Sierra Route - Day 2

Leave the motel at 9:00AM sharp. Get onto US50 East at Cameron Park Drive. Take the next exit off onto Ponderosa Road. At the light at the end of the off ramp, turn left and cross over US50. At the second light (the first and second are very close together) on the other side of US50, turn right onto North Shingle Road. This transition is shown in the map segment below:




Continue north on North Shingle Road for 4 miles. At that point, the road changes names to Green Valley Road. About a half mile after becoming Green Valley, the road turns left and becomes Lotus Road. This transition is shown in the map segment below:



Continue north for about 9 miles through one stop sign to a T-joint and stop sign at CA49. Turn left on CA49.
Continue north through Pilot Hill and Cool. Descend into the American River Canyon to the stop sign on the north end of the bridge. Turn left and head up the hill into Auburn. In Auburn, there is a stop light at the top of the hill. Go straight through it. The road swings to the left and there is another stop light at Elm Avenue. Turn right on Elm. Cross over the freeway (I80), to the fourth light. The fourth light is CA49; turn right (there is a Foster's Freeze restaurant across the street when you get to the correct intersection. All four lights are fairly close to each other. The map segment below shows this transition:



Continue north on CA49 through Grass Valley and into Nevada City. As we approach Nevada City, the road becomes a freeway. Shortly after that, CA20 joins 49 so for a few miles it is CA20 and CA49. Toward the northern end of Nevada City, the road becomes a divided 4 lane highway. We turn left at the sign for CA49. The map segment below shows this transition:



Stay on CA49 north. We will stop for a butt and potty break at the Sierra Super Stop station and store in North San Juan. Watch out for this one because it sneaks up on you on the right as you come into North San Juan. After this stop we continue on to Downieville where we will stop at The Gallows Cafe for lunch. After lunch, we continue on through Downieville, turning right and crossing the river on a one lane bridge. Watch out for oncoming traffic here. We continue on through Sierra City and Sierraville. Before reaching Sierraville, CA49 joins with CA89. At Sierraville, CA89 turns off to the right but we continue on CA49. The map segment below shows this transition:



Continue north on CA49 to Loyalton. At Loyalton, we are at the 155 mile mark or so. There is a 2 pump station in Loyalton. You can also continue on to Vinton. At Vinton, CA49 ends and we turn right onto CA70. Down the road a couple of miles is a collection of homes and businesses; I think the name is Sierra Valley; there is also a station there. And again, a couple of miles farther at the junction of CA70 and US395, is a Shell station on the east side of 395. All of these are in reach for a PC but all of them are California stations. For the daring, after we turn right onto US395, we come to Bordertown and the gas prices are quite a bit lower as the town is in Nevada. Bordertown is at approximately 180 miles. (My recommendation would be the Shell station at US395 and CA70; that is just about the half way point - 165 miles. If you fill up much before that spot, you will have to fill up again before getting back to Cameron Park.) The map segment below shows the end of CA49, the turn onto CA70 and the turn onto US395:



We will continue on US395 south through Reno. This stretch turns into a freeway as we approach Reno. South of Reno, we will be watching for NV431, the Mount Rose Highway. We will turn off US395 onto NV431 south at that point. The map segment below shows that transition:



We will continue south on Mount Rose Highway. As we reach the summit, there are a couple of spectacular overlooks toward Lake Tahoe. Definite photo ops. We will continue on NV431 to Incline Village and the junction with NV28. We will turn left on NV 28
and skirt the east shore of Lake Tahoe. The map segment below shows this transition:



There are a couple of spectacular overlooks of Lake Tahoe along NV28. After circling a portion of the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, we will come to the junction with US50. Turn right (west) onto US50 as shown in the map segment below:



We will continue south and west along the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe on US50. We will go through Stateline and the casino area on our way back into California. We will then skirt the southern shore of Lake Tahoe through the town of South Lake Tahoe. At the junction with CA89, US50 turns to the left as shown below:



We continue on US50 west, over Echo Summit, past Twin Bridges and through Kyburz. Beyond Kyburz, we will come to St. Pauli Inn on the left side of the road. Cross with caution here. This is our dinner stop for the day. After dinner, we continue west on US50. Again, be cautious leaving the restaurant and getting back into traffic on US50 west bound. We continue on through through Pollock Pines, Camino and Placerville and on to Cameron Park and the motel.

The map segment below shows the start and finish of the days ride and the routes from and to the motel from US 50.




End of Day 2.