Breckenridge Rd

Either you’ve never heard of Breckenridge Rd, you’ve heard of it but never ridden it, or you’ve ridden it and probably cringe at the sound of it. Perhaps you’ve also heard the song by Merle Haggard called “I’ll Never Swim Kern River Again”. Had he been a biker and ridden Breckenridge Rd., perhaps he would have written a song “I’ll Never Ride Breckenridge Again”.


Breckenridge is a 35 mile paved, one-lane goat trail, with hundreds of blind corners, poor paving, steep hairpin turns, road hazards such as gravel, sand, boulders, water, potholes the size of bathtubs, as well as mild traffic, farm animals and the occasional steaming, slippery cow pie.

Nobody in their right mind would consider riding such a road. It’s not logical; it makes no sense to take such a road, when there are so many others that are better. Then again not all riders are in their right mind. Some of us “left-minders” like taking roads simply because they are there, simply for the adventure of it, or simply because it’s the road less traveled. I am an adventurist. I’ll try almost anything once, just to say I’ve done it.

I saw Breckenridge on the map years ago and wondered if it was paved. I took the trouble of tracing it with Google Earth and verified it was. I planned for quite a while to ride it some summer, since it’s closed in winter and early spring, because the snow is never removed. Then earlier this year some friends told me they rode Breckenridge last year and described the road just as I imagined,” the worse road they had ever ridden”. They said they would never think of taking such a terrible road again in their lifetime. I knew fate would catch up to me some day.

Earlier this year I tried taking Breckenridge with a friend but a few miles in we ran into a solid impassable ice sheet which covered the road. Breckenridge would have to wait until later.
Last weekend was my next attempt. I had ridden to Lone Pine for lunch with a group of riders. On the return trip, I decided to cross Sherman Pass for something to do, but the sign on Kennedy Meadows Rd said Sherman Pass was closed. I didn’t have a plan B until I thought of Breckenridge. Now was as good a time as any. The Breckenridge challenge was on.

NOTE: A word to the wise, do not attempt to ride this road unless you are well aware of your riding skills and are very confident in your abilities and do not attempt to ride this road alone, like I did.

I headed up I-178 west to Lake Isabella and Bodfish, then up the switchbacks to Havilah. I made it to the Breckenridge turn off in good time. There was plenty of daylight left. I began up the road and quickly encountered road hazards of sand and gravel as well as a couple of trucks loaded with firewood. The blind hairpin turns were next, but the scenery was great. There were lots of flowers and yuccas in bloom. Yeah the scenery was great, but the numerous road hazards forced me to concentrate on the road and forget the scenery. Before long, I was in the pines. The air was cool, but a jacket was unnecessary at this point. Turn after turn, I winded my way to the top and finally crossed over at around 8500 feet or so. From this vantage there is a view of Lake Isabella in the distant north that is breathtaking. The road then leveled out for several hundred yards, but the twisties and road hazards resumed almost immediately. I found myself not gauging the turns well enough and could not keep to the right as much as I tried. Debris and poor road conditions prevented me from enjoying the ride more than I was.

After a while I was out of the pines. Oaks and shrubs were now visible. The scenery south and west was opening up, but there was no time to take it in. Although I was getting lower in altitude, the road was still very twisty with blind curves everywhere. Occasionally the road straightened out and I could get up to 40 mph for a few seconds. I passed a couple farms with cow pens and a pretty nice ranch and then the road began to turn into sweepers now and then with a surprising blind hairpin turn thrown in to keep me on my toes. The sweepers got more frequent and the road began to straighten out pretty well to where I could finally get up to 50 mph for a while.

After a few more hairpin turns, I began to see oil wells and more cow pens, then a stop sign, I had reached Comanche Rd. Comanche connects I-58 to I-178 near Edison. Thirty-Five miles and nearly 2 hours later, I had finally reached the end (Breckenridge continues, but it’s straight into Edison from here). So, I could turn right to I-178 or left to I-58. I turned back. Nobody in their right mind would do such a thing, but a “left-minder” might. After making it back to the origin, I turned right on Caliente-Bodfish Rd and made my way over to I-58. I gassed up in Tehachapi and headed for home.

Some riders wear a patch for riding the Tail of the Dragon, Highway 129 at Deal’s Gap, North Carolina. That’s nothing compared to Breckenridge – The Tail of Godzilla. Those that have ridden Breckenridge don’t need no stinking patches. The fact that they have ridden it and are alive to tell the tail is all it takes. If someone asks you if you want to ride Breckenridge and you hesitate. Have them call me. I’ll go. This is a road for “left-minders” only.

Tom Lystrup Breckenridge Rd ride plan 19 July 2010