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If I recall correctly, the road to the top is relatively tame because it was built to deliver construction materials to the observatory, and that was before mot
by fennecfoxen 6y ago
If I recall correctly, the road to the top is relatively tame because it was built to deliver construction materials to the observatory, and that was before motor vehicles.
- chillers 6y agoI visited last November from the San Jose side, and the road was a nightmare. It's a small, windy road through the mountains with little visibility. I could see it being extremely difficult to navigate with firetrucks as it took me quite a while with my Prius.
- option 6y agothat road is motorcycle heaven - love it. But, yes, its a miracle that firefighters were able to stop a fire there
- ericbarrett 6y agoThe front road (Mt. Hamilton Road / Hwy 130, starting at Alum Rock) is very winding because the grade was limited to allow horse & cargo carriage to summit the peak. Limiting the grade means extra turns. The back side roads, down to Livermore or Patterson, as well as the faster front cutoff (Quimby Rd) were built for vehicles and are much steeper and a little straighter. Source: Grew up there
- bagacrap 6y agospecifically they needed to deliver very large and heavy mirrors for the telescope itself
- mauvehaus 6y agoLenses, actually. The Lick Observatory is home to the second largest refracting telescope in the world. It’s a sight to behold, and the road is a stunning drive in it’s own right as noted. ETA: it’s an ass-kicker going up on a bicycle. It’s 22ish miles up, with like one brief respite near the county park.