Gravel Biking Wawona to Signal Peak (Chowchilla Mountains)

This is a gravel bike ride from the famous historic Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park to the top of the highest point in the Chowchilla Mountains: Signal Peak.
The route exits Wawona, crossing the golf course, and up Chowchilla Mountain Road out of Yosemite National Park to enter the Sierra National Forest. It ascends easy dirt, gravel and partially-paved forest roads for about 3500 feet and 23 miles by end of day. You will cross Big Creek and Rush Creek and encounter various OHV (dirtbike/quad) trails as you pedal through the tall trees of the old growth forest.
The route arrives at its highest point of Signal Peak, approximately 7000' above sea level, where there stands the Signal Peak fire lookout tower. Visit the tower to meet the tower occupant Buddy and his little part-chihuahua dog Big Boy. From this vantage point you can take in the amazing 360 degree view. You will be able to see all the way down into the Central Valley west as well as to the high peaks of the Sierras off in the distance east.
On return to Wawona, this route takes one of the OHV trails down, 21E35 (Blackbird). This OHV trail, like the others, is like a very wide non-technical singletrack. It is a fun descent option for wide-tire gravel bikes or hardtail/cross-country mountain bikes.
The last return road back, 4S17 (Greens Mill), that connects back into the smooth Chowchilla Mountain Road, required a lot of dismounting. There were a lot of fallen trees and one section of road that was completely washed out on this currently closed road. It was not too big of a deal: it just took a little longer than if the road was fully bikeable.
Ride With GPS route:
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Gaia GPS track:
www.gaiagps.co...