Ojai, Carpinteria and the long way north
North and west of Los Angeles there is a set of full-day destinations DROC rides a few times a year: Ojai, Carpinteria, the Rock Inn near Castaic Lake, Paradise Valley Cafe, and the motorcycle museum at Solvang.
These are the longest one-day rides on the list short of an ADV tour. They are also the ones most affected by road closures: the classic Ojai route depends on Highway 33, which has spent long stretches shut.
The roads themselves
The prize is Highway 33 north out of Ojai: forty-odd miles climbing through rock cuts and tunnels into the Los Padres backcountry, empty most of the time, and unlike anything else within a day of Orange County. Highway 150 links Ojai across to Carpinteria and the coast, and Highway 1 brings you home the long way.
Highway 33 is open again. It spent a long stretch closed after the 2023 storms, which is why some of our older route plans deliberately skipped it and went to Carpinteria instead. It reopened before our September 2024 ride and the classic Ojai loop is back on.
It is a long way north. These are full-day plans with an early start, and the reason they earn it is that the 33 has no traffic on it once you are past the first few miles.
Worth knowing
- Check Highway 33 before planning anything around Ojai. The route plans note when it was open.
- Solvang and the motorcycle museum make a genuine destination rather than just a lunch stop.
- Start early. These days run long and the return leg is usually freeway.
- Highway 33 is back open. The workaround routes that skip it are kept for the record, not because you need them.
- Nothing to eat or fuel on the 33. Fill up in Ojai. The next reliable services are a long way north.
- The backcountry is exposed. Hot in summer, cold and wet in winter, with rockfall in the cuttings after rain.
- Start early. This is the longest day in the DROC route library and it is not close.
Every time we have ridden it
- Long ride to Ojai – September 2024, September 2024
- We ride twisties to Rock Inn & Lake Castaic, June 2024
- Long ride to Solvang, May 2024
- Ride Ortega, Lake Hemet, Lake Mathews, March 2024
- Ojai (but not Ojai) long ride, July 2023
Route plans
These are the actual route plans DROC has used, with the map for each. Ride leaders pick from these rather than inventing a route every time, which is why the same roads come up again: they work. Nothing stops you riding them on your own.
| Route | Area | Length | Hours | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carpintera, Ojai, (no HWY 33) | Carpintera | Full day | Route | |
| Ojai classic, via Hwy 33 | Ojai | Full day | Route | |
| Lake Mathews, Ortega, Paradise Valley | Paradise Valley | Full day | Route | |
| Rock Inn, Castaic Lake | Rock Inn | Full day | Route | |
| Solvang | Solvang Motorcycle museum | Full day | Route |
Ride it with us
Ground rules and hand signals are on the rides page.
Header photo of the Ojai Valley by Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized here for the web; this version is shared under the same licence.