Angeles Crest Highway

Provided there's no traffic, there was a time when you can literally be up in the mountains and the snow, and get to the beach within an hour of driving.

Angeles Crest Highway is so iconic as a drive. You can use it to cut through to Palmdale, as some commuters do, or go on a scenic rally drive to Wrightwood, whenever the whole roadway is open.

It is a favorite highway for motor enthusiasts--- which also means you'll see your fair share of auto and motor cycle accidents if you come up here enough. It does snow, it does get cloudy. And sections of the road are prone to weathering gravel from the wind and rain. I've had to pick up a friend who crashed her car here at 2:00 AM, because her car (and skill level) was not up to rainy conditions that turned into snow. I've seen people airlifted from a chopper because of motorcycle accidents.

So keep your wits about you, the roads range from swooping chicanes and blind hairpins, and long stretches of road where you can really hit 100mph+ if you're not paying attention to your tach.

One of the major turnouts before Mt. Wilson is a favorite among all the popular auto youtubers and IG influencers: from Magnus Walker, Singer reimagined 911's out for roadtesting, Hagerty, Jay Leno, Smoking Tire, Donut Media, and on and on and on.

Mt. Wilson is a great spot, just be careful of lots or rocks that litter the roadway. If you come up here on a gloomy, overcast day, you'll be well above the clouds, as if among the angels and the Greek gods.

And there's so many great hiking spots. The views, the trails. The crispness of the air, the scent of pine.

Drive, hike, meditate, retreat. Acclimate and soak in the pure qi and prana, ki and mana.

I bow down before you in divine reverance.

Angeles Crest Highway provides such a beautiful view of the mountains. The road is incredibly windy and you need to be careful when navigating, but it's worth the drive simply to connect with the scenery around you.

There are several areas where you can pull over and take in the environment, and there are even trail heads you can pull into farther up Angeles Crest Highway if you make it far enough. Just make sure you don't take the turns too fast and you drive carefully (cannot stress that enough)! I've seen (really dumb) people race up/down Angeles Crest Highway, so be on the lookout for idiots behind the wheel.

As many times as I've been to LA, I found out about this spot from Car and Driver. One of the top 50 things, places etc. car enthusiasts should do, visit/experience.

I must have picked the perfect time as it wasn't busy around 1 pm on a Tuesday although many more cars were going up around 4 as I was making my downhill return-possibly to catch the sunset. Would imagine it gets busy on weekends also.

Late July seems like a good time to go as it was open all the way to the summit close to the Waterman ski hills. Temps varied from a high of 87 to a low of 79 in late July.
Multiple picnic areas (Red Box has an amazing view), hiking areas (although a few were closed due to fire warning) & turning areas where you can stop and take in the view.
Also, you get an LA skyline view on the way down.

It took me about 4 hours round trip (about 66 miles) but I made a lot of stops to take in the view and take pictures (photo opps are endless!). Some spots it was just me with the exception of the occasional car passing by-peaceful for sure. (& at some point phone signals are non-existent)

Some of the drivers were for sure going faster than they should given the winding roads/fun drive so good to be more alert than usual.
I won't post many scenic pictures as this is one to experience firsthand.

I look forward to coming back at another time of the day and different parts of the year. Overall, an amazing experience & not to be missed!

Wow can't believe I've never been here before! My guy brought me here yesterday and the views were breathtaking. He loves driving his Porsche fast here, can get a bit scary for me, but definitely thrilling ! Apparently it's a road lots of luxurious/ spots cars will take drives on and go fast.

He had also found an adorable coffee shop nearby called constellation coffee which has amazing coffee and chocolate chip cookies ;) would highly recommend grabbing some coffee then bringing your date up here. Such a gorgeous peaceful and quiet view- you won't regret it. ;) I already told him he's bringing me back here !

Did the full drive as part of the #localadventurechallenge and it truly made for an awesome afternoon!! It's so amazing to find such peace and quiet and serenity so near LA! The drive winds your around through the San Gabriel mountains and Angeles National forest! The colors of the flora and fauna were very autumnal shades of deep, rusty reds, bright yellows and some oranges!

Some warnings though - be sure to watch out for bike riders and large rocks that have fallen onto the road...towards the end of the drive, there were lots in the road that could do some serious tire damage if you hit them! Also, sadly there were several areas full of litter which is very unfortunate...why can't people clean up after themselves??

My advice would be to make a morning or afternoon of it and drive the whole way...it was so gorgeous and peaceful! I started in La Canada Flintridge and wound all the way around to Wrightwood and back home to Monrovia via the 15 and 210. I must've stopped at least 15+ times to practice shooting with my new camera...so many great opportunities for cool and artistic shots!

