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Glendora Ridge Road
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The Glendora Ridge Road is is one of the best kept secrets in southern
California: 12 miles of paved, well-maintained, twisting,
low-traffic road nestled in the San Gabriel Mountains just north of the
first mountain ridge that runs parallel to the San Bernardino and 210
Freeways. What's striking about this road is its
simultaneous desolation and nearness to the Pomona Valley. This road
is literally in my back yard (I live in Upland). It's 30
minutes from downtown Los Angeles. It has 234 curves in its 12
miles. Yep, I counted them. I
started this page several years ago, and I grabbed photos here using a
variety of cameras: Manual Minoltas, a Nikon N70, an F5, a D70, a
D200, and even an old Sony Mavica. Glendora
Ridge Road is a unique place, attracting motorcyclists, bicyclists, and
the odd sports car or two. It's a great ride. |
| On the way up to the Glendora Ridge Road.
Getting there is simple. Take the Mountain Avenue Exit off of the
10 Freeway near Upland, go north, and follow the signs to Mt. Baldy.
This is the road on the way up to Mt. Baldy.
I grabbed these first few
photos with my Nikon film camera, and then I scanned the prints with a
cheap scanner. You'll see a big difference in image quality on
this page due the different cameras and scanning techniques.
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| And another. There are two tunnels on the road to Mt.
Baldy Village. Driving through them is cool. You can beep your
horn in the tunnel and hear the reverberations. It's like being a
kid again. |
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Just as you enter Mt. Baldy Village, this sign for the
Glendora Ridge Road appears on the left. |
| You'll only go about a half-mile before you hit Cow Canyon
Saddle. It's a neat place to stop to get a feel for the length and
breadth of the valley skirted by Glendora Ridge Road. |
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| A shot showing
the ridge...the road snakes along the top of the mountains for a bit on
its run from Mt. Baldy Village to the intersection of Glendora Mountain
Road and East Fork Road, up above Glendora. This is a view looking east. That's my KLR in the
foreground. This is a shot I grabbed with my D70 Nikon.
Check out the curves.
On the ridge section here, you can see pretty well ahead to know what's
coming.
Many curves in other parts
of Glendora Ridge Road are blind corners, and there is no
centerline. You need to watch out for squids coming from the
opposite direction drifting into your lane.
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Another shot
looking east, showing the ridge. |
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This is my old 1982 CBX Honda.
I bought it used in 1994, kept if for 10 years, and sold it for about what
I had paid for it. The CBX was an amazing
machine. It has been called the Ferrari of motorcycles, but I
like to think of Ferraris as the CBXs of the automotive world. The CBX has an air-cooled six-cylinder 1047cc engine, six
carburetors, double-overhead cams, and a list of features that made the
CBX a technological marvel in 1982. The CBX was 20 years old when I
took this photo. It was a magnificent motorcycle and it drew a crowd wherever I
took it. I had a lot of fun with it.
I show a lot of different
motorcycles on this page, several of which are mine. I've owned
several bikes over the years. |
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Typical
views along the Glendora Ridge Road...
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| Glendora Ridge
Road has several areas where the cliffs and overhangs provide shaded
areas, so even on a bright day you can get some great shots without harsh
shadows by shooting in the shade.
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Here's a shot looking west. The valley
runs east and west. Glendora Ridge Road skirts the mountains on
the left (or south) side of the valley. There's a dirt road that
skirts the valley on the north side, but it's not open to the public (the
dirt road runs about eight miles to an abandoned tungsten mine). |
| A dual
sport bike up on Glendora Ridge Road. |
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A couple on a
600cc Honda. |
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My old Harley up on GRR.
I grabbed this shot with a Minolta X700 and a 28mm Minolta lens. That
Harley sure was a good-looking bike.
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Another shot
of my KLR along Glendora Ridge Road.
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After running west about about
12 miles, you arrive at the intersection of GRR, Glendora Mountain Road,
and East Fork Road. If you go straight, Glendora Ridge Road becomes Glendora
Mountain Road, and it meanders
down into Glendora. If you turn right (to take East Fork Road),
it continues on to Highway 39 above Azusa. This
intersection is a popular meeting spot. There's a wide spot in the
road where
people gather to talk and take in the view. On clear days in the
winter, you can see the Pacific Ocean from here.
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My friend Robert
and his Triumph Bonneville. |
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You can see a
lot of wildlife along Glendora Ridge Road, including snakes, lizards,
deer, bobcat, bear, and even tarantulas. I grabbed this shot with a
Minolta X700 and a 28mm lens. I saw him (or her?) when I was
up there on my old Harley, and I stopped to grab a few shots. I got
right over it, with the camera maybe 8 inches or so above this
spider. I later learned these things can jump 10 inches straight up! |
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My friend
Dave and his 95th Anniversary Tour Glide... 
You see
all kinds of bikes up here...the supermotos (like this KTM) and dual-sport
spikes do real well on this tight, twisty road.
Honda repli-racers.
On this road, a dual-sport actually is a lot better handling than a rice
rocket.
And more than a
few interesting cars....here's another shot of that Subie. Check out the
carbon fiber hood.
Minis drifting through a
corner. These are real Minis. Not yuppie Minis.
I've done the
round trip on a bicycle. It's a real workout. |
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The stop sign
at the GRR, GMR, and East Fork roads.
Who does this kind of
stuff?
Hillbillies? Wal
Mart shoppers?
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This was a shot
I grabbed on the way back down, in one of the tunnels on Mt. Baldy Road. |
| This is the Mt. Baldy lodge, about 200 yards
north of the turn
for the Glendora Ridge Road. It's a cool place to stop for
breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
There are usually a bunch of bikes parked out front belonging to riders
who just ran the Glendora Ridge Road, or who are about to. The Mt.
Baldy Lodge interior is rustic mountain decor...no phony restaurant theme
gimmicks...just the real thing. |
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| The Glendora Ridge Road is about an hour
or two ride, including
time for stops and a cup of coffee or two. It can get cold up there
in the morning, even in the summer.
In the morning, it is best to take
GRR west from Mt. Baldy to either
Glendora or Azusa (to keep the sun out of your eyes).
In the
afternoon, it is best to take GRR east from Azusa (just exit Azusa Avenue
from the 210 Freeway and go north) to Mt. Baldy.
The road's curves make it
tempting to go a little faster than you should, but my advice is to take a
more relaxed pace and don't go into the corners too hard. Many of
the turns are blind corners, and as mentioned earlier, you never know if
there's a squid pushing too hard coming the other way.
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