Best driving roads in Southern California

[nordwulf]

I used to work in Irvine and live in Foothill Ranch a few years ago. While the amount of traffic was mind-boggling at times, there were also great driving roads, especially in the mountains and desert.

One of my favorites was up Palomar Mountain and went there many times with motorbike and Saab. The South Grade has many sharp turns and can be very challenging. East Grade is a bit easier but just the same kind of fun. Very addictive road.





The Palomar Observatory is a nice place to stop. You can go inside of the big dome and see the telescopes.

[zags]

nice I live in L.A. and wasn't even aware of what looks like a sweet drive.

[rpiereck]

Go up Cajon Pass on the I-15 and get of on State Road 138, on either direction. Going north will take you to the Los Angeles Mountains and it's fairly deserted with stunning views and a road that when maintained is a bliss to drive on; you have the option of then heading west to LA or east towards Palmdale. If you go south on 138 you head into the San Bernardino Mountains and for a few miles the road is very twisty and loads of fun to drive at a good pace. From there you reach Silverwood Lake, Lake Arrowhead, past and around Crestline (sweet little town with stunning views), Running Springs (moe views and tight road with sharp corners), and further up Big Bear. From Big Bear you can head south towards San Bernardino and Orange County, or north towards Antelope Valley and Victorville. Either of these drive are great.

[nordwulf]

I have done the drive to Big Bear a few times. It's interesting to see how the scenery changes from desert to more of a northern feel with the lake and different type of trees. And snow in winter.

Another great road is Ortega Highway (74) in Orange and Riverside counties which goes through the Cleveland Mountains. It runs from San Juan Capistrano to Lake Elsinore. It gets pretty busy though and it isn't too much fun getting stuck behind slow traffic when you just want to go fast through the turns. Passing on these kind of roads is easy on a motorbike, not so much in a car. But the power and handling in my 9-3 Aero 2.8T sure helped.

From Lake Hemet, you can go on towards Palm Desert and Palm Springs, another one of my favorite roads through the mountains with stunning views. Picture below was taken east from Hemet on the way to Palm Desert. I sure miss the nice weather and great roads in SoCal.