Resources and Reflections » Potter Valley

Potter Valley to Hearst-Willits Rd.

Cyclo-monger — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:51:22 +0000

Since it would seem that any route north out Redwood Valley, other than Tomki Rd., is currently unavailable behind locked gates, upon the advice of locals, I’ve mapped the route below. Starting at Hoppers Corner in Potter Valley, I’ll be heading due north to the Eel River and the road of the same name that leads through some very interesting looking country and eventually to Hearst-Willits Road and, perhaps some refreshment at Shanachie. The return to Redwood Valley via 101 should clock in at nearly 50 miles. I’m out the door by 4, camera in hand and the route uploaded to the GPS. Temp is about 85 and sunny with a stiff breeze from the west; perfect. The hammock, night clothes and sleeping bag are loaded and I may just camp out up on the high point, who knows?

Route as Planned

Potter Valley to Willits back country cruising
I’ll post the route below as ridden. Here’s hoping for no locked gates.

July 24, ,09; Back to Redwood Valley, and more or less recovered. Total distance 59 mi., total ascent 7000′, ride time about 7 hrs. And one hulluva ride too I might add. 2 miles from the start point at Hopper’s Corners,there’s a nice warmup climb coming north out of Potter Valley, gaining 800′ in two miles. The road surface is quite good, with clean, if narrow shoulders, until you cross the Russian River. Taking a left on Eel River Road, the pavement narrows and surface conditions fade to quilted asphalt as you head north by northeast along the east bank of the main fork of the Eel River. 12 miles from the start point you cross the Eel at an elevation of 1400′ and then commence a three mile climb up loose dusty gravel to the summit at an elevation of 2850′. there are two stretches with slopes exceeding 40%. There are also a number of gates between the bridge and the eventual outlet at Hearst-Willits Rd. After talking at length with the folks at Hopper’s Corners in Potter Valley, as well as with all the people I met along the way, the consensus was to leave the gate the way you found it, pass through without leaving the road, and announce your presence as you move. So I did.

Road Narrows (again)

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Music to my eyes

I also caught up with full, dark night (or night caught up with me) just as I reached the summit, and the GPX file shown on the map above (the “Route as Planned”) was absolutely invaluable. The road at that point is no more than 12′ wide, completely overshadowed by trees and it was a moonless night. I was able to flawlessly navigate every twist and turn of steep, winding, rugged Forest Ridge Road as the USGS calls it.

As Ridden;

Potter Valley to Willits back country cursing
There are no photos from the summit on. It was dark, very dense forest and a narrow, dead-fall-littered surface so all my attention was focused on the navigation screen and staying on the “road” surface. The first three miles past the summit were pretty dicey and I would not even have attempted it without the Garmin GPS and my previous experience riding KML generated navigation tracks. In the event, with a well and carefully constructed route, it is possible to go places that would have been dangerous to impossible without the technology. Excellent!

Once I intersected with the Hears-Willits Road I was back on familiar ground, and it was just a matter of slogging the dark, gravelly, occasionally steep 10 miles or so into Willits, where beer awaited. The valley between Little Darby Peak and Tenny Peak after the water crossing on Tomki Creek is quite lovely in a Swiss-Alpine kind of way and is worthy of a photo expedition of its own. I’ll add those photos to this gallery soon, and I’ll be putting up a post discussing the pleasures and perils of night riding.

My next ride through this area will follow the “Ridgewood Highway” along the east bank of the Eel north to Hearst and back to Willits via the Hearst-Willits Rd. At that point I’ll get some photos of a portion of the route covered here, but I’m not planning on taking the Forest Ridge route again any time soon., loose dusty gravel at 40% is a pleasure for rare occasions.

Cave Creek Road to Potter Valley

Cyclo-monger — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:34:50 +0000

This is a 35 mile loop with two significant climbs. The GPX file mapped below was hand made in Google Earth and will be uploaded to the Garmin for navigation purposes,

Cave Creek to Potter Valley
July 09; Planning on riding the route this afternoon, wondering about conditions at Cave Creek Rd.; did I get the route right, are there locked gates (the satellite photos were dicey at the crest)? SHould be an interesting ride. The camera and GPS are charged and ready to go, and the navigation route (shown above) is loaded and ready to go. Sunscreen, water and carbs and I should be out the door by 1:30.
Ok, finally out the door at 4:30.

Black Bart’s Trail – Redux

Cyclo-monger — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:40:05 +0000

The turnaround point on this course is near the top of the so called “Black Bart’s Trail”. There are so many landmarks around here attributed to Bart that you have to take it all with a grain or two of salt. In any case, the ride up the colorfully named Road A provides some excellent vistas of Lake Mendocino, and by the time you get to the top its quite spectacular.

The surface is generally good clean asphalt with very narrow shoulders but traffic is pretty light. Clean asphalt till you reach the gravel part that is. From there on its steep, loose, dusty, dry 1″ gravel and requires a certain amount of finesse to stay upright. I’ve been told the road goes through to Potter Valley but I’ve not yet ridden the part past where the “Private Property” sign is turned perpendicular to the road. Next time tho, and I’ll bring the camera too.

I come back via Road B, where the track (below) veers north after the turn around. Again the road is narrow but winding and lots of fun. Beware of stray livestock and the occasional “surface irregularity”, but enjoy the run. Once back to the bottom lands its back north on East Road to Redwood Valley and a quick stop for hydration and a game of pool at Vic’s Place.
And, to close the evening, the long flat loop up East Road where it joins Tomki and West Roads, then back through the vineyards to the office. Happy Birthday America!

Black Bart Loop

Ok, July 20th and I made it over the top on Black Bart Trail and down into Potter Valley, with camera in tow. Got some pretty good photos including three of a California Green Rattlesnake. The folks of Potter Valley were warm and hospitable and more than happy to pose for the camera.

Totals: Distance; 36.61 mi., Ride time; 3:36:53, Ascent; 2360′

Rd. A – Black Bart-Potter Valley

The gallery below displays the geo-tagged images shown on the map above.

Start of the climb

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Base of Rd. A, grade varies from 5% - 14%, surface is adequate, shoulders are non-existent, traffic is fairly light.