My MCS had not been out in a while, so today I did the 79-74-243-I10 loop from Beaumont through Idyllwild (in SoCal). In addition to being a great drive, it has IMHO the best 1/2-mile of twisty road, a series of fast shallow esses that are heavily banked and have small rises between turns. It feels just like skiing moguls - the car unweights, rotates, and drops in to the next turn. To make it better, there is a passing lane the whole length, so you have two (three?) lanes to play with. I did it three times this afternoon - what a rush!

Check out the photo of the section from Google Earth. It is on Highway 74, about 10 miles out of Hemet and 1 mile before the intersection with 243. It's an "11"

 

SWEEEET, thats local to goaljnky and me. Maybe we should set up a "drive" with the mininuts. Long live the nuts!!!!

 

Turns 4-11 at Infineon

 

You ought to try this road.


That is if you don't mind 82 miles of motoring fun.

 

for us in SoCal.. you can try Glendora Moutain Road (the one on the right. The one on the left is what GMR leads to, which is a down hill 4-6 mile stretch):

 

Now we're getting some real useful info for ALL Mini owners!

There should be a book on roads just like these. I'd buy it today. Make them road trip destinations like the Dragon is.

 

Don't forget Highway 1 between Big Sur and San Simeon. I guess that's gotten crowded now. It was lotsa fun 30 years ago, but so was I.

 

Why settle for just 1/2 mile?

 

I grew up about 15 miles from there. I drove that road _a lot_ when I was in high school. In fact I totalled my first car back there, when I was 16, driving slightly in excess of the posted limit.

 

Ok, where are the pics of the kickass drives near Orlando, FL?

(yes, I know the real reason )

 

DrBob89:

You are so right about that section of Highway 74!!! A little bit of heaven for the MINI. What is different about that road is the two lanes and the perfect pavement through that section. You don't have to be stuck behind that line of trucks and SUV's.

I "sometimes" envy the sport bikers who can do the "superbike pass". On Palomar South Grade - up or down - I can keep up with many of them. When it's real tight - 4 wheel traction beats 2. Sportbikes don't do Autocross.

Then slow traffic - and they can (and do) pass almost instantly over the double yellow and are gone. Illegal? Yes Unsafe? Of course, especially if you can't see far enough ahead. Their rapid acceleration makes that "less" dangerous.

We have to depend on the kindness of others and hope that they pull over in a turnout. And a lot of times they do. But when they won't pull over for 10 miles on a canyon road..... <rant mode OFF>

Anyway, I am headed up there today to check out a run for SCMM to the Tamale Festival in Indio and then lunch in Idyllwild. Hope to meet some MINI's!

 

Glendora Mountain Road is cool - - - - when it's open!

 

Juan -

Glendora Mountain Road (GMR) - the better one IMHO - is closed to large (motorized?) vehicles officially through Dec. 31, 2005. Open to road cyclists, mountain bikers, and hikers. Will it ever be open again to cars ?

Glendora Ridge Road (GRR) is definitely open now from Mt. Baldy village and connects back through to East Fork and Azusa Canyon.

But no line in the middle of that road for most of it and many, many blind corners. There is some traffic on it, some rocks, possible critters - PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!

 

there's A LOT of roads like that in socal....more like 14miles back to back
in malibu if you put them together plus some VERY FAST sweepers you
can take at..well, you don't take it at those speeds on this site..

to test your brakes, take tuna canyon fast...

 

Craig, I guess we lucked out that time we got to drive it eh?

That Palomar Mountain road is pretty cool too. I'm also trying to remember the one we did to Indio's Tamale Fest a couple of years ago. (The one that ended up by Palm Springs?)

Reading this thread is getting me antsy to get out and DRIVE!!!!

. . . . maybe I'll sneak out this afternoon.

-j/c

 

I can imagine y'all trying that on Sheridan Road.

 

Juan -

That's the other end of 74 - Palms to Pines Highway- where it goes down into Palm Desert to 111. I am just getting ready to go - PM me and we'll do some Motoring! Yes, and a target rich enviroment for some great pictures too!

 

hahaha sheridan is nothing vs tuna canyon.

 

kenchan -

You're right, there are lots of great roads in SoCal. It's just that particular 1/2 mile section of 74 that is golden. Tuna Canyon too.

In California, we are blessed to have www.pashnit.com A little light on SoCal roads, but Central and Northen California - AMAZING :impatient

All hail Pashnit!! Tim for Governator!!

 

I Totally agree CFMINI I've known about that site for awhile now and have taken many of those roads it suggests before...I'm particularly fond of Yerba Buena road to south on Mullholland hwy. Its a loop that starts and ends on the PCH. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes (depending on how gutsy you are) and I could do it all day long if gas wasn't so high. Its full of a lot of long sweeping turns and plenty of ups and downs, great scenery and only one or two of those blasted Hairpins. I guess it can be considered a beginners loop but its also quite fun and ALMOST worry free. The last time I did it was the middle of the summer on a sunday afternoon and saw only one other car (a WRX). Other than that loop than just about any road that goes between the 1 and the 101 through the Santa Monica Mountains is great. Topanga Canyon, Deer creek, Los Virgines, Malibu Canyon, Kanan-Dume,Hwy 23, and of course Mullholland Highway itself. Have fun out there and maybe I'll see you.

 

This is a great website to look for info on canyon carving

http://www.mulhollandraceway.org/

tOpGearNut

 

Great discussion here. There are certainly many great roads in SoCal & elsewhere that compare with the Idyllwild loop.

However, its the "ski run" analogy that I'm getting at in my original post. The esses on 74 are a short section of public road that I relish and will repeat several times the same day, driving back down to the bottom and blasting back up the same 1/2-mile "ski run".

Are there any other such stretches of road that you treat the same way, or am I just wierd?

 

DrBob89 -

I just got back from doing 79 south from the 10 in Beaumont - Gilman Springs Road to go around Hemet - then that wonderful section of 74 - then 74 all the way to 111 to Palm Desert. Topped off and went back the same way. That 1/2 mile section is golden - going uphill or downhill.

Other fav's - Red Box Road up to Mt. Wilson off ACH. There is one section where you can "see" about 5 turns ahead - magic . Counted 104 turns in 4.5 miles. Saw Jay Leno in his Porsche Carrera GT up there 3 weeks ago. He was going down just as we were going up the hill.

There are some great roads in the Bakersfield area. Caliente-Bodfish road. Look it up on Pashnit. And up there, very little traffic. Just don't break down!! All time favorite is the 22 mile section of Highway 1 way up in NorCal above Ft. Bragg between Rockport and Leggett. Counted 357 turns in 22 miles AND a middle section where I got up to speeds we can't talk about on NAM. I have never been back to the Dragon in Tenn-NC, but this one is a whole lot closer for us left coasters. Highly recommended.

 

Wouldn't that be any road OUT of Florida?

 

Anyone else in socal ever drive on Lyons Road in Long Beach? Or maybe it's Seal Beach. I forget. It connects Studebaker to PCH just northwest of what used to be the Rockwell on the west side of the Seal Beach Armory. It was crazy. All cragged, bumpy, twisty, and if you went more than 30, you were bound to catch air in a few places. Unfortunately, they repaved it about 5 or 6 years ago, and it lost most of the entertainment value it held.