Northern California - Bike maps for coastal SF Peninsula areas: Pacifica/Montara/Half Moon Bay/Pescadero?

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emdash
01-01-11, 03:22 PM
Hi all, a newbie here though I've often read bikeforums posts that come up in Google searches.

I'm curious if you can recommend good bike maps for the Bay Area peninsula (especially near the coast). I've bought good Marin, Sonoma/Napa, and East Bay bike maps from various sources in the past, but I'm curious about biking in the Pacifica / Montara / Half Moon Bay / Pescadero areas.

There are a lot of trails I see on some park maps or on Google maps, but it's often not clear which ones allow bikes at all, and also which ones are paved or smooth enough dirt to do on a touring bike w/ say 38mm slicks, vs. really wanting a mountain bike w/ suspension.

Thanks for any tips, and happy new year!


johnny99
01-01-11, 05:35 PM
Krebs makes good general purpose bicycle maps. You can find them at most local bike shops.

There is also an official San Mateo County bicycle route map. It mostly focuses on commuting routes, so I don't know if their off road coverage is any good. You should be able to get paper copies at your city hall.

Be warned that San Mateo County is the worst county in the Bay Area for bicycle access to dirt roads. Most, if not all, of the dirt roads that you can easily see from I-280 do not allow bicycles. There is some dirt road access in state parks and Mid-pen open space preserves. County parks ban bicycles almost entirely.