The long way to LA: The most epic roads in America
 

I had meetings in LA this week so decided to take the long way down from SF. I read good things about Hwy 25 and Hwy 33 so decided to string them together and go country roads the whole way down. I took 101 to Hollister > 25 to Coalinga > 33 to Ojai > 1 to Santa Monica.

Its really hard to describe how epic these roads are. Jalopnik called Hwy 33 "America's greatest driving road". They were wrong. Its tied for first with 25. Taking the 1 down the coast is gorgeous but this is the route you want to take in a 911.

To fully appreciate these roads just imagine doing 100 miles at Nürburgring (25 to Coalinga), followed by a 100 mile drag strip through the desert (33 to Maricopa), followed by another 70 miles at Nürburgring (33 to Ojai through Los Padres National Forest), and then top it off with 40 miles along the Malibu coastline.

25 and 33 through Los Padres are desolate and you only see another car, or human existence, every 5-10 minutes. Bring some water because if you breakdown it could get sketchy. You go from straights through farmland and desert to fast turns in the foothills to twisties through the mountains. The only time you run into other other cars is a 20 mile stretch on 33 called "the Petroleum Highway". Its an apocalyptic moonscape of oil rigs where you can get stuck behind a tanker until the road clears and you can pass. I took it easy through here because I had been doing 120mph stretches and needed to get my heart rate down.

The roads are excellent. Much of 33 is newly paved blacktop. The only things you want to be careful of are suicidal squirrels and falling rocks when you go between cuts in the mountain. I took it easy through these because you combine blind turns and freshly fallen rocks in the middle of the road. Sadly I tagged two squirrels on the route back and almost had another dropped on my windshield by a vulture. They congregate on the road to mourn their fallen brothers and then get hit by the next passing car.

This is why we own 911s. Its about the journey.


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Hwy 25

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Nice pictures looks like fun drive may have give it try next time I head down that way

Sounds epic! Thanks for the great pics.

Thanks for posting! We'll have to consider taking that route on our way up to Monterey in August!

Nice! Did you go up Mulholland yet?

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That is awesome! What an epic road trip and thanks for sharing.
Funny, but your highway 25 photo gave me a deja vu moment! Beautiful straight road with a tree on the left side. It may have been this exact section, but there was a CHP parked in the shade of a tree just like that one. I was about a half mile away and just as I squinted to see if there was a car in the shade of that tree... his lights went off and he clocked me doing 100mph:banghead: That was a long time ago, but that photo brought back that memory instantly.... Thanks a lot!! :D

Thanks for sharing, what an awesome drive and so good for the soul and heart rate. I live about 30 minutes from Ojai and the 33 hwy. I blast through there a couple times a year and hit my local canyon roads a couple times a month.

Sounds like fun. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

SSSSSHHHHHH!! Keep this our secret!

I do 25 annually, and 33 about every 3 years, but never have done them together. I go Hollister to Coalinga and back. Re: 33, Hwy 1 to Carmel Valley Rd to 101 to Carpenteria, then 33 to 58 to 101 and home.

How is 33 from Coalinga south? Relatvely straight compared to going into Ojai?

Then there is 36 to the north!

Yep ... California 8)

You make a case for the taxes, mudslides, earthquakes, & brownouts all being worth it 👍

Bruce - would you have taken PCH if it wasn't closed down or is it too played out or too meandering? Coming from Texas we almost always take it either north or south.

IMO, given the choice, his route is by far a better driver's route than Hwy 1. Hwy 1 is a slower, less challenging drive. As far as scenery, Hwy 1 has the ocean, but the inland route has great landscape.

Damned straight. Especially with so many day trip options!!! An adult playground in every direction 8)

The nice cool ocean breezes are a big part of our enjoyment - you get inland in the summer and it's hard on you and the car.

Amazing. I need to do this reverse route from LA upwards in my GT3 pronto.

I saw 2 sheriffs on the way down and 2 on the way back, I believe all on 25. I almost got tagged by the first one coming out of Hollister. He was sitting off to the side in some bushes on the first long straight. It didnt look right and I slowed out of precaution. Lucky move. The others were all within 10 minutes of Coalinga and luckily I passed them on slow corners. I think they patrol near the towns on either end but not deep into the country. You should be fine out there.

