Five Best Scenic Drives Near L.A.
09-24-2016, 05:04 PM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Five Best Scenic Drives Near L.A.
I had wanted to do this trip from Chicago to L.A., but time constraints forced me to fly. I did get to rent a 2016 Camaro (V6) which, based on the ATS chassis, was very impressive on these roads. Can't wait to go back and drive them in the Z51. If you get the chance to get your Vette near these roads, take it!
http://sons-of-speed.com/blog1/2016/...rive-near-l-a/
http://sons-of-speed.com/blog1/2016/...rive-near-l-a/
09-25-2016, 12:06 AM
#2
I grew up in So. Cal. and still go back to visit the relatives, so I have driven most of these (some in the Vette.), and would like to add one.
The Ortega Hwy. (74). from San Juan Capistrano to Elsinore. From swallows to skydivers!!!
The Ortega Hwy. (74). from San Juan Capistrano to Elsinore. From swallows to skydivers!!!
09-25-2016, 02:14 AM
#3
Before I saw your post, I was just about to start a thread on how lucky we are to have roads like those in Southern California, even if we have to fight through traffic sometimes to get to them. My son and I drive through the canyons in Malibu almost every weekend, and then up Pacific Coast Highway to Ventura county past Point Magu. Definite targa off time!
On Mulholland Highway there are photographers set up to take your picture. You can go online and find it and buy it if you like. Here's one if us from two weeks ago from a photographer named Victory Jon.
On Mulholland Highway there are photographers set up to take your picture. You can go online and find it and buy it if you like. Here's one if us from two weeks ago from a photographer named Victory Jon.
09-25-2016, 11:02 AM
#4
Pro
Thread Starter
Before I saw your post, I was just about to start a thread on how lucky we are to have roads like those in Southern California, even if we have to fight through traffic sometimes to get to them. My son and I drive through the canyons in Malibu almost every weekend, and then up Pacific Coast Highway to Ventura county past Point Magu. Definite targa off time!
On Mulholland Highway there are photographers set up to take your picture. You can go online and find it and buy it if you like. Here's one if us from two weeks ago from a photographer named Victory Jon.
On Mulholland Highway there are photographers set up to take your picture. You can go online and find it and buy it if you like. Here's one if us from two weeks ago from a photographer named Victory Jon.
09-25-2016, 11:08 AM
#5
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Jedi-Jurist (09-25-2016)
09-26-2016, 04:19 PM
#6
Team Owner
It's no better - and often worse - on the weekends when the uninitiated slow the progress even more due to sight-seeing and scared-driver mentality. I won't drive on the Ortega on the weekends unless I am forced to.
Accidents on the Ortega are the bane of my existence - you just shut your engine off and sit for as long as it takes to clear (which is long) as the utter lack of viable alternate routes is a reality. And the accidents on Ortega are legend - the number of Mario Andretti wannabe's in Camrys and Civics assures frequent major, high-speed collisions and single car excursions off sharp bends in the road that end in sheer cliffs.
Not to mention the road hazards - tire punctures due to the detritus that bounces out of the beds of the myriad of work trucks that make up half the Ortega traffic will have you on a first name basis with your local tire shop owner. I had two rear tires replaced on my C7 due to major punctures over the past 6 months (thank God for road-hazard insurance). I had numerous punctures over the past years on my previous dd. It has become more frequent in the past 3 years due to the increase in traffic.
Aggressive drivers are also a major problem - I have been nearly run off the road on several occasions due to irate drivers who were pissed that I passed them in the passing zones
or were tying to get around me. A large percentage of drivers tail-gate on this road trying to intimidate the driver ahead to go faster when there's no way to go faster. So you see drivers 3 feet off someone's rear bumper for 20 or 30 miles straight.My advice - stay far away from the Ortega. It's not the scenic, fun drive it once was.
09-26-2016, 04:40 PM
#7
Wow!
That is very sad to hear.
That is very sad to hear.
09-29-2016, 03:51 PM
#8
Team Owner
I live in Lake Elsinore so I drive the Ortega every day on my commute to work and, sadly, it's not the wonderful drive it was 4 or 5 years ago when relatively few would drive it due to it's reputation as a killer highway and the small number of people who would use it as a route to work. I leave at 4:30-4:45 AM and it's already filled from end to end with commuters, dump trucks and semis at that time of day and it's even worse between 5-7 PM on the way home. Sometimes the traffic is so bad in the afternoon, it will be crawling at 5 mph for 20 miles and turn an hour drive into 2-3 hours.
