Bikes on Coastal Rd

[steep rider]

Why limit the thread to bicycling on the coastal rd. That topic was definitively closed long ago. The north coast ridge road is closed to bicycles by an agreement between the forest service and the local land owners.
From this forum I have learned that the determination of which trails are open to bicycles is determined by where bicycles are not disallowed. The known rules are:
-bicycles restricted from wilderness areas.
-bicycles restricted from state parks trails unless specifically allowed (such as in portions of Molera state park)
-bicycles restricted based on specific local agreement.

The map here, http://www.ventanawild.org/trails/venta ... r-map.html , seems to indicate that the trails which intersect the "coastal rd" and are open to bicycling are the timber-top trail, and the DeAngulo trail. South are the prewitt loop and mill creek trails which are near the other "coastal rd".

[Guest]

Dear Porcupine.
I thought this forum thread was about bikes on the coast ridge rd (see forum title), which is a different topic than public hiking access. As for a point? i don't think there is one in particular. All those trails are open to the public including timbertop/boronda...for HIKING that is. I am hoping to have an enjoyable conversation here about BICYCLES and the various land use issues that surround their use in the Santa Lucia's. Would love to hear your thoughts. Peace.

[Porcupine]

Dear OutHigh,

You don't seem to get the point here. Timber Top/ Boronda trail IS open to the public. If it wasn't the know-it-alls (and they really do know it all, they are VERY knowledgable about ventana wilderness on this site) would post that on this forum proto!

Dear forum readers PLEASE correct me if I am wrong.

[outhigh]

Yeah, I kinda agree with your point about spots you can drive to versus areas you have to experience under your own steam. Its funny that my posts sound so anti bike. I've been a mtn biker for many years and think its really fun, healthy, and if done with respect, fairly low impact. My overall feeling is if a person is willing to put in the effort, be mindful about where they're going and when, and strive to leave no trace why shouldn't they have the right to enjoy a mountain on a bike? BUT, there are issues with bikes that are different than considerations of foot traffic. On a given day you might only have one or two intrepid souls willing to hike to, say, timbertop but open access to bikes COULD mean lots of riders up there everyday. The area is so beautiful that it would quickly become a destination and well, I suppose i'm being a hypocrite, but I hope it doesn't.

[steep rider]

I agree with your assessment that there are problems related to "MASSES", but these problem seem to be limited to drivable locations, and hot-springs. I have not witnessed problems related to masses other than those those two locations. For example, I don't recall any problems in Molera state park where bikes are allowed (you can ride your tricycle up to the high point of the park). The reason is it a very difficult ride. Similarly, if the coast road was open to bikers there would be no problems. It is unfortunate that the road is not open. It would also be nice to ride my bike to the beach by point sur. There must be some smidgen of the beach which is part of the lighthouse/public property. If I could ride my bike down there then I would be able to enjoy that smidgen of beach.

[Guest]

That old "no bikes" sign on the first gate above ventana has been on, then off, then on again for years. The dispute over access has been about the same too. The same arguments swing back and forth. As always, the problem is never really about a few bikes here and there, or the impact of an occasional rider. It's wether or not an area can accommodate the MASSES OF HUMANITY! Big Sur locals, including the folks up Coast Ridge have a point. It's a privilaged one for sure but, in its own way keeps the place from being overrun. Public land should be public land but look around. I don't support elitism but this kind of debate gets heightened in places like Big Sur because the entire world wants to see it. Don't get me wrong i'm not "anti-access" at all but this stuff has to be put in larger context.

[mikesplain]

Actually, the Wilderness boundary is near Anderson Peak (probably about ~15 miles south of Ventana Inn),
much farther along than the Terrace Creek Trailhead.
I don't ever recall not seeing "no bike" signage at the Ventana Inn parking lot.
In any case, Bike prohibition on North Coast Ridge Road has nothing to do with Wilderness,
but is, as K Vandevere stated below "the result of an agreement between private land owners and the Forest Service."
However, the road is open to hiking and is an excellent walk with stellar views of the coast and Ventana.

[steep rider]

Until a few years ago the bottom of the North coast ridge road was not marked as off-limits to bikers. The first sign "no bikes" was encountered at the 2nd gate, about 1 mile up past the 1st gate. This is likely because the bottom portion of the road is not within the wilderness area. Dispite he "no bikers" sign at the 2nd gate, the road does not enter the wilderness until 4 miles past the 1st gate, 3 miles past the 2nd gate. I recommend riding your bike up to the top of the terrace creek trail, that is where the road enters the wilderness then when you get yelled at by some local know-it-alls tell them you are within your rights and you don't have to take this kind of abuse from them.

free the poeple

[steep rider]

that timber top route is not "out of limits", it is within limits (though I have not tried it). Until a few years ago, the mountain side of Garrapata park was open to mtn bikes, but that has changed. My guess is that the DeAngulo trail is also open to public biking.

knock yourself out!

[outhigh]

If you mean from the pullout south of the coast gallery up separation/boronda ridge to timbertop, yes its a fantastic route straight up (25-30% grade in some spots) to the coast ridge. However, I believe it's off limits to bikes as well. Big Sur has lots of amazing country that could be great for riding but the same issues mentioned earlier in these posts and others apply to the whole region. Part of the problem is also simply that the terrain is challenging even for hikers. If you allowed bikes in these areas people would get hurt, straight up, and lots of folks simply won't take responsibility for their own actions. Search and Rescue can't be accountable for every instance when someone gets in over their head and bikes would be a' crashin', guaranteed. Maybe if we had socialized medicine and a culture that wasn't so quick to litigate......