I saw none on 33. I took it easy on the way down but dropped the hammer on the way back once I knew the roads more. On many stretches you have perfect visibility to the horizon.

Dont forget the $4.2-$4.8 gas prices along the way :-)

PCH is amazing and everyone should do it, but its a 2 day trip from SF to LA, and its more suited for an old Mustang convertible, not a 911. PCH going north from SF is another story. Thats more rugged and desolate.

33 between Coalinga and Maricopa, the last town before you enter Los Padres, is loooong straights through the desert, plains and then maybe 20 miles of oil fields.

I actually enjoyed it more coming north. I knew what to expect.


@Joe - what I really needed was a way to cut from 25 to the 1 and bypass San Jose and Palo Alto traffic. That was the worst part of the trip. Is there any good way to get to/from Hollister from the 1 or Skyline drive?

__

When I do 25, it's 35 to 9 to 85 to 101 to 25 to 198 to Coalinga. You can go 1 to Ferguson--Naciememto Rd to Jolon Rd to King City, then G13 over to 25. AFAIK, no good way from 1 to Hollister directly.

PCH is amazing and everyone should do it, but its a 2 day trip from SF to LA, and its more suited for an old Mustang convertible, not a 911.

We got it partially right. :)


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I'm kicking myself for all the times I took I-5 the whole way down. How long did this route end up taking you? Was there traffic when you hit LA?

Nice!

Hwy 1
 

I have only driven my 911 from Pacifica/Half Moon Bay to Big Sur via Hwy1. Would love to join you guys for a drive in my new to me 997 on that 25 and 33 route.

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Devil's slide

Wayne Smith and I are doing this route, or similar, next week June 5-6. Interested in joining us,PM me.

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Picking up my new bike next week and taking this route home.

All Guzzi's are good looking, but that Eldo is magnificent! Ride safe.

TheBruce - part of me wants to echo the "SHHHHH!" comment above so these roads stay secret, but a bigger part of me wants to celebrate them. They are THAT GOOD (esp. Hwy 25); gorgeous, flowing, uncrowded and with mostly excellent sight-lines. It's like manna from heaven. You can't believe it's real even when you're in the middle of it.

I've driven a lap of the US (8,000+ miles) in a then-new Cayman S, staying on 2-lane roads the whole time. This included the (in)famous "Tail of the Dragon." Even in the best moments all those other roads only managed to equate to CA-9 on a busy weekend (i.e. curvy, but with poor sight-lines and way too many vehicles). They all pale in comparison to Hwy 25 and its sisters.

Here's a pic from several years and two P-cars ago, taken near the junction of CA 25 & 198 on my way to Buttonwillow for a time trial. You could stand at that intersection for an hour and never see two cars at a time.
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@quickxotica I had the same feeling but decided I couldnt be that selfish. I actually think the 198 section was my favorite. I know some guys peel off when 25 turns into 198 thinking they have seen it all. 25 is just the appetizer through farmlands vs the mountainous twisties of 198. Stringing them all together is like listening to Dark Side of the Moon from start to finish. Every section builds up to the next.

It's not a question of being selfish. It's a question of trying to keep these roads from the invading crowds. Yeah, selfish, but look what Hwy1 became...

@TheBruce: Epic car for an epic drive! Just picked one up that looks like yours, except with the 18" Carrera III wheels. Out of curiosity, what camera/lens/filter did you use? Love the pictures!

Pictures supplied for all of you who hate us Californians for the roads we have.

Wouldn't move if you paid me 8)

@wayne - how was the trip?

@Texan Engineer - congrats! I bought mine north of Dallas and had it shipped over. I'd highly recommend eibach springs if you have a base C2. It looks sooo much better. As for camera, just your average iPhone 7 with the vivid filter.

Thanks! That's funny, I bought my C2 from a chap in Dallas as well (home for me). Some good lowering springs are definitely on my short list of mods...otherwise it's pretty near perfect for your every day sports car.

iPhone huh? The wife made me ask haha - when I found this thread my first thoughts were how cool your car is, and hers were how nice the pictures are :)

Great trip. Just not long enough, per usual. Just under 1000 miles for two fairly short days. Up at 113 K miles now. A lot of this was in third and fourth at above 5 K rpm. Still runs like new. Can't say enough good about these 997s, the PDK, and the 9A1 8)

Found out that with proper heat and on proper pavement the MPSSs will squeal before they break free. I've slid them countless times but never got a squeal!!! So this was a first (for me). Maybe its the cleaner roads of Spring.

