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    • Oct 14, 2020

POPULAR BIKE DESTINATIONS

Updated: Oct 14, 2020

Valley Springs, Calaveras County


A Popular Rural Cycling Loop in the Motherlode is the Pardee, Comanche and Hogan Tri Dam Loop. This loop is popular with the Sacramento Bike and Hikers Club and is the location of the annual Pardee Party Bike Metric Century.


A favorite Tri Dam bike ride is a 35 mile, 3,000 elevation gain bike ride that starts in the historic former railroad town of Valley Springs and then takes cyclists out to historic Pardee Reservoir. This part of the route features a ride across the Pardee spillway and a historic bridge built in 1920 to provide drinking water to residents in the East Bay Area. 


The ride continues to Stoney Creek Road, a fast downhill section taking cyclists into Historic town of Buena Vista. The route then heads out to Comanche Reservoir and then returns to Valley Springs along Burson Road and Rancho Calaveras. The final climb of this ride is up to Hogan Dam Reservoir and returns to Valley Springs. 


There are several local restaurants for post ride lunch or coffee at Starbucks. The Tri Dam Loop is hardly a secret in the cycling community! The California Amgen Tour held a KOM Stage at Pardee Lookout in May 2018. 


Valley Springs is a perfect start location to ride in the Gold Country.  The Tri Lake thirty-five mile route can be extended with rides to Paloma, Campo Seco, Mokelumne Hill, Jackson, Plymouth, Volcano and Sutter Creek. 

Other Bike Ride Options in Valley Springs?


Electric bike route, Winkle Cove and Lime Creek Out and Back, Ten Miles

3, 6, 9 Mile Routes Hogan Dam Road, plus Hogan Bike Trails

Family No Traffic Road, Coyote Point from Acorn Campground


Bike Events In and Around Valley Springs







West Calaveras County offers an never-ending supply of hill climbing in the Foothills, 

It is a short drive from the Central Valley, Sacramento and Bay Area.From Stockton take CA 26 for 30 miles to Valley Springs. From Highway 49 take Highway 12 or 26 to Valley Springs.


Where to Stay Overnight


Lake Comanche

Lake Comanche offers a rental cottage, three large vacation home rentals, and plenty of tent and RV camping available. Lake Camanche Resort features 550+ tent camping sites spread out over hundreds of acres which are available year-round at both North and South Shores. 

Reserve online or by phone


New Hogan Lake

Camp near Ride & Walk 4 Art start and finish! New Hogan Lake tent and RV sites are well designed to give beautiful views of the lake. There are 207 campsites available for reservation at three campgrounds: Acorn, Oak Knoll & Deer Flat with boat-in camping, plus one group campground that can accommodate up to 50 people, called Coyote Point.


Pardee Lake

Pardee Recreation Area is an exceptional place for a camp out, with over 100 sites for tenters and RV campers. Two separate campgrounds, Oaks and Lake View, allow a camper a large number of sites to choose from, all with a picnic table and fire ring. Ample shade from the oak trees spread through the campgrounds make for plenty of cool sites. Restrooms and shared water spigots available all throughout camping areas and flush toilets, showers and laundry facilities are available closer to the marina of the park.

Reserve online or call800-416-6992for phone reservations.












    • Oct 12, 2020

Cycling Tourism Best Practices

Bicycle Tourism is essentially about using some form of bicycle-riding as a draw to bring people into an area for the purposes of economic development via tourism.

Best Practices for Bicycle Tourism Promo
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    • Oct 11, 2020

A Century ago cyclists could ride from Bay Area to Yosemite

Bicycle Tourism in California 





“More than a century ago, cyclists could follow bike roads from the Bay Area, up to Sacramento, down to Los Angeles, or out to Yosemite, on trails rated "good, fair, poor, or very poor" and "level, rolling, hilly, or mountainous." The California Map for Road Cyclers advises cyclists that if they want to ride down the coast, they'll likely face P. H. conditions (poor and hilly), and if they're headed to the mountains, a F.H. path can quickly turn into a P.M.” The Cyclers Guide Road Book, Author George W. Blum




Bicycle Tourism



Over a century ago Californians could follow roads from the Pacific to the Sierras and find food, drink and accommodations. In 1895 a cyclist could find roads from the Bay Area to Sacramento or to Yosemite Valley. Today,cyclists in the Central Valley, Motherlode, and Sierras can patch together rides to these destinations.


Currently, there are over 1000 cyclists in regional bike clubs who ride in the Central Valley, Motherlode, and Sierras. Local and regional bike clubs include: Foothill Cycling Group, Erma’s Diner Cycling Group, Golden Chain Cyclists, Stockton Bike Club, Horizon Bike Club, M360, the San Joaquin Bike Coalition, Delta Velo Race Team, Central Valley Velo, Stanislaus County Bike Club, Bear Valley Bike Club,  Alta Alpina, and Project HERO San Joaquin. In addition, an estimated 250 individual cyclists or small groups of friends ride and are not a member of a club.


Each year there are ten bike events that bring over 4,000 cyclists to the Central Valley, Motherlode and Sierras: Peddling Paths to Independence, Party Pardee, Mr. Frogs Ride, Ride4Art, Lodi Tour de Vines, Sierra Century, Ebbett's Pass Century, Moms Ride, Golden Hills, Almond Blosom Ride and popular Death Ride. And, finally each year over 1,000 Northern California Nevada Cycling Association Bike racers come to Milton or Cooperopolis to race bikes on Easter Weekend and in August.


It’s clear, the rural roads in the Central Valley, Foothils and Sierras are popular for recreational cycling. What’s unknown is the economic impact of encouraging cycling tourism.


The first week in April the Sacramento Bike and Hikers sponsor the Party Pardee, a one day bike event that occurs in Amador and Calaveras Counties. The ride is popular because of the scenic rolling hills surrounding the Tri Dam Lakes. This event has been held for 26 years and registers over 1,400 cyclists. Prior and after this bike event the 40 miles of roads near Valley Springs Tri Dam are visited by bicycle clubs, groups, and families. There are local businesses that cater to cyclists: Starbucks, Hawg Dogs, Ace Hardware, and Subway. Cyclists stop for a coffee, lunch, or a spare bike part. Local camp grounds near Valley Springs are  Lake Comanche, Pardee and Hogan that cyclists who stay the night before or after their ride.


The California Bicycle Coalition’s Caltrans Sustainable Communities Grant


“Promoting Safe Bicycle Travel Opportunities for Bicycle Tourism,” is a strategic collaboration of transportation agencies from five counties: Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Calaveras, and Alpine. The goal of the project is to improve public safety, increase active transportation, and promote economic development through a comprehensive plan to promote bicycle tourism that emphasizes safety improvements on state and local routes across county lines.


The Cycling Tourism Grant is funded by Cal Trans and the final project plan will identify bike routes for enhancing bicycle tourism, with an eye to improving road conditions for all modes, and for residents’ travel needs as well as those of visitors.



Cal Bike is seeking input from cyclists, business owners, civic leaders, government officals, Bicycle related businesses, and local residents. 


The survey seeks information about supporting cycling tourism and will be used to study the economic value of supporting cycling tourism.


Cal Bike Cycling Tourism Survey


This link allows you to participate in shaping Cycling Tourism in the Central Valley, Foothills and Central Sierras. 


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