roadie2019

Hello,

I am new to the Castro Valley area and I'm looking for some suggestions for road rides. I was looking at Google maps and noticed what looks like a pretty cool loop.

Crow Canyon Rd > Norris Canyon Rd > Bollinger Canyon Rd > Crow Canyon Rd > back to Castro Valley.

Can anyone tell me about these roads and this route:

• Length (miles)
• Traffic
• Climb

Or if you can suggest any other routes that would be appreciated too.

Thanks.

cthenn

This is a better Castro Valley loop (has distance and total climbing in the link):
https://goo.gl/maps/qs2X5VcNBcoK27Wz5

I just quickly made this on Google Maps, so could maybe use some fine tuning, but if you follow the link you can zoom in and see what roads/trails it follows, and make some minor adjustments if you like. (Once you get to Danville Blvd, I would just stay on Danville Blvd/San Ramon Valley Blvd instead of taking the trail, very busy trail with inconsiderate people who take up the whole trail, dogs off leash, high number of road crossings/stops).

I would not ride Crow Canyon Rd north of Norris Canyon, it's windy and narrow. The portion south of Norris is much better, has a decent shoulder with good sight distance for the most part.

roadie2019

Thanks! That route looks cool!

Is the Lafayette/Moraga Regional Trail paved or gravel?

Joe Bikerider

Paved all the way. And regarding riding on these local trails. It’s best to pick a good time to ride them to avoid pedestrian/dog wakers. Sometimes they are great other times not. Mostly though you can bail out onto parallel streets if you are having trouble on a trail.

Lemond1985

It's an embarrassment of riches, having those roads close by. Redwood Rd, Pinehurst, Skyline, the Three Bears, Alhambra Valley Rd., Mt Diablo, etc., etc. I wanna move back to the East Bay SO bad right about now.

cthenn

Also, you are in a great area to link up with any number of rides in and around the East Bay Hills. Check out the Strava Heat Map for this area (in red), there are an absolute ton of really nice roads to ride, good climbs, excellent views, pleasant weather...


There's also a few nice rides going south, down to Sunol then back up over Palomares Rd, although riding in Niles Canyon is honestly scary as heck...

blt

I am not high on that Crow Canyon/Norris Canyon loop. Too much traffic, not enough pleasant. Norris Canyon is good, the rest, not so good IMO.

If you're looking at that type of distance, there is a good lollipop out of Castro Valley, go Redwood to the south end of Pinehurst, go the length of Pinehurst to the north end at Skyline (you have a short climb, a descent, and a climb), then left on Skyline, left to stay on Skyline, left to get back on Redwood, after a couple of miles you pass the south end of Pinehurst and are back on the stick of the lollipop, continue back to Castro Valley. Length depends on where in Castro Valley you start, but roughly 35 miles, and some decent climbing, the toughest being the last mile and a half up Pinehurst to Skyline. Not traffic free, but not bad, either (and Pinehurst is very lightly traveled). Plenty of bike traffic, so drivers shouldn't be shocked that you are around.

As cthenn has pointed out, there are a lot of great rides from Castro Valley. One reason to take Crow Canyon in spite of the traffic is to get over to Diablo from CV. As cthenn also pointed out, while you can go south, Niles Canyon is scary as heck due to it being narrow in too many places with cars driving fast and too many of them like idiots. Palomares is a great ride, but I'd almost always do it as an out and back just to avoid Niles. If you want to go south, perhaps head east over the Dublin Canyon and the south on Foothill in Pleasanton, and then you can go out Calaveras, or take a nice ride up the dead end of Kilkare Rd. Or if you are bold, make a loop with Palomares using Niles Canyon, but it is scary. Going east, there is a decent loop going out Dublin Canyon, cut to the north side of 580 at Rowell Ranch, work your way through Dublin/San Ramon to Tassajara Road, over to Highland, Collier Canyon, Portola to Isabel, Jack London/Stoneridge back to Foothill and over to Dublin Canyon, that is probably just under 50 miles, depending on where you start in CV, all a loop except once you are east of Rowell Ranch. Perhaps not enough non-urban (and I am not a fan of Dublin Canyon except as a utility road), but a nice ride. Plenty of good riding in the hills north/east/south of Livermore, and if you are sick of Dublin Canyon, you can always take BART get out to Pleasanton/Dublin faster.

If you want a shorter ride, Cull Canyon is a decent out and back, a dead end canyon so not a lot of traffic once you are on Cull Canyon, a fairly moderate climb out to the end. If you are really adventurous, during "Open Season" you can take a visit to the nudist club at the end of Cull Canyon, they let you visit up to 3 times before you have to decide if you want to join. It doesn't matter if you're in cycling gear because you aren't going to wear it anyway. I have never been there myself, but 30 years ago I knew a cyclist who was a member.

