Pozo & La Panza Range
SLO backcountry · near Santa Margarita · Central Coast
Gravel & Bikepacking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Best season
- Spring (green) & fall; hot, dry summers
What is here
- Terrain
- foothills
- Amenities
- Historic Pozo Saloon · Empty La Panza backcountry · Los Padres oak country · Dispersed & forest camping
- Best for
- Remote SLO-backcountry adventure & bikepacking
- Features
- Legendary Pozo Saloon · Empty La Panza Range · Remote Los Padres roads · Backcountry solitude
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Remote, minimal services · Summer heat, very scarce water · Rough, rocky roads · Ticks, rattlesnakes
- Good for a first timer
- No
Gravel & Bikepacking detail
- Ride types
- adventure · bikepacking
- Surface
- rough
- Remoteness
- 4
- Riding
- Remote, rugged backcountry east of San Luis Obispo — rough forest roads through the empty La Panza Range and Los Padres oak country, anchored by a legendary old saloon
- Terrain note
- 1,500–3,000 ft; rough remote roads; hot, dry oak-and-chaparral country
- Camping
- Yes
- Intl tip
- Remote, rugged backcountry east of San Luis Obispo — rough forest roads through the empty La Panza Range and Los Padres oak country, anchored by the tiny outpost of Pozo and its legendary 1860s saloon (still serving cold drinks and BBQ). Deep solitude far from any town. Demanding: rough roads, very scarce water, summer heat, minimal services; best spring/fall. Dispersed/forest camping (good bikepacking). Empty, characterful adventure with an Old-West watering hole.
- Trip lengths
- day · overnight · multi-day
The guide
East of San Luis Obispo, past the last vineyards, the land empties into the rugged, little-known La Panza Range — a swath of Lo…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Pozo & La Panza Range — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 35.3, -120.37