# suggested route to SF from Los Gatos



## light_monkey (Apr 27, 2005)

I'm trying to get to Cliff House in particular. 

LG downtwon -> Route 9 -> Saratoga-Sunnvale -> DeAnza -> Homestead -> Foothill Expwy -> Junipero Serra -> Alameda de Las Pulgas -> Canada -> ?????? -> Cliff House

Can you fill in the quesition marks? I am open to better/other bike routes. Thanks.


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## singlespeed.org (Feb 14, 2006)

North end of Canada Road, left onto 92 and then right onto Skyline Blvd. Take this to Sawyer Camp Trail. If not too crowded a time, take Sawyer Camp to end. Exit onto road and cross under freeway. Make left and go one freeway overpass, where you cross back to west side of freeway and get on another trail. Take this trail to end, which is Skyline Blvd (again). Take Skyline Boulevard to the Great Highway, and make left. Take Great Highway to Cliff House.

Alternate, should Sawyer Camp be crowded requires riding the shoulder of Highway 280 for an exit or two (adds its own concerns). Instead of making left into Sawyer Camp, keep going straight. When you get to top, make a right onto Hayne and a left onto Skyline. Take this until it seems to end (at Trousdale). Go straight onto freeway (yes, it is legal). Exit next exit and get back on parallel road for 1 exit. From here, you van either cross over and take the path (generally not as crowded as Sawyer Camp) or get back on the freeway and then take freeway exit for Skyline). Then follow Skyline as above to Great Highway.


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## pacificaslim (Sep 10, 2008)

That's the way I'd go, too. BTW the "trails" mentioned aren't dirt - they are paved, two-way, multi-use paths. Sometimes crowded with walkers, joggers, kids on bikes, etc. but one can usually still keep a decent speed going. (i.e. it's not appropriate for group ride pacelines, but fine for a guy or two rolling along at average of 15mph while enjoying the great views of the crystal springs and san andreas reservoirs).


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## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

singlespeed.org's instructions are good but lack some details that might help you on your way through unfamiliar territory. My additions in bold.



singlespeed.org said:


> North end of Canada Road, left onto 92 and then right onto Skyline Blvd. *Canada Road ends at Highway 92. Skyline Bl is the first right turn you can make after you make the left onto 92. If you see a lake to your right then you missed it.* Take this to Sawyer Camp Trail. *the gate to Sawyer Camp Trail is to your left at the first stopsign you come across on Skyline Bl.* If not too crowded a time, take Sawyer Camp to end. Exit onto road and cross under freeway. Make left *onto Skyline Bl* and *make the first left you can make, about a mile down,* go *under* freeway overpass, where you cross back to west side of freeway and get on another trail*(this is also SCT but is the northern section)*. Take this trail to end, which is Skyline Blvd (again) *(this is also known as Highway 35)*. Take Skyline Boulevard *(left)* to the Great Highway, and make left. Take Great Highway to Cliff House.
> 
> Alternate, should Sawyer Camp be crowded requires riding the shoulder of Highway 280 for an exit or two (adds its own concerns). Instead of making left into Sawyer Camp, keep going straight. When you get to top, make a right onto Hayne and a left onto Skyline. Take this until it seems to end (at Trousdale). Go straight onto freeway (yes, it is legal). Exit next exit and get back on parallel road for 1 exit. From here, you can either cross over and take the path (generally not as crowded as Sawyer Camp) or get back on the freeway and then take freeway exit for Skyline *not recommended to get onto the freeway at this point*). Then follow Skyline as above to Great Highway.


The junction where you make a left onto The Great Highway might be easy to miss. About two miles north of the big freeway interchanges (where Highway 35 and Highway 1 cross) you will come upon a stopsign at what may appear to be a crazy interchange (one lane comes in from the right and merges in then the left lane splits and you suddenly see three lanes, the left and middle turning left at the stopsign and the right one not needing to stop and going straight). You need to make a left at that stopsign to get onto The Great Highway.

If you are willing to ride a little bit further you can ride to The Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands and beyond from there. When I commuted to work this was my return ride home from downtown SF as I live about a mile north of the Highway 35 and Highway 1 interchange off of Highway 35.

