This file describes Hwy 152 over Pacheco Pass, connecting Silicon Valley to Hwy 99 and Interstate 5.
For context, please see the Central Valley overview.
Click here for GPS waypoints in Waypoint+ format (NAD83, decimal degrees) with descriptive comments, in a popup window.
Waypoints along Hwy 152 (near Pacheco Pass) are plotted in several
images to clarify the text below.
Pacheco Pass is the most popular way to reach the Central Valley
from Silicon Valley. San Francisco residents may choose to take
I-580 through Livermore to I-5 instead. For Pacheco Pass, take
Hwy 101 south from the Bay Area to Gilroy, ignore westbound 152,
and follow the PACHECO PASS 152 route waypoints.
The section from Gilroy to Pacheco Pass is mostly 2-lane
with no passing, often clogged with Friday evening traffic, and
occasionally stops completely when a produce truck spills a load.
NOTE: Waypont CTNWDC is a rest stop of last resort for those returning
to the Bay Area too late at night to make it: just west of the Romero
Visitor Center (on the east side of the pass) a driveway goes through a
cut in the hill, at a sign marked Upper Cottonwood Creek Wildlife Area.
This gravel parking lot is shielded from lights and noise by the hill,
but park there at your own risk!
Hwy 152 is a very direct route to either I-5 or Hwy 99,
and the part between those freeways is mostly 4 lane.
If you like Basque food, and you want a large meal, turn
north from Hwy 152 on 6th Street in Los Banos (at waypoint BANOS).
At the corner of 6th and H is the Woolgrowers Hotel, where
vegetarians will be appalled and carivores will be sated.
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