Several dead snakes waiting to be further flattened and an amazing array of suicidal rodents.

The heavily cropped picture (to reduce size so I can post it) is at my daughter's place.

@wayne - glad you had fun and sorry to hear those suicidal squirrels haven't learning their lesson yet. what was your favorite section?

interested to know your oil temps through the mountains.

See the oil temp thread you just started for temps.

What mountains? Out here in California is a lot like Kansas, right?!?!

Still in the LA area? Check out this map of roads I made: http://thebackrd.com

That rocks. PM me. I want to do something similar around SF.

I went with Joe and a couple of others guys from here in august of '16. Met wayne for a few moments. Great trip, northern route from Bay Area. Need another......mike

also met Helmut in Eureka, one of the trip highlights, david hooked us up with that meeting. Two days, thursday up, friday back. Bent my rim....mmmm, how???

Still sad I missed that trip, but had a tight schedule picking up Pam's new car in Stuttgart. You know ... First World problems.

Can we rinse, repeat? David set up the meet with Helmet. But hwy ___, woof. ;)

Driving events? separate thread needed for a different (more road) type we do as opposed to "driving events" (auto-x, track, etc)

So glad I saw this thread. I'm temporarily living in Ventura County and took an afternoon drive on Hwy 33. Unfortunately I don't have my Pcar and did it in a Chrysler 300. This is an Epic road and probably one of the best I have ever driven. The 300 wasn't too bad but I didn't feel comfortable pushing it too hard with the soft suspension.

I dream of having roads like that here in Chicago to drive the cars on :cheers:

heading to Bakersfield
 

I just drove same day SF to LA to SF over the weekend via 5 and I am heading back to Bakersfield in a few weeks and was thinking of using the 997. That route looks interesting and kinda mapped it out. Did I get the scenic route correctly?

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@JQ911 - thats it. That should be a great trip. You will miss the twisties on 33 through los padres but I think I liked 198 and 25 the best anyway. If you have extra time you could go down 1 and then cut over to Hollister to spare yourself Palo Alto and San Jose traffic. That was the worst part of the trip for me.

Also get gas before you get on 25. You wont have any stations from Hollister to Coalinga and its more expensive down there.

Thanks Mate. Next time you do a cruise, let me know I can join a whole day drive. I'm by SFO only.

Will do. But only if you take that sweet 86 Carrera :-)

I hit the backroads of Marin typically every week with some 911 guys up here. Will PM you.

great thread!
i like mapping routes like this but still haven't been able to get turn by turn directions to follow the route I map.
does anybody have a good app that will do this?

Can't you create a route in Google maps and then click on "send to phone" or something like that?

Sure, unless I put freon as the AC of the 86 sucks ehehehehe

Thats what I do ^

I still think the process of mapping the routes, planning destinations/gas/lunch stops, saving and sharing routes, and then integrating with turn-by-turn is pretty clumsy. I had to select towns as waypoints along the way to force Google to give me this route as it kept trying to pull me back on 5. Google doesn't really get the idea of waypoints so it would route me in circles through the middle point of each town until I figured out how to skip stops.

I haven't found any great apps that work really well either. I know guys in the local BMW club use a biking app to map their club drives.

Ive been toying with building an app around this but would also create a social component that allows you to plan drives, invite people and find events in your area....kinda like Tinder for car geeks :-)

Good stuff guys! I'll note this thread for when I finally check the box for "Buy a Porsche in CA and drive cross country." :)

Bump. Bookmarked.

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Wayne really wants to move to Fossil, Oregon, where he can get his clean E-free 93 for $3.49 a gallon, buy a big house for $150,000, and not see a car on the road more than once every 10 miles!

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Fun in a 911. Hell on a bicycle; big climb ahead!

Oregon does have some incredible driving!!!

Dammit, here I am sitting in New Hampshire where most of our local roads are crumbling back to nature and it's 25 degrees out (which feels warm to me).

You should plan another trip this spring! Hopefully I can join you this time. We could do a 2-day loop up to Walla Walla!

You picked some great roads.

