Lowell Hill Road Sept 15 2026

[Dave G]

Talking about alternative routes from Hwy 20 to 80 (avoiding the construction at the interchange) I decided to check out Lowell Hill Road and some other roads in the area.

First attempt was Bear Valley.  It hits 20 about 9 miles west of 80 next to the PG&E canal.  Today there was a construction crew blocking the entrance.  No go.

2nd was Zebright Road.  It heads past some summer camps and cabins.  I ran into a gate at the Donner Mine Camp.  Which means a turn was missed.  Next time.

3rd was Lowell Hill itself.  Active logging.  A great big brush cutter waved its blade at me in either a greeting or a sign it was out of control.  Neat trail. Some houses, some cabins, some piles of logs.  Easy dirt road, great for adventure bikes.  Lots of gates side roads and driveways.  Some of this was timber company land.

The powerline road look promising too.  It paralleled Lowell Hill for quite a ways.  I didn’t see any gates.

Eventually it gets down to the Dutch Flat Powerhouse on a little man made lake.  Very cool spillway and a big aqueduct.  At this point it’s pavement to Dutch Flat (the town).  Cute little place with a hotel, general store and post office.

From there I went to Alta and then Baxter and got back on 80.  Weather was fantastic.

 

• This topic was modified 3 weeks, 4 days ago by Dave G.
• This topic was modified 3 weeks, 4 days ago by Dave G.

[Dennis Larry]

That’s awesome Dave, total curiosity on your part. RR200 will not be stopped in 2028!
Dennis

[Kurt138]

Dennis Larry wrote:

That’s awesome Dave, total curiosity on your part. RR200 will not be stopped in 2028!
Dennis

I googled the Yuba Pass/I-80 separation project and it is on schedule and should be completed by winter 2027.

The funding for the project ($112M) came entirely from the state of California and the project was necessary. The old bridge was falling apart and could not handle heavy modern truck loads. I appreciate this work – I don’t ride my motorcycle over it much but I do drive over it several times a year.

I guess one lesson learned is to not run future rides through any ongoing construction projects. I did route the RR200 this year away from some areas where the USFS was projecting to have crews working.

One rockstar from this year’s RR200 was Downieville. They have their own backup power system, so while PG&E was turning off the lights throughout the Sierras the party never stopped in D’ville. The Downieville Mountain Brewfest was a nice consolation prize for anyone that had their ride end there. A young, trendy crowd showed up and everyone was having a good time. If someone were to state that the scenery was on point I would not be one to argue.

The Downieville Classic Mountain Bike Race and Festival was cool too but it was much more of a zoo. We stopped there on a pre-run in August and I was ready to bail after gassing up.

Rides: KLX450R, KX500 (Project)

[Dennis Larry]

I agree with the mountain bike race being a zoo. I believe that was the weekend you guys pre road and I distributed posters on my Pan Am, couldn’t wait to get out of there. Guess I’m getting old!
Dennis

[Dave G]

Looking at my tracks I think I figured out where I went the wrong way on Zebright. So another trip to finish exploring the area is called for.
There’s timber company land and PG&E land out there. So it might involve gates, warning signs, grouchy employees, etc.

(RR200 related issues should be in the thread under club business)

[Kurt138]

Dave G wrote:

Looking at my tracks I think I figured out where I went the wrong way on Zebright. So another trip to finish exploring the area is called for.
There’s timber company land and PG&E land out there. So it might involve gates, warning signs, grouchy employees, etc.

(RR200 related issues should be in the thread under club business)

Hey Dave, sorry about posting RR200 stuff here – my bad!

Rides: KLX450R, KX500 (Project)

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