Gravel roads/ alternatives on the Pacific Coast Route

[Krampus Snail]

 Craig, thanks for the Klamath Beach Road suggestion. I loved it! I'd say there was more than a little hiker bikering, and one short section at the landslide was so steep I couldn't push my loaded bike up it. My friend and I pushed my bike up, then his. If I'd been alone, I would have unloaded the bike, pushed it up, then gone back for the panniers. But it's a short section, and after that section the road rapidly improves.

Note that once you ride past Kamp Klamath along the coast, the road becomes dirt and shortly turns into a one way road going north; it's a clockwise loop. My friend and I continued south, the wrong way. Riding against traffic worked out because there was almost no traffic, but on a day when there were cars, if there is such a day, riding against traffic on a narrow hilly winding road would be ugly.

The detour ends up on the Newton P. Drury Parkway, perhaps my favorite road on the entire Pacific Coast Route. Miles and miles of slow dreamy descent through old growth redwoods.

[CMajernik]

For more information along the Big Sur part of the Pacific Coast see this:
https://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=14377.0

and go to replies #26 - #28.

[adjacent]

@Krampus Snail - I'd love to hear more suggestions in the Bay Area for coastal rides - especially ones like Old Pedro Mountain road that are for gravel bikes (trails where you don't need a true mountain bike).  Thanks!