It's no better - and often worse - on the weekends when the uninitiated slow the progress even more due to sight-seeing and scared-driver mentality. I won't drive on the Ortega on the weekends unless I am forced to.
Accidents on the Ortega are the bane of my existence - you just shut your engine off and sit for as long as it takes to clear (which is long) as the utter lack of viable alternate routes is a reality. And the accidents on Ortega are legend - the number of Mario Andretti wannabe's in Camrys and Civics assures frequent major, high-speed collisions and single car excursions off sharp bends in the road that end in sheer cliffs.
Not to mention the road hazards - tire punctures due to the detritus that bounces out of the beds of the myriad of work trucks that make up half the Ortega traffic will have you on a first name basis with your local tire shop owner. I had two rear tires replaced on my C7 due to major punctures over the past 6 months (thank God for road-hazard insurance). I had numerous punctures over the past years on my previous dd. It has become more frequent in the past 3 years due to the increase in traffic.
Aggressive drivers are also a major problem - I have been nearly run off the road on several occasions due to irate drivers who were pissed that I passed them in the passing zones or were tying to get around me. A large percentage of drivers tail-gate on this road trying to intimidate the driver ahead to go faster when there's no way to go faster. So you see drivers 3 feet off someone's rear bumper for 20 or 30 miles straight.
My advice - stay far away from the Ortega. It's not the scenic, fun drive it once was.
It's no better - and often worse - on the weekends when the uninitiated slow the progress even more due to sight-seeing and scared-driver mentality. I won't drive on the Ortega on the weekends unless I am forced to.
Accidents on the Ortega are the bane of my existence - you just shut your engine off and sit for as long as it takes to clear (which is long) as the utter lack of viable alternate routes is a reality. And the accidents on Ortega are legend - the number of Mario Andretti wannabe's in Camrys and Civics assures frequent major, high-speed collisions and single car excursions off sharp bends in the road that end in sheer cliffs.
Not to mention the road hazards - tire punctures due to the detritus that bounces out of the beds of the myriad of work trucks that make up half the Ortega traffic will have you on a first name basis with your local tire shop owner. I had two rear tires replaced on my C7 due to major punctures over the past 6 months (thank God for road-hazard insurance). I had numerous punctures over the past years on my previous dd. It has become more frequent in the past 3 years due to the increase in traffic.
Aggressive drivers are also a major problem - I have been nearly run off the road on several occasions due to irate drivers who were pissed that I passed them in the passing zones
or were tying to get around me. A large percentage of drivers tail-gate on this road trying to intimidate the driver ahead to go faster when there's no way to go faster. So you see drivers 3 feet off someone's rear bumper for 20 or 30 miles straight.My advice - stay far away from the Ortega. It's not the scenic, fun drive it once was.
I lived in San Juan just south of Ortega for 9 years before I moved to HI last Nov. It's a rarity to not get caught in awful traffic on the Ortega. Only getting worse since they started building homes at the base of the Ortega on the San Juan side. 14,000 new homes...its only going to get worse.
09-29-2016, 04:38 PM
#9
Bummer . I just found out the swallows don't go there anymore. 
09-29-2016, 05:28 PM
#10
Team Owner
09-30-2016, 12:55 PM
#11
Melting Slicks
I live in Lake Elsinore so I drive the Ortega every day on my commute to work and, sadly, it's not the wonderful drive it was 4 or 5 years ago when relatively few would drive it due to it's reputation as a killer highway and the small number of people who would use it as a route to work. I leave at 4:30-4:45 AM and it's already filled from end to end with commuters, dump trucks and semis at that time of day and it's even worse between 5-7 PM on the way home. Sometimes the traffic is so bad in the afternoon, it will be crawling at 5 mph for 20 miles and turn an hour drive into 2-3 hours.
It's no better - and often worse - on the weekends when the uninitiated slow the progress even more due to sight-seeing and scared-driver mentality. I won't drive on the Ortega on the weekends unless I am forced to.
