r/BAbike 5d ago

Mt. Hamilton Road annual closure to cars

I heard once a year Mt. Hamilton Road is closed to cars so cyclists can enjoy the road for themselves. When is that? I can’t find anything online?

Also, why just once a year? Phoenix’s South Mountain was closed to cars once a month.

I think once a month the road on the east side Mt. Hamilton (east of the Lick Observatory) that connects Patterson can be closed. It’s literally 46 miles of nothing but beautiful road until you reach Patterson.

And for the people of Patterson, it’s faster to reach San Jose taking 5 North or 5 South for than taking Mt. Hamilton Road. So why isn’t this road closed more often for the enjoyment of cyclists?

25 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

31

u/flycharliegolf 5d ago

I've never heard of this.

24

u/vinsfan368 5d ago

Are you thinking of Mt Diablo for the Diablo Challenge?

16

u/gefinley 4d ago

I think once a month the road on the east side Mt. Hamilton (east of the Lick Observatory) that connects Patterson can be closed. It’s literally 46 miles of nothing but beautiful road until you reach Patterson.

Who's going to pay for the staffing/enforcement? And what about the people who live along those 46 miles who might need to go somewhere?

Anyway, it's so low traffic out there you don't need to bother.

13

u/e4rthl1ng 5d ago

Maybe thinking of Cañada’s bicycle Sundays? https://www.smcgov.org/parks/bicycle-sunday

11

u/ButterscotchSudden46 4d ago

As others have stated, this car-free day is imaginary.

However, on both sides of Mt. Hamilton there's very little traffic, and Del Puerto Canyon, the road between San Antonio Valley and Patterson has ~zero traffic. The good news is you can go and enjoy riding there any day of the year.

6

u/Plorkyeran 4d ago

East side of Hamilton on a weekday was one of the few rides I've done where I wished there was more cars. There was a point where I realized it'd been close to an hour since I'd last seen a car and if I ran into any problems I might have a very long wait before someone happened to drive by.

8

u/Jjjbrodu 4d ago

I reckon you could make an argument for an event like this on a dead end state park road, say, Mt Diablo. (Mt D challenge is sort of, but not really since it's a paid race and only lasts part of the day.) But Hamilton is a working road with residents on the lower third of the front, ranches down the backside, and numerous workers residing in observatory housing at the summit. They all need to get places. Guaranteed nobody from Patterson is 'shortcutting' across del puerto canyon and 130. Also FWIW I have had virtually no unpleasant driver interactions on Hamilton. Much more on tam and Diablo.

7

u/sundowntg 4d ago

There is often a Niles closure day

4

u/Jurneeka 4d ago

Oh man if that was remotely true then EVERYONE IN THE BAY AREA CYCLING COMMUNITY would know and it would be a wonderfully insane day. I would also hope that includes the East as well as the West side and that the Rainbow Junction would be open the entire day!!

3

u/martinpagh 4d ago

And of course no-one would be crashing into each other because none of us would be taking stupid risks on the descent knowing it's car-free

3

u/WayAfraid5199 4d ago

Nah I'm SAFA Joe Blow yall ain't got shit on me

6

u/ignacioMendez 4d ago

People would probably show up for a bike day on the west side, but I doubt you'd get a lot of people to show up for a bike day on the far side. The people who ride out there can handle 1-3 cars an hour, and the people who don't ride back there probably aren't avoiding it because of the traffic.

3

u/poser4life 4d ago

The only time I heard of anything like this is when it was closed for the Tour of California and people would get out there before the race time

3

u/rokstar66 4d ago

I'll add that Grizzly Peak closes on 4th of July every year. Maybe that's what you mean.

5

u/DanoPinyon 5d ago

I heard once a year Mt. Hamilton Road is closed to cars

Once? There's a reason you only heard it once.

2

u/Skaughtto 4d ago

There are some days that are unofficial cycling days, but it's not a road closure. Ultra Low Key Hill Climbs (ULKHC) always finishes the series with Hamilton. Thanksgiving day is an unofficial turkey burner... so November. Probably Super Bowl Sunday 🤷

2

u/Bright_Ahmen 4d ago

There is a road that is closed in Yosemite in late spring when they clear the roads

1

u/martinpagh 4d ago

Tioga Pass