Ride Bike! East Bay Dead End Tour

Topographic map and elevation profile

Cull Canyon is a natural dead end; it heads into a canyon and stops where the canyon gets steep. There are a few private driveways past the end, but nothing that goes through. As with most dead-end roads, traffic is light. The countryside is very rural, with cow pastures, open space, and a llama farm. The road slopes gradually upwards for most of its length; after we pass Cull Canyon Ranch, it starts to get a little more rugged and steeper, but dead-ends soon afterwards, after a total of about 8km.

Turn around and descend on Cull Canyon to Heyer.

For easy route

Turn right on Norris Canyon Road. Norris Canyon is a winding road through farmland with practically no traffic. In fact it was a dead end to auto traffic for several years, but unfortunately is once again allowing through traffic. Still, it's a very pleasant ride. The road slopes up gradually (with occasional steep pitches) for about 1 km, then climbs fairly steeply for 2 km. After a total of 3 km, we reach the county line and the descent, which is fun and fast, with brand new pavement and little braking required. The descent lasts for about 4 km, then Norris Canyon hits Bollinger Canyon Road. Turn left on Bollinger Canyon.

Bollinger Canyon is not a natural dead end; at some point in the past there was a road through from here to Moraga, but now it's gated off. (The advanced ride also does the Moraga spur). It's similar in character to Cull Canyon, except instead of a llama farm, there's an ostrich farm. It's a little steeper on average, and a little more open. It ends, or at least is gated off, after 7km at the staging area for Las Trampas Regional Wilderness. Bollinger Canyon Road continues unpaved, but reportedly is gated at the other end of Las Trampas.

Turn around and go back down Bollinger Canyon. When you reach Crow Canyon, turn left. Take Crow Canyon about 1.5 km to San Ramon Valley Boulevard, then turn left. San Ramon Valley Boulevard has heavy car and bike traffic, and declines slightly all the way into Walnut Creek, changing names several times. Take San Ramon Valley through Danville and Alamo, about 10km in all, until you hit Hillgrade Avenue.

For intermediate route

For advanced route

Castle Crest is known as "The Hill", and you'll soon see why. It's a little like Lomas Cantadas, but more relentless. There are some passable views of Diablo, but mostly it's just a grind to the top, through a residential neighberhood. Total climbing is about 200 meters. After the peak there's a short descent, then the road ends at the entrance to a walking trail. Turn around and descend Castle Crest, carefully, please. At the bottom, turn left on Hillgrade, then left on Tice Valley Road.

Tice Valley Road is a useful but boring route between Danville Boulevard and Lafayette. Take it about 5km to Olympic Boulevard, then turn left. Take Olympic 2km to Pleasant Hill Road and turn right. Take Pleasant Hill under the freeway, then take your second left on Spring Valley Road, and the first left after that on Martino.

Martino is similar to Castle Crest; not quite as steep, but longer. It's residential until the peak, where it touches on Briones Regional Park and some mountain biking trails. Just grind up and rest at the top; total climbing is some 250 meters. Turn around and head back down; again, caution on the descent is warranted. Turn right on Spring Valley Road, right on Pleasant Hill Road, and right on Deer Hill Road just before the freeway.

Deer Hill has a short, steep climb, then descends parallel to the freeway. Take it about 1km to Brown, turn left under the freeway, and then right on Mount Diablo Boulevard. There's a bike path just across Mount Diablo; get on it and take it to Hope Lane. Turn right on Hope and left on St. Mary's Road. St. Mary's Road has moderate traffic and climbs gradually into Moraga. Take it about 6km to its intersection with Bollinger Canyon Road; turn left on Bollinger Canyon.

This end of Bollinger Canyon is more rugged than the San Ramon side; there are some interesting-looking rock walls for the climbers in the group. After 1.5km it's gated off with vaguely threatening signs posted; turn around and head back to St. Mary's Road. Turn left on St. Mary's, and then right on Rheem Boulevard.

Rheem is a reasonably pleasant road which climbs gently for a couple klicks, then descends rapidly towards Moraga Road. Turn left on Moraga Road, then right on Donald Drive. Take your second left on Donald.

I'm not sure what the story is on Donald Drive; it clearly used to be a through street, but now it's blocked off, whether for political reasons or road washout I'm not sure. It's still passable by cyclists, and rather pretty. The pavement is pretty bad, nonexistent in some places, but in the uphill direction that's not a big deal. There are a couple steep pitches on the way up, and there's a great view of the Berkeley Hills and Mount Diablo at the park at the top.

Go straight through the park and out the other side. The downhill on Donald is residential and paved, but rather steep, so be careful. There's a traffic circle at the intersection with Hall Drive; we want to take the road on the left. This descends to Moraga Way; turn right on Moraga Way. Soon after we pass Orinda BART, El Toyonal will be on our left. Turn left on El Toyonal.

El Toyonal is also featured in the Berkeley Hills Death Ride; it's a fairly hefty climb (about 200 meters altitude gain) up to where it meets Lomas Cantadas. Instead of turning left on Lomas Cantadas, we'll go straight and continue onto the closed section of El Toyonal. There's a bridge over a small creek that was mostly washed out in the storms of 1982, and the road's been closed to auto traffic since then. The bridge was rebuilt about 3 years ago but the road's still closed except to bikes and horses. It's quiet and pleasant, and rolls downwards past a few gates and over the bridge, to where it meets Wildcat Canyon Road. Turn left on Wildcat Canyon.

Wildcat Canyon climbs gradually until it reaches Inspiration Point, then rolls for a few klicks and descends to the intersection with Grizzly Peak Boulevard. Go across the intersection and take Spruce down the hill into Berkeley. Total riding is 120 kilometers.