Essentials
Overview
A nice winding road along side the Calaveras reservoir through East bay hills
Distance
16 miles one way
Driving Time
1 hr
Seasonal Notes
The hills will be lush green after rainy season (winter – spring). And the hills will be golden brown during summer/fall
Insider Tips
Not a lot of traffic on weekends. But during weekdays, you will have the road to pretty much to yourself.
Starting Points
- On the south side : Intersection of Calaveras Road and Evans Road (GPS : 37.438, -121.872)
- On the north side: Intersection of 680 and Calaveras Road (GPS : 37.587, -121.869)
Google maps route (click to open in maps)
Drive
This is one of my favorite drives. It is so close to the cities and 680 freeway, but feels like another world. You will be driving by pastures, cows (yes live ones!) and a very pretty Calaveras reservoir.
The hills will be golden brown during Summer months. And they turn lush green with the rain.
You can start this drive in the South side in Milpitas or on the North side in Sunol.
Warnings
At some stretches the road is very narrow and only has single lane. There are lot of blind curves. And watch out for fallen rocks. Also watch for cyclists!
Interesting Points Along the Route
Calaveras Reservoir
Calaveras reservoir – A very pretty lake along the route. Note, there is no access to the lake as it is a part of drinking water for Santa Clara county.
Sunol Regional Wilderness
At the north end of the drive, you will go through very pretty Sunol Regional Wilderness. There are lot of hiking trails and picnic areas.
Sunol Regional Wilderness website
Sunol visitor center has lot of information about hiking trails and attractions.
Little Yosemite picnic area is definitely worth checking out!
Spring at Sunol wilderness (Photo credit: Jay Huang – CC – https://www.flickr.com/photos/jayhuangphotos/25373165413)
More Resources
Hiking trails in the Sunol Park from RedwoodHikes.com
Modern hiker