Sjbear > Sjbear's Rides > Panoche Road and New Idria Mine

February 01, 2007 04:14

I have to thank Tim Carrithers of Motorcyclist magazine for much of this one… Take CA 25, Airline Highway south from Hollister. Stop at Racer’s Edge in Tres Pinos, a couple miles south of Hollister and say hi to Don Castro-his shop is on the left n the middle of Tres Pinos. Don was a National Numbered racer back in the “On Any Sunday” era, nice guy and has a neat little shop. Continue south on 25 to Pacines, about 13 miles out of Hollister, and turn left onto Panoche Road, San Benito County J1. The road runs through the mountains for about 30 miles, then it looks like you’ve landed in Texas…flat, open plains, a few cattle ranches, and a small sign on the side of the road, “COLD BEER 1/4 MILE” Slow down and pull in at The Panoche Inn, Pop. 8. Park the bike and have a beer and a sandwich, easy on the beer, though, it’s a long way home and none of the roads are straight! From here, you have 3 choices: 1. Go back the way you came. It’s a fun road, and worth a run the other way. 2. Go about a half mile further east, hang a left on Little Panoche Road, take that to Interstate 5, and go north to 152 and back to Hollister or Gilroy and 101. 3. Go about 3 miles farther east and go right on New Idria Road. This will take you out to the New Idria Mine, which was the second largest quicksilver mine in North America from the mid-1800’s to about 1970. If you go out to the mine, remember there are no services (gas, cell phone…) out there, the mine is private property, so stay on (or at least near) the road, don’t try to enter the buildings and don’t mess with any of the old mining stuff. Also, quicksilver is mercury, so don’t drink the water, or let your dog drink it-most of the ground water is tainted with mercury. From the mine, either go back to Panoche and option 1 or 2, or, if you’re on a dualsport, you can take the jeep road, Clear Creek Road over the mountains to Coalinga Road and 25. I don’t recommend this in the rainy season, but in early September, we made the ride over Clear Creek on a pair of R1150GSs, one packing 2-up, and one on street tires with a rider who is not much of a dirt type. I won’t say it’s a piece of cake, but it’s a heck of a nice ride. Google Maps shows all these roads, some of the satellite imagery is lacking. It’s 56 miles from Pacines to New Idria, Panoche is about 35 from Pacines, no gas south of Tres Pinos.

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