September 1 – October 22, 2026

The California
Crown

A gravel bike loop around the perimeter of California — from Ocean Beach to the Oregon line, down the Modoc, over the Sierra, across Death Valley and the Mojave to Yuma, along the Mexican border, and home up the coast. Ridden, all of it, in 52 days.

52
days
2,790
miles
9
regions
4
corners
Follow the route day by day
Ocean Beach → four corners → Ocean BeachComplete
Nine regions · 52 days

The Ride

The route as I actually rode it, one line per day, grouped into the regions that shaped the trip. Pick a region or tap any line on the map to see that day — where I started and stopped, what the road was like, and the journal and photos from the evening.

From the road

Trip Journal

Written most nights from a tent, a motel bed, or a picnic table — kept exactly as posted.

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Ride it better

Suggest an alternative

Some of these miles were on highways I'd rather have avoided, and the whole idea is a California Crown anyone can ride. If you know a better way through any leg — a quieter backroad, a gravel connector, a trail that goes — send me the GPX and tell me about it. I read every one.

Your route

Click to choose a .gpx file — a route or a recorded ride

Your suggestion and email go only to me — nothing you send is published on this site.

Choose a leg and a GPX file to see your route next to the one I rode.
Rider tools

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Signed in as — only this account can change anything here, and the server checks that on every save.

Journal entry

Click to attach photos to this entry

Day GPX tracks

Every riding day has a recorded track built into the site. To replace one with a better recording, upload its GPX here — the map draws it straight away. Removing an upload restores the built-in track.

Track status

Suggested alternatives

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The rider

Why the Crown

Joshua tree at sunrise
Written before setting out

A few years ago I biked across the US with a few of my ex-students, and found the adventure both exhilarating yet nerve-wracking: we had several close calls with cars and trucks roaring past inches away from us as we did our best to "share the road". While watching the country roll past our train window on our return to California, I told the kids I didn't think I'd ever do another long bike trek on highways and major roads. I love the freedom and feeling of grand adventure of a long bike journey, but I also want to be able to come home in one piece to keep hanging out with my family and spending all the time I can with my grandson. No more hugging a 3" asphalt shoulder for me.

On our trans-America trip we'd learned about—and even ridden some—on bike-friendly off road routes like the Great Divide Bike Route and The Great Allegheny Passage, and I began to think about finding some similar trail in my home state. I knew about great gravel rides in Marin and in the Sierras around my home near Pinecrest, but I couldn't find anything that rivaled those epic treks. I started to fool around with my map program, and put together a route that stays off-road as much as possible (or at least off main-road) for about 3500 miles touching each of the four corners of the California border. I'm keeping with the grand tone of those other long trails in calling it The California Crown. Or The Great Gravel Bear Hug. We'll see.

And I do mean bear hug. California is a wonderful place to be. For sixty days, I'll be doing my best to complete a mostly unpaved (some stretches of California just don't offer any alternative to car-heavy pavement…and if anyone has any suggestions for any of my current mapped sections please let me know!) mega-loop of the shores, canyons, forests, mountains, and desert moonscapes of my own backyard, and a celebration of the spirit of possibility I absorbed from an "old school" California childhood. Call it an act of radical presence — an embrace of the incredible place I'm pretty lucky to call home.

From the road
This grand loop could be, should be an established trail, it exists in pieces already… Take all the work in trail and road building that everyone in each community has already done and tie it all into one bear hug of our diverse and multi various land. It goes.Day 45 · Encinitas to Long Beach
Much love and thanks to all who encouraged me, sent me messages and followed my progress. Means the world to me. You helped me through a tough journey!Day 52 · Home at Ocean Beach
Before the ride
A young child running down a eucalyptus-lined trail toward the low sun

The original plan

The pre-trip route app — the 23 planned sections with cue sheets, water carries and the planned GPX. A lot of it went differently.

The planned itinerary (PDF)

The day-by-day estimate I printed before leaving: 66 days and about 3,430 miles.

Contact me

Thinking of riding some of it? Questions or suggestions — I'd love to hear from you.
Share the ride

Pass it on

Scan the QR code to open the California Crown on any phone, or send it to someone who might ride a piece of it.

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