The Ultimate Guide to Traveling the Burcham Flat Road
Burcham Flat Road (Forest Road 31) is a very scenic alternative to US-395 through the Walker River canyon located in Mono County, in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California.
Located in the Topaz Lake Valley, near the town of Coleville, the road is unpaved, narrow, pretty steep and with loose gravel. The area is remote and isolated; bears and mountain lions frequent the area. If you are an experienced rider you should be good, if new at it you can do it, but could be challenging.
The scenic drive is 23.97km (14.9 miles) long, running from Eastside Ln to US-395. It’s steep, hitting a 12% of maximum gradient through some of the ramps. The road tops out at 2.470m (8,103ft) above the sea level, so it’s usually accessible from May until November.
Pic: David Goulart