The first, and longer, section of Sawyer Camp Trail is paved, as pacificaslim mentions, but it also has cracks and repaired cracks in the pavement that are wide enough to possibly grab a thin 22 or 23mm road bike tire so some concentration on the road itself is required here. I haven't had any problems with this, so far, but I can honestly say that I prefer to ride this section of trail on a mountain bike than my road bikes because of the wider tires floating over these cracks. The first three or four miles are the most congested and the last two miles are not because the last two miles is a nice little climb and most people would rather walk on the flatter southern part. It's actually one long trail from San Bruno Avenue in San Bruno to San Mateo but there is an unpaved section through Milbrae that is off limits to cyclists so you have to ride around it on Skyline Bl.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> the gate to Sawyer Camp Trail is to your left at the first stopsign you come across on Skyline Bl.


Actually it's now the second. There's now a stop sign on Skyline for the 280/Bunker Hill/Half Moon Bay off-ramp.


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## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Oh, yeah, bring a jacket. When you get to Highway 35 about a mile north of where you get onto Highway 35 there's usually a cold wind that blows down this section of Highway. Usually, there is fog when you reach that point, too, or a little bit further north from there.


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## light_monkey (Apr 27, 2005)

*Thanks...*

a bunch. I'll try again. 

I didn't know about getting on the trail, so my attempt failed after fifty some odd miles of expected 60-mile bike ride. I got off course and ended up riding in El Camino Real. Missus and the kids, tired of waiting and being hungry, picked me up to go Cleo, a Brazilian Steak House. Lunch would have been much better, if I had completed the ride.

Thanks again for the directions.


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## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

singlespeed.org said:


> Go straight onto freeway (yes, it is legal). Exit next exit and get back on parallel road for 1 exit.


I didn't think it was legal for a bike to use any freeway in California. The way people drive on 280 there I'm not sure I'd want to get on it no matter how legal it was. Having just driven 92 today, I'm not sure if I'd want to ride it, either.


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## pacificaslim (Sep 10, 2008)

There are many stretches of "freeway" in California that bikes are allowed on because there is no reasonable alternative road to take. They are even sometimes marked with a sign near the on-ramp "bikes ok" or something like that. The stretches being discussed here in Millbrae are more like taking the onramp and then almost immediately exiting so they aren't that bad. Going south around "devil's slide" on hwy 1 is a little sketchier since you are inches from the cliff with really no shoulder, but I've done that too, no problem.


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## ratpick (Jul 31, 2008)

There actually is an alternative to this section of I-280 - turn right down Trousdale, left on Hunt Dr, left on Frontera Way and follow that to Skyline. It involves a fairly steep climb, but it's short.

If you're staying on the Sawyer Camp and San Andreas Trails (I don't find the cracks on Sawyer Camp to be too problematic but pay attention), here's an old ride of mine with a map.

If you want to stay on Skyline and avoid the crowds on Sawyer Camp, and avoid the I-280 section, here's a recent ride with that goes that route.


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## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

pacificaslim said:


> There are many stretches of "freeway" in California that bikes are allowed on because there is no reasonable alternative road to take. They are even sometimes marked with a sign near the on-ramp "bikes ok" or something like that. The stretches being discussed here in Millbrae are more like taking the onramp and then almost immediately exiting so they aren't that bad. Going south around "devil's slide" on hwy 1 is a little sketchier since you are inches from the cliff with really no shoulder, but I've done that too, no problem.


I drove south into Princeton on Highway 1 over Devil's Slide from Pacifica. I then drove out of Half Moon Bay on 92. Both places I thought- Man, great roads that I would never ride because people drive on them like nuts.


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## BSAMach1 (Jul 31, 2005)

I once did Santa Clara to San Francisco. To keep things simple, I just took El Camino Real all the way to South SF, and then a bunch of city streets to the Embarcadero. This was late at night, so the traffic was non-existent.


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## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

California L33 said:


> I drove south into Princeton on Highway 1 over Devil's Slide from Pacifica. I then drove out of Half Moon Bay on 92. Both places I thought- Man, great roads that I would never ride because people drive on them like nuts.


+1.

Just because you _can_ ride a particular road, doesn't mean ya should. 'specially if you've got a wife n' kids. 
.


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## treehugger (Jul 10, 2007)

SystemShock said:


> +1.
> 
> Just because you _can_ ride a particular road, doesn't mean ya should. 'specially if you've got a wife n' kids.
> .


It's an experiment in evolution.


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