Backroad Adventures





This route was part of our Bay Area Miata Association (BAMA) Picnic. It takes about an hour starting from Pinto Lake in the Watsonville, California area. It passes through fields with apples and strawberries, the redwood forest, up a winding mountain road (at times with only one lane), tops out in a state park on Mt. Madonna. Stop for a picnic or drop into the Mt. Madonna Inn for something to eat or drink. Certainly you will want to drink in the view of the Pajaro Valley. Come down a winding road and enjoy the view back to Pinto Lake.


BAMA Picnic Run

Mileage Directions Comments
0 Reset trip odometer at stop sign exiting the park. (There are two exits. This is from the one with a guard shack.) Turn left on Green Valley Road.  
0.3 Veer to the left. Stay on Green Valley  
0.6 Left on Pioneer. Green sign just prior says "Corralitos 3 miles".  
2 Stop sign. Straight. Turns into Varini  
2.9 Stop sign. Right on Corralitos.  
4.3 Turn right on curve before stop sign on Browns Valley Rd. Corralitos Market and Sausage Company on the left makes their own sausage. Quite a variety. They are famous locally.
4.7 Stop Sign. Left on Brown Valley Rd. (Do not turn on Amesti to the right.) You will enjoy our Redwood forest through here.
7.1 There will be occasional stop signs for one lane roads. The result of El Nino is many washed away roads.
10.4 At Redwood Rd, Brown Valley turns into Hazel Dell. Stay on main road. A little show of our fall colors.
11.5 Left on Mt. Madonna Rd. There is a yellow house up the hill on the left. You'll get to climb and curve. Narrow road with two way traffic. Honking on blind curves is a good thing to do. Be careful.
12.3 Still on same road. Look to right for a fantastic view of the valley.
14.1 Stop Sign. Tight right on Pole Line Rd.  
    This is about the half way point.
14.4 Bath rooms on right. You do not need to pay a fee passing through this park. Careful with your speed. We are in a State Park.
14.8 Keep right.  
16.4 Stop sign. Exiting park. Right on Hecker Pass Rd.  
16.5 Mt. Madonna Inn. Suggest pulling into back parking lot for a view of the valley. There will be some more views to come but the driver will not have time to look.
21 Right on Casserly. (Fruit market on the corner)  
  Stay on Casserly at Webb. About a mile down, note the flower farm on the right.
23.1 Stay right as Casserly becomes Mt. Madonna Rd. Do not turn left at the old corner store.
24.5 Stay left to Hazel Dell. Do not turn right on Mt. Madonna.
25.1 Left on Green Valley Rd. Do not go straight where sign says "One Lane Road".
  CAUTION! If there is still gravel on this road, it will be easy to have the back end drift on the tight turns. This whole area is known for its apples.
29.3   Check out the old school house on the left.
29.4 Stay straight at the intersection.  
30.2 Turn right to stay on Green Valley.  
30.4 Turn right into Pinto Lake Park. Blind turn. Slow and start looking.



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