The Lost Coast Highway (Mattole Road)

Posted on: November 26th, 2012 by CRASH 6 Comments

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This road is an adventure. Rough, potholed, goaty, poorly maintained … amazing road. While you will not go racing down this highway, you won’t want to. The views, scenery and just general atmosphere are the draws here. It starts out not too bad, but you quickly feel like you are playing a game of Whack A Mole with the potholes … and you are the mole. Alertness is key. Slow speeds and stop a lot to take in the views. Sections of this road turn into gravel and dirt. There are many vistas of the ocean that are spectacular. Depending on the time of year, you could get dense fog, or brilliant clear skies. The images below were in 40+ mph side wind gusts. Hard enough that we opted not to stop from fear of the bikes getting blown over, but the para-sail junkies were having a blast.

The Lost Coast Highway is an excellent bridge between HWY 36 WEST and The Avenue of the Giants. Either direction will give incredible vistas and views and any inclement weather you may encounter is worth the trip. An over night stay in Ferndale is also a nice relaxing and interesting time.

6 Responses

  1. Turkus says:

    Yup….nice area, awesome views, what a beast to ride for the “unexpecting”.
    My pics of the area suck (new camera, didn’t RTFM) but this one survived and cracks me up for some reason

  2. lowbuckrider says:

    I am ready to go back today! A tip, the south end it starts in the Rockefeller Forest.

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