I once lived in CV, and long after I moved out, for a few years I went on rides with a shop out of CV before it closed, there are a lot of great rides you can get started from there, from short to really long. There are many good places in the Bay Area to be headquartered for cycling, CV is one of them.

mj0

I'd never ride through Crow Canyon. Norris is a little better but I'd recommend crossing through Dublin/Eden Canyon because it has a bike lane all the way.

Once you make it through the canyon, San Ramon, Danville, Pleasanton, and Livermore all have great cycling.

cthenn

Eh, to each their own, but that's a heckuva detour, depending on where you're going. Also, I'll take Crow Canyon/Norris over the intersections near Stoneridge Mall any day, all day. Those are really scary. I actually think Crow Canyon is safer than Redwood, especially when those motorcyclists and tuner car guys treat it like a race course. As road cyclists, it's all a risk, but I wouldn't put Crow Canyon anywhere near the top of dangerous roads. The shoulder is more than adequate IMO (at least from CV to Norris...north of Norris, I'd agree with you, I rarely ride that portion).

Korina

OP, if you want more, check out Ride With GPS.

blt

I agree that Crow Canyon between Castro Valley and Norris Canyon isn't that bad, even north of Norris, Crow Canyon isn't awful. If I'm going from Castro Valley to San Ramon at Crow Canyon or north, I'd rather do that than Dublin Canyon and cut over.

But if you're going to go east on Dublin Canyon and go north from there, then at Rowell Ranch, take Shaefer Ranch Road over to Dublin Blvd., and go north on San Ramon Valley Blvd. or something else. Don't come all the way down Dublin Canyon into Stoneridge and then go over 580. The Foothill/Stoneridge Mall area isn't bad if you are there on a weekend morning, certainly before 10 a.m. is not an issue. But pretty much anytime, going over the Foothill/San Ramon Valley Blvd. overpass across 580 is terrifying, coming down the western part of Dublin Blvd is better than coming down Dublin Canyon if you're heading north. Still, if you're going to end up as far north as Crow Canyon in San Ramon, better to just take Crow Canyon, or Crow Canyon to Norris Canyon and back over, it isn't like it is safer or more pleasant going Dublin Canyon and to the streets of Dublin and San Ramon up to Crow Canyon. If the purpose is a longer ride, OK, if the purpose is a more pleasant, safer ride, it doesn't make sense to me.

When I say I wouldn't do the Crow Canyon/Norris Canyon loop out of Castro Valley, it isn't because it is too dangerous (it surely isn't Niles Canyon), but because I view Crow Canyon mostly like I do Dublin Canyon, it is a utility road, for the purposes of getting from point A to point B, rather than a pleasure ride. I like Norris Canyon for the ride, but that is too small a portion of a Crow Canyon/Norris Canyon loop to make it worthwhile, IMO, especially when there are more pleasant rides out of Castro Valley -- heck, I'd much rather do out and backs on Palomares than a Crow Canyon/Norris Canyon loop. The only time I have kind of done the Crow Canyon/Norris Canyon loop, it was on longer rides where Crow Canyon/Norris Canyon was used get to and from the San Ramon Valley, not for the loop itself. Otherwise, I've only taken Crow Canyon/Norris canyon as part of a larger loop, like Redwood, Pinehurst, Canyon, through Moraga, Lafayette, SW Corner of Walnut Creek, Danville Blvd., Norris/Crow Canyon.

I don't find Redwood to be that scary, although it was at its best when Redwood had its closure and the Canyon bridge was out. No through cars around, and either bicycles could get through the Redwood closure or could ride the dirt trail bypass (and bicycles could get around the Canyon bridge closure if willing to risk get yelled at by a crazy Moraga Country Club resident). Man, there was pretty peaceful riding on Redwood and Pinehurst during that time. With things more normal, the motorcyles and tuner car guys make Redwood more annoying, but I've never felt unsafe (although if I have just gone around a tight curve, I am a little paranoid about getting hit from behind if I hear something coming). And the motorcycles and tuner car guys aren't around as much earlier in the morning. Leave CV at 8 a.m. on a Saturday for the Redwood/Pinehurst/Skyline lollipop, and there won't be much of that traffic, at least not in my experience.

spdntrxi

man... just head towards Palomares turn around at the bottom then head back.. plenty of climbing and a wicked fast descent on the way back.