The top couple miles of Hwy 9, on the Santa Cruz side have been chip-sealed (tar + gravel). It's not covered in loose gravel, thankfully, but there's still a bunch of spots that are tarry, gravelly, or sanded, and the shoulders are a mess of loose gravel. It's from skyline to Shingle Mill: https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...5G4-ClbDExAL7OPgDGPxeZLsn9k8w&t=v&mra=ls&z=15 Be careful.
They ended up brushing off all the loose gravel, it's quite rideable up there now (I've been riding into work most days, and it's in good condition)