Another opportunity ahead? Try going inland at Santa Margarita (just north of SLO off 101) and head onto Rt 58 and then immediately take Rt 229. It's like a ski slalom dream! Then you can take Rt 41 on East to join Rt 46 which takes you to I 5. Route 299 is a killer, as is Route 41. After the tiny town of Shadon you rejoin Rt 46 East toward the jerk-water town of Chalom--site of the James Dean memorial. The only warning--warn out for critters and motorcycles on 229! There is no center lane paint strip.

I think there may be a video I shot of it ages ago in my You Tube channel...."Edgy00"

Love the silver coupe with the great wheels (original post).

David and I were talking about that this morning 8)

Those are some beautiful roads l. We hit 58 going west (after traveling through Los Padres National Forest) just after it was repaved. Kind of a slip and slide and simply a blast on the eastern end.

Twist my arm!!! :evilgrin:

The '19 calendar is beginning to fill up with adventures but an Eastern CA/OR/WA & Idaho trip with the stupid smile group is always desirable!

Some special memories from the last time to further wet our appetites...


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Great thread, happy it continues with new posts. For years, I've considered making an epic Vancouver (BC) to Dana Point loop taking the coast at least south-to-north. I've done 101 and I5 numerous times in our family wagons. May pull the trigger and make the loop in the 911 this year, and will definitely incorporate an inland "Long Way to LA" one way.

Appreciate thoughts and recommendations on these areas in May/Jun or Sep/Oct, versus Jul/Aug - ie. inland temperatures/weather and more so on traffic

Thx Dan!

@david those pics are awesome. Lets get a trip on the books. Maybe we just do a 25>198 day trip. Also need to find some good places to stop for lunch on the route.

GGR just did the 25-198 route on Saturday, lunch at Harris Ranch. I like Los Reyes Restaurant in Coalinga for the stop.

I'm with Joe on lunch. Sooner better than later!!!

An interesting detoiur in the winter months is the road along the Kern Fiver east of Bakersfield. The Drive to Kernville along the river has lots of curves and short straights. Weekdays are better as you miss a lot of the traffic.

For anyone visiting the LA area I built a little map of my favorite roads for fun: http://www.thebackrd.com. We're definitely spoiled.

Nice! One of my go tos is Little Tujunga - Sand Cyn - Soledad Cyn into Acton - Aliso Cyn - Angeles Forest - Upper Big Tujunga - Angeles Crest. It's sheer driving bliss!

@ltcjmramos Harris Ranch looks like an awesome lunch destination. Cant believe I missed that.

Ok we've got an epic place for lunch, an epic route, and some epic cars. Now we just need the rain to stop and set a date.

I need to schedule a business trip to the West Coast with a swing through the Hertz counter to pick up a 991 to join you guys :)

TheBruce, much prefer Los Reyes over Harris Ranch. But that's my opinion.

Do it. I've got a buddy with a '72 hotrod and a 997 GT2 who wants to come. Maybe he will let you use the GT2. Better yet, maybe he will let me use the GT2 and you can use mine :-)

Actually Turo is half the price of Hertz. Here is a nice 991.2 for $99/day https://turo.com/rentals/cars/ca/san...rchId=DqM_h4b8

You're welcome anytime. Plan on a week minimum just to scratch the surface of the Bay Area. Lots more beyond that 8)

Weather Today?
 

Nice picture, and it is great to see a freshly paved road-an unusual site here in CA. However, I just checked the weather there this afternoon- 17 Degrees F and snow...

This is the scene at my parents place, about 25 miles from where that picture was taken. All of this fell in the past 24 hours. So yeah, it may be a good time to postpone the road trip

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I had meetings down in LA this week so took the long way home. Too good, just too good.

New 3rd radiator did its job. I was 225 most of the run through the mountains but was up to 240 on the initial ~4k foot climb in Los Padres.

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Interesting on those temps. I've run that pretty hard, but never saw temps above 210.

2010 C4S PDK without the third radiator on a warm day with Joe on those roads ... 210 to 250F with the lower numbers on the downhill stretches. We were relatively spirited on stretches. I believe the GTS is an amazing car with unpublished side affects from the X51 package, but Joe does have the third radiator as well.

Joe - ive got +50lbs on you and -75hp :-)

Took me 20 minutes to get all the bugs out of the new radiator grills. It looked like a war zone.

We need to plan another trip down there. Just cant get enough.

The bugs do add alot of weight and take away aero :)
Next ride, id' love to be in.
Hