Originally Posted by
jfrench
My GF and I want to do some bike camping this summer. She has some reservations about the route; I'm too new to the area to know what the options are. Is there a good route from Oakland (Fruitvale area) to the Lake Chabot campground, where good is some combination of not the steepest way, nor the most traffic-heavy, nor via the sketchiest parts of Oakland/San Leandro?
And if there are other campgrounds you can recommend within a few hours' ride, I'd love any suggestions! Thanks!
Generally, head towards 680. Then depending where you reach it, as you head south you go along something like Monterey Blvd -> Mountain Blvd -> Frontage Rd -> Sunnymere Ave -> Mountain Blvd -> Foothill Blvd -> MacArthur Blvd -> Estudillo Ave -> Lake Chabot Rd.
That's the standard flat route. If you're anywhere near Joaquin Miller Road, do yourself a favor and take the hilly route. From the corner of Mountain Blvd and Joaquin Miller, you take the small dirt path next to the fence (Southeast corner) for about 50 meters to Burdeck Dr to Butters Dr to Crestmont Drive to Skyline. Skyline is beautiful and the Butters climb isn't bad. Take golf links road, go through the oakland zoo, to foothill blvd, and then the same as above (macarthur/estudillo/lake chabot).
Honestly you should just take your bike without any of the camping junk and do the redwood-pinehurst loop. It's a 2 hour ride or something, it's got a bunch of climbing, but it's some of the most gorgeous riding you'll see in your life.