This is to help those visiting our area to find and ride the best loop trips in the US. I have included dirt and paved rides, the dirt rides being the type that can be handled with ease on any dual sport bike and the pavement rides include some real world class sportbike adventures. We have plenty of trail rides around here but they aren't addressed in this site since visitors rarely arrive with bikes in the back of a truck. While this is called "loop rides" there are some worth including that are not truly loops but the emphasis is on those that will take you from highway 101 to heaven and then back to the coast. I'm not finished with it as of Jan '05 but hope to get it completed by early this spring. I've listed some internet cafes and motels for those that do that kind of thing and welcome any input for places I may have missed or dogs that should be deleted. A lot of folks ride up this way from all over and most pass right through because the area is unfamiliar. This may coax a few to hang around and sample the goods. The area covered is roughly from Fort Bragg in the south to Crescent City on the north and as far east as Willow Creek and Forest Glen. I just happen to drive the paved parts in my work van on a weekly basis and get a good look at what kind of shape the roads are in and ride a lot of both the dirt and paved trips several times a year. Pashnit.com has done a superb job of covering all the rides in California and the rest of the US and this site doesn't pretend to be anywhere on that level---just a little peek into some of our best kept secrets-- I'm bob, at oldrice at earthlink.net, or oldrice at webtv.net (you can figure out that you need to sub the @ symbol for obvious reasons) Drop me a line if you have input or a gripe or just have no life.

 

COVERED BRIDGES (2) maybe 1/2 hour to an hour of your time off of 101--pastoral setting, good apples for sale at the end of the road and if you like to hike, a real original redwood rain forest---

 

There are two of these beauties. Reportedly the furthest west covered bridges in the US. This is a super quick little ride that starts at the off ramp of Hwy 101 at the south end of Eureka. It is marked Elk River, Herrick rd.--just go east about 100' and turn right on Elk River road and go about a mile until it starts to curve left--there, Elk River rd. takes off to the right and the road continues as Ridgewood--take the Elk River right and go about 2 miles and you'll see the first of two bridges about 1/4 mile to the right. There is a barn at the intersection--all paved road to the bridge and plenty of room to park off the road at the bridge- the second bridge is about 1 mile further east on Elk River road. If you wish to take the Elk River road to the end, it goes about another 5 miles, all paved and winds up at a parking lot for the hike to the Headwaters Redwood stand AKA the keyhole grove--one of the last untouched, untrampled stands of old growth trees left. This road is suitable for any bike, two up or solo--no grades, a few bumps, no facilities at the bridges but the trailhead at the end of the road has porta-potties.

 

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