Accidents on the Ortega are the bane of my existence - you just shut your engine off and sit for as long as it takes to clear (which is long) as the utter lack of viable alternate routes is a reality. And the accidents on Ortega are legend - the number of Mario Andretti wannabe's in Camrys and Civics assures frequent major, high-speed collisions and single car excursions off sharp bends in the road that end in sheer cliffs.
Not to mention the road hazards - tire punctures due to the detritus that bounces out of the beds of the myriad of work trucks that make up half the Ortega traffic will have you on a first name basis with your local tire shop owner. I had two rear tires replaced on my C7 due to major punctures over the past 6 months (thank God for road-hazard insurance). I had numerous punctures over the past years on my previous dd. It has become more frequent in the past 3 years due to the increase in traffic.
Aggressive drivers are also a major problem - I have been nearly run off the road on several occasions due to irate drivers who were pissed that I passed them in the passing zones or were tying to get around me. A large percentage of drivers tail-gate on this road trying to intimidate the driver ahead to go faster when there's no way to go faster. So you see drivers 3 feet off someone's rear bumper for 20 or 30 miles straight.
My advice - stay far away from the Ortega. It's not the scenic, fun drive it once was.
It's no better - and often worse - on the weekends when the uninitiated slow the progress even more due to sight-seeing and scared-driver mentality. I won't drive on the Ortega on the weekends unless I am forced to.
Accidents on the Ortega are the bane of my existence - you just shut your engine off and sit for as long as it takes to clear (which is long) as the utter lack of viable alternate routes is a reality. And the accidents on Ortega are legend - the number of Mario Andretti wannabe's in Camrys and Civics assures frequent major, high-speed collisions and single car excursions off sharp bends in the road that end in sheer cliffs.
Not to mention the road hazards - tire punctures due to the detritus that bounces out of the beds of the myriad of work trucks that make up half the Ortega traffic will have you on a first name basis with your local tire shop owner. I had two rear tires replaced on my C7 due to major punctures over the past 6 months (thank God for road-hazard insurance). I had numerous punctures over the past years on my previous dd. It has become more frequent in the past 3 years due to the increase in traffic.
Aggressive drivers are also a major problem - I have been nearly run off the road on several occasions due to irate drivers who were pissed that I passed them in the passing zones
or were tying to get around me. A large percentage of drivers tail-gate on this road trying to intimidate the driver ahead to go faster when there's no way to go faster. So you see drivers 3 feet off someone's rear bumper for 20 or 30 miles straight.My advice - stay far away from the Ortega. It's not the scenic, fun drive it once was.
The key to wrecks was to get past before the cops showed up otherwise you're there forever.
I only drive it occasionally now (retired) and off hours. Used to be a really fun road.
They have the Antonio Parkway intersection all screwed up now too. Built a bunch of houses and a new traffic light right there which causes east bound traffic to back up halfway to the 5 freeway. Two lanes merging to one at that light causing a big cluster. Another malfunction junction in SoCal.
I'm moving to northern NV come spring time and can't wait. All those amazing roads in the Sierra's with no traffic.
09-30-2016, 07:05 PM
#12
Melting Slicks
This is too bad. I live in Wildomar and up to about 4 years ago worked in RSM and took Ortega daily. I'd hit it at 4AM and was mostly construction worker pickups and everyone was hauling ***! If you weren't keeping up you'd better use the turn outs.
The key to wrecks was to get past before the cops showed up otherwise you're there forever.
I only drive it occasionally now (retired) and off hours. Used to be a really fun road.
They have the Antonio Parkway intersection all screwed up now too. Built a bunch of houses and a new traffic light right there which causes east bound traffic to back up halfway to the 5 freeway. Two lanes merging to one at that light causing a big cluster. Another malfunction junction in SoCal.
I'm moving to northern NV come spring time and can't wait. All those amazing roads in the Sierra's with no traffic.
The key to wrecks was to get past before the cops showed up otherwise you're there forever.
I only drive it occasionally now (retired) and off hours. Used to be a really fun road.
They have the Antonio Parkway intersection all screwed up now too. Built a bunch of houses and a new traffic light right there which causes east bound traffic to back up halfway to the 5 freeway. Two lanes merging to one at that light causing a big cluster. Another malfunction junction in SoCal.
I'm moving to northern NV come spring time and can't wait. All those amazing roads in the Sierra's with no traffic.