It’s no secret among motorcyclists that Stewarts Point-Skaggs Springs Road near Lake Sonoma is the place for speed and thrills.

It has been for years, so it should come as no surprise to motorcyclists as well that the CHP is aware of the racetrack-type draw of the rural road and is cracking down.

Using part of a federal grant the CHP received, the Sonoma County office is assigning extra officers on overtime to patrol the road, CHP Officer Jon Sloat says.

The CHP has stepped up traffic enforcement on the road before, and Sloat says “people are testing the waters again to see if we’re going to be there, and we will be.”

The latest extra patrols started about two weeks ago and will continue for at least a few weeks more, he says.

Common tickets for motorcyclists are for speeding and crossing double yellow lines, he says.

To get an idea of the excitement Stewarts Point-Skaggs Springs creates for motorcyclists, here’s a description of the road on advrider.com by a motorcyclist. It’s a few years old, but the comment still captures the thrill although some of the road conditions may have changed:

From Highway 1, “it starts with several miles of typical CA paved goat trail followed by at least 25 miles of the finest on-camber, intersection-free, high-speed sweepers. There are two ‘slow’ turns marked with 20 mph advisories, but you can get though them about 60 mph if you don’t mind dragging you peg feelers a little. One is the only seriously decreasing radius turn on the whole road. Take care–you will be totally zoned when you get to it. This is the closest thing to track riding on the road, I have ever experienced. The road surface quality is awesome, some of the corners even have ‘run off,’ (although some have guardrails and cliffs). Best to go on the weekdays and usually there will be no cars or cops there. It has become popular with sport bikers in recent years, so there has been some police presence on the weekends. Best to take a slow run through your first time and check for cops. You will never see them in the goat trail section. Overall it is a great ride. ”

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