Ebbetts Pass & Bear Valley
Highway 4 high country · near Bear Valley / Arnold · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Gravel & Bikepacking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Best season
- Summer–early fall (high passes snowbound otherwise)
What is here
- Terrain
- mountain
- Amenities
- Ebbetts Pass high country · Remote granite & alpine lakes · Stanislaus NF forest roads · Backcountry camping
- Best for
- Remote high-Sierra bikepacking off Highway 4
- Features
- Wild Highway 4 high country · Remote granite & alpine lakes · Big self-supported days · Deep Sierra solitude
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Very remote, minimal services · Rough, rocky roads · High altitude, short season · Cold, sudden mountain weather
- Good for a first timer
- No
Gravel & Bikepacking detail
- Ride types
- adventure · bikepacking
- Surface
- rough
- Remoteness
- 4
- Riding
- Rugged forest roads off the wild Highway 4 corridor, climbing toward the Ebbetts Pass high country — remote granite, alpine lakes, and big self-supported days
- Terrain note
- 6,000–8,700 ft; rough remote roads; very short season; cold at night
- Camping
- Yes
- Intl tip
- Rugged forest roads off the wild, quiet Highway 4 corridor over Ebbetts Pass (Bear Valley/Lake Alpine). Rough dirt climbs through granite and lodgepole to alpine lakes and glacier-polished domes — remote high-country riding for self-sufficient adventurers. Committing: high altitude (6,000–8,700 ft), rough surfaces, few services, short season, fast-changing weather. Backcountry & campground camping. Wild, quiet Sierra grandeur.
- Trip lengths
- day · overnight · multi-day
The guide
The Highway 4 corridor over Ebbetts Pass is one of the wildest, least-traveled routes across the Sierra crest, and the forest r…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Ebbetts Pass & Bear Valley — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.47, -120.04