Welcome to Porsche Roads

Porsche cars are not meant to be driven in bumper-to-bumper traffic on 101, or to follow 18-wheelers on Interstate 5. Sure they can do it, but what is the point? There are better stretches of highway that can best be described as "Porsche roads". They have the right combination of good pavement, scenery and curves that make the drive enjoyable, especially in a car that handles well, accelerates well, and brakes well.

On this site, you will find descriptions of interesting roads to drive in your Porsche. Most of the destinations are in Northern California, but there are and will be exceptions as I travel around the State and discover new interesting stretches of asphalt. You are welcome to send me your suggestions about roads I should drive.  

For each road, I have provided a perfectly subjective rating, on a scale of 1 star (*) to 5 stars (*****), of: 

• Twistiness: this refers to the frequency and number of turns. If you prefer straight roads, the freeway beckons

• Pavement quality: Caltrans' construction and maintenance schedule is pretty uneven. My GT3 has a very low front dam, so unless your car is truly hugging the carpet, you should be fine.  Keep in mind that pavement condition changes so I do not promise that you will find the same thing I drove over. Be careful. 

• Scenery: this is self-explanatory. Might as well enjoy the trip as well as the drive. 

If you want more roads, a book called Destination Highways - Northern California is a good source of ideas. It is written for motorcycle touring, but I find that great motorcycle roads and great Porsche roads have a lot in common: not much traffic, good driving surfaces, technical corners, interesting things to see, and fun places to visit along the way. 

Each of these articles were originally published in The Nugget, the newsletter of the Golden Gate Region of the Porsche Club of America. If you are not a member yet, join us.

Have fun touring the area, be safe, and keep an eye out for the bears.

Claude