There are many turnouts and stops all along the way, some with bathrooms and picnic tables. You could bring a nice picnic or stop in the little town of Wrightwood at the end like I did and grab some lunch and souvenirs in one of the quaint restaurants and shops (see my review for Grizzly Cafe, highly recommend)!!

Because I stopped so many times, it took me over 3 hours...but I'm sure you could do it under 2 hours with no stops depending on where you're coming from. It made for a lovely little adventure!

I live for the drive, but why does it SEEM to always take longer to exit these mountains than it takes to enter? And why is it while exiting the loops & curves SEEM to be duplicated? Could it be a mental/visual thing? And how about at night...the darker it becomes the more the mountains begins to look like huge monsters? If you're on a motorcycle DON'T get caught up in there at night; you're doomed. If you're driving an electric ride-share vehicle that requires vehicle operating via the app., DON'T turn the car off and/or lock the car if you stop off at the scenery view spots or rest areas. Your phone might not pick up a signal or your battery may be low, stopping you from entering and/or starting the car. The company won't know your location, YOU WILL BE FREEZING, the signal spots bounce spastically, & even if you get a signal it might not be strong enough to connect to the car's electrical system, allowing entry & startup. Constant startup attempts drain the battery, and all I can say is PRAY, FIND JESUS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE AROUND, REPENT, & CRY!! I'm serious! And esp if you're alone, or worse case you have your family or a car full of skitzy, panicky friends. OMG! At that moment all that was beautiful just a while ago begins to change color, appearance, shape, & size. Enough said on that. The birds make majestic sounds and keep still & you can hear what "SILENCE" sounds like.

Came by on a whim, to see the beautiful Angeles National Forest! It was gorgeous! You will see a bunch of people riding their motorcycles, and sports cars, so just be a little careful.

Driving up to Mount Wilson, you can still see snow on the ground. If you drive further up, you will come across big pines, with even more snow! All the restrooms that I've used in this forest have been well
kept and well maintained.

Road has lots of turnouts and vista points, as well. Which is always a plus if you ever want to stop and enjoy the scenery.

About two and a half hours into the drive, we tried to continue driving through the highway, but unfortunately, the road was closed due to heavy snow. (Roads needed to be snow plowed)

Definitely a great getaway for a day. Will be back soon for the great and breathtaking views!!

Add this to your list of socially distant day trips! We'd been majorly craving a change in scenery and this drive absolutely did the trick. We picked up coffees at Constellation in La Cañada and then hopped on this highway just a few minutes from the coffee shop. My partner and I were seriously in awe that such an amazing drive is so close to where we live in Pasadena! It was cool to see the terrain change from palm trees and cacti to evergreens as we got further up. We got up over 7000 feet in elevation, so it's quite the climb from LA!

There are lots of turnouts for taking breaks and taking in the views, some with restrooms and picnic tables and some just with some space to park. We did check out one restroom that was decidedly too gross to use, so just keep that in mind since the drive can be a couple hours.

We made a stop for snacks and water in Wrightwood, which was such a cute town. We debated grabbing a patio seat at their brewery, but it was fairly busy on a Sunday and we noticed hardly anyone in town was wearing masks. Luckily, masks were required in their little market/gas station and the snack game there was on point. The restrooms were also nice and clean and my partner, who's a musician, totally got a kick out of the fact that they sell drumsticks and bass strings there. Apparently lots of musicians live in this neck of the woods!

Despite having lived in Colorado for a few years, the altitude totally hit me in Wrightwood and I'm glad I didn't go for a drink (even though I wasn't driving). Once past this charming little town, it wasn't long until we hit the 15 and then took the freeway back to Pasadena. We hit a little construction traffic, but it's still faster to take the 15 to the 210 back to LA rather than winding back down Angeles Crest.

A few notes on safety! A few others have noted, but there are lots of motorcycles and sports cars (we also some cyclists), so be extra careful on this drive. I'm not much of a mountain driver myself despite my years of living in the mountains, so if windy roads and steep downgrades make you nervous, maybe enjoy this one from the passenger seat. There are very few lanes for passing and the road can be narrow, but the turnouts can be helpful if you're going for a leisurely drive.

Very nice drive..it was nice and sunny and there a bit of snow left towards the end of the canyon. Highly recommend

The review is not necessarily for Angeles Crest Highway, but for more an event that I attended on the Highway on Friday, Septemeber 09, 2022. I was invited by a former co-worker, to attend an event at a closed-down restaurant called "Newcombs Ranch." He now works for a company called Avants, it was a free car event being held at the closed establishment. Anyone who is a car enthusiast or a fan of Porsches, McLarens, etc would like the event. It's cool to network and check out all the cars. The drive there felt quite long, and on the way back down, a lot of the cars from the show will tailgate if you're not driving very fast, or how fast they want you to drive; I had to pull over to the right a few times.