Bike Routes
Most of the bike facilities (Class 1, 2 and 3) in Humboldt County are located in the greater Humboldt Bay area. The Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) publishes the Humboldt Bay Area Bike Map for unincorporated Humboldt County and the cities in the greater Humboldt Bay area. This map is great tool to become familiar with where bike facilities are located.
In addition to the bike facilities on the roadway network, there are several Class 1 trails in Humboldt County. The most significant is the Humboldt Bay Trail which is a component of the regional Great Redwood Trail and the state-wide California Coastal Trail. The Humboldt Bay Area Bike Map is an excellent on-line mapping resource for identifying existing segments of the Humboldt Bay Trail and other regional bike facilities and trails.
One of the "bucket list" trips for cyclists is travelling the California Coast. There are several resources that can help you plan a trip of a lifetime. One is researching US Bicycle Route 95 which runs from San Francisco to the Oregon border.
Humboldt County is a remote and rural area. As such there are limited options for biking that do not include using freeways. Many freeways in Humboldt County allow bikes on the road. Check with Caltrans for which freeways allow bikes. More information can be found in the Caltrans 2021 Active Transportation Plan. In addition, there are numerous County roads that parallel US 101. When deciding to use a County road instead of the state highway, be advised that most County roads do not have bike lanes or paved shoulders; and the pavement condition is often lower than what is found on state highways. Google street view is a great tool to give you an idea of the condition of a county road to help you decide on a particular route to take. Google street view has gone down a majority of the County roads. Therefore, if you can’t use street view, then the route may be a private road. Information on the County maintained road system can be found here.
Caltrans District 1 (which covers Humboldt County) has a webpage for bicycle touring and also publishes a Touring Guide [26 MB].
Public Works is aware that navigation apps (like Google maps) attempt to route bikes through private roads that often have locked gates and are posted with no trespassing signs. If you are not familiar with the route that your navigation app is suggesting, driving the route ahead of time may help eliminate the need to backtrack due to poor directions provided by your navigation app.
The Humboldt County maintained road system contains over 1,200 miles of road. The majority of the roads are paved. However, about 300 miles are not paved. In addition, it is not uncommon for portions of paved roads to have stretches that are not paved. Driving as much of the route that is open to vehicular traffic in advance may help you in planning your bike trip.
This webpage contains links to non-county webpages. Please report broken links to PublicWorksPermits@co.humboldt.ca.us