Highway 101 - Palmer Rd

From Hwy 101, Palmer Rd is approx. 10.6 miles south from the Betteravia Rd exit in Santa Maria and approx. 4.6 miles north of Los Alamos. 3D Contour Map Palmer Rd is well marked on Hwy 101 from both directions.

Entering into Palmer Rd. The road is dry and in fair condition, although patching and a few pot holes can be found. The initial scenery is that of wine vineyards and their green color provides a nice contrast to the dry, summertime conditions of Central California.

Heading into the thick of the vineyards, you can see some patching on the road here. However, it's in good enough condition to be quite fun.

Soon you get into the oilfield wastelands of Santa Maria. Ok wasteland may be too strong a term, as many of these small operations are still running, but their machinery litters the countryside and you are constantly reminded of their presence.

Down into the valley on some straights....

Passing some oil tanks and pumps on some nice twisties: Blech.

Heading through some gentle twisties, road conditions are fair but a bit bumpy.

Now your down into the valley, riding through some browned, rolling hills.

The Cat Canyon Rd intersection. Cat Canyon is a twisty canyon route, on fairly poor road conditions, which will take you back to Hwy 101 from this junction. You can only go one way unto Cat Canyon from Palmer Rd.

The last couple miles of Palmer Rd offer some excellent road conditions; they have been freshly repaved sometime in the year 2002. Gentle sweepers and long straightaways take you through the valley.

End of the line. This is the Foxen Canyon Rd intersection. At this point, Palmer road turns into Foxen Canyon Rd. From here you can go south-east on Foxen Canyon Rd, through some terrific twisties in the wine country, or continue straight ahead (on Foxen Canyon/Betteravia) to reach Hwy 101 in Santa Maria.

Highway 101