Yerba Buena Rd ~
Little Sycamore
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5 Star Technical:
A perfect 5 on our 5 scale
(...Incredible!)
The mighty Yerba Buena constitutes the best technical drive in Southern California. This route faithfully meanders the western summit of the Santa Monica portion of the transverse ranges, as though it attempts to follow it to its seaward terminus. If you don't enjoy this drive, then you'll certainly enjoy the many scenic vistas that overlook the Pacific Ocean to the south, and the inland valleys to the north. Fauna you encounter in this remote region of the transverse ranges are endangered.
Automakers frequently make use Yerba Buena to shoot television commercials of their cars. Yerba Buena is the most remote area in the southern Transverse Ranges.
Little Sycamore banks north off Mulholland Hwy exactly 1/4th of a mile west of Decker Canyon Road. Crossing the Ventura County Line, the FID changes to Yerba Buena Rd, a very tight 12 mile menagerie of 188 sucessive turns that crisscross the summit several times before plunging south to the Pacific Ocean at Ventura County Line Beach.
This is not a good place for sport bikes, grand turismo, or boutique automobiles. This drive requires as many as 10 shifts per mile. Not only do passengers frequently succumb to motion sickness, drivers oftentimes do, as well, especially at night. Many drivers succumb to disorientation. It's a moderate work out.
But, that's what I like about it... gets you into race-shape, very quickly. Works the muscles I can't exercise at the gym. Honing your skills here? You'll feel it. No matter how cold your old R-12 blows? Bring an extra shirt... By the time you reach Neptune's, back of your legs, and the back-side of your shirt will drip perspiration.
The asphalt surface is variable. Visibility is fair to good, but this area is prone to fog. In some instances drivers forgo a perfect apex to avoid bottoming out. This road rewards lightweight, agile sports cars with short gear ratios (stump pullers). And, it rewards effective heel and toe. The opportunities for heel and toe induced oversteer are abundant. There are many opportunities for the car to take air. For cars with long overhangs or dance floor suspensions, Yerba Buena takes no prisoners. An OEM ride height is optimal for this drive. This road is simply too much for automobiles heavier than 3200 lbs.
Yerba Buena is to Slalom as Cerro Noroeste is to downhill. Vehicles turbocharged in their fuel delivery fare poorly here. Long legged Porsches and Ferraris fare even worse. SWBs rule here. Turns are very tight, and successive. No car worth its salt will ever hit its terminal velocity on Yerba Buena. Thoroughbred automobiles become very clumsy on Yerba Buena. They'll use 1st gear for almost every turn. Only a professional driver in a Porsche or Ferrari might justify momentary engagement of 3rd gear, but doing so will subsequently be rewarded by the necessity of an awkward 3rd to 1st gear downshift in most exotic or boutique automobiles. Over this 12 mile drive, there are exactly 188 turns. Hence, Yerba Buena is murder on gearboxes, tires, and shock towers.
Looping counterclockwise to end the drive at Pacific Coast Highway is the only way to drive Yerba Buena, if not for the singular reason that Neptune's, a seafood grill at County line beach, serves as a principle beach front KGL where you can rest your cars and drivers not 50 meters overlooking a sea of anatomically correct females sunning themselves, shoreline to the Pacific Ocean.
General Note: This road is never patrolled, and you almost never encounter sport bikes (cafe racers don't do well here). But, extreme care should be exerted, in that it is a wilderness area, and you're apt to encounter hikers. Furthermore, the road is also used once a year for a cross country marathon. The only time the California Highway Patrol aggressively patrols this road is when they run that race. You'll see a start line and a finish line painted across the road, perhaps 20 kilometers apart.
If you please: Do not drive this road between 10:00pm and 6:00 am. These are observed quite hours adopted by the National Park Service. The least we can do is allow nature 8 hours free from our relentless, hedonistic pursuit. It's chaparal climax vegetation up there (fire-spore germination), so: Please... do not smoke, or light camp fires (...they'll throw you in jail... with our blessing!).
~ Pashnit's Roadbook: Yerba Buena
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