen, you have pretty much made it.

After the top of the hill, the road flattens and descends a little to Grizzly Peak by the steam trains. A right turn will take you to Centennial/Euclid/Spruce; a left to Claremont/Tunnel. Take your preferred route home. Total riding is about 75km.

Last updated 08/11/08