Morgan Territory Road

Morgan Territory Road in Contra Costa County is a picturesque and winding road known for its beauty. This 14.7-mile road runs from Marsh Creek Road to Manning Road, going in a north-south direction. There are stories of it being haunted. The fully paved, one-way road features narrow and curvy sections, adding to its unique and challenging ride.

The early parts of Morgan Territory Road are not very different from the last miles of Marsh Creek Road. Your first four miles of Morgan Territory Road are on a similar country two-lane, passing by a sparse sprinkling of ranches and country homes through sunny landscapes with only patchy tree cover. After that begin the isolated miles of this road where it continues as a narrow, unmarked one-lane road for 10 miles, as I've already mentioned. Traffic is close to non-existent on this stretch, especially if you don't count other cyclists. The pavement quality also declines and becomes more inconsistent in this long stretch. Much of Morgan Territory Road winds through a strip of relatively dense riparian woodland along Marsh Creek. If you have a need for shade, this is the only part of the ride where you have any real hope of finding any.

The other thing that happens as you head further into Morgan Territory Road is an increase in the slope. You'll notice this on the elevation profile plot above too, but the part of the ride that begins when you turn onto Camino Diablo Road is effectively one long and very slow "approach climb" heading up to the ride's second significant climb. This is the tougher climb of the two, by far. The slope slowly picks up as Morgan Territory Road approaches the higher reaches of Marsh Creek anyway, but things take a distinct turn toward the more serious as soon as you arrive at the gates that make up the unmarked trailhead of the Morgan Territory trail ride listed on this site. Though there are brief breaks along the way, nearly the next 2.5 miles after that point is a fairly tough stretch. The road departs from the creek and starts climbing along the hillside, with the tree cover thinning out along the way. The overall grade of this portion of the road comes to less than 6%. The thing is that this grade is not very even, and there is no shortage of short spots where the grade exceeds 10%. Some of the steepest sections comes very close to the end of the climb. When you see the well-signed parking lot of the Morgan Territory Regional Preserve, it's your indication that the climb will be over in a few moments.

When Morgan Territory Road slowly begins a descent after the end of that climb, you're back in grassy, open country. Residences start showing up on either side of the road too, and the sense of wilderness is somewhat lost (though the road itself remains a one-lane for quite a few more miles). This descent on Morgan Territory Road becomes more beautiful the further down you go. At one point on your way down, long views over soft, rolling hills open up toward Livermore Valley. If you do the ride when the grass is green, as I was fortunate enough to do, any snapshots you take will be postcard-pretty around that location. The road starts a scenic, fast, narrow, and winding hillside descent after that spot that is unforgettable. For many riders, this may be the highlight of the ride. These are also some of the steepest stretches of this route, which is why the counter-clockwise traversal of this route (as shown here) is the best way to avoid the route's steepest climbs—a fact that's quite apparent from the elevation profile of the ride as well.

That gorgeous descent eventually brings you back to the flat bottom of Livermore Valley, where you'll quickly know you've arrived when the roads become ruler straight again and aligned along the cardinal directions.