Best California Coastal Motorcycle Routes

The word alone evokes a very specific sense of emotion and all the related imagery in the minds of people around the world. This is true – perhaps especially true – for motorcyclists, for whom California stands as a world of its own.

Large enough to effectively exist as a substantial market separate from the larger United States, California has its own environmental regulations and traffic laws, not to mention a massive population of motorcyclists and thousands upon thousands of incredible roads to traverse.

The most fabled of all these roads is the singular State Route 1, which follows alongside the coast of the Pacific Ocean, with all of its stunning and varied views, historic sights, and thrilling curves.

To put a slight twist on the clichéd phrase of manifest destiny: “Go West, young motorcyclist, and ride with the country.”

Pacific Coast Highway

Part of a 1650-mile highway system that stretches the entire expanse of the West Coast, connecting Seattle to Mexico, California State Route 1 is broken down into multiple designations, including the aforementioned Pacific Coast Highway, Cabrillo Highway, Shoreline Highway, and Coast Highway.

While each section offers its specific appeals to the adventurous rider, the Pacific Coast Highway in particular has been widely deemed the Holy Grail for motorcyclists around the world.

The stretch from Carmel to Cambria is of extraordinary esteem, offering breathtaking views of the ocean and the surrounding rugged terrain.

Big Sur, Heart Castle, and the famed Bixby Bridge are just some of the highlights of this fabled ride.

Morro Bay Loop

Coming in at just under 100 miles, the run from Carmel to Cambria is more a thrill ride than an all-day adventure. The Morro Bay Loop rounds that out into a fuller ride that also factors some varied scenery and roads into the equation.

Along with the aforementioned PCH cliffside curves that connect Morro Bay to Monterey, the Morro Bay Loop turns back south after reaching its most northern point, cutting down through South Salinas Valley and Paso Robles, before looping back over to Morro Bay.

The inland tour offers a more peaceful side to the journey, running alongside farmland and rural regions.

Mother Nature offers a number of sights you might catch along the way, which include seals, California condors, whales, and redwood forests. Humans have added some pretty cool spots as well – you can also swing by the Monterey Aquarium or Laguna Seca Raceway while running the Loop.

SR1/101

If you continue along California State Route 1 further south, the views change yet remain amazing all the same.

The population density picks up, as does a sense of bubbling excitement in the air. Here it’s about the beach, the surf, and the sun.

If California is a world of its own, Southern California is a world tucked inside a world. SR1 continues to Los Angeles and down through Long Beach before connecting with Interstate 5 on the way to San Diego and Tijuana. 

SR1 North

State Route 1 north of Monterey packs in its own internally renowned sights. A trip up through Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, this ride links San Francisco – complete with a jaunt across the Golden Gate Bridge up the Marin County Coasts.

Here you’ll find an ideal blend of rugged coastal views and the rolling hills and vineyards of Sonoma’s wine country. 

Continue north and eventually you’ll enter Redwood National and State Parks – home to roughly half of the world’s remaining old-growth redwood forests. The largest and tallest trees in existence, they are truly a sight to behold.

“Go to California, it’s the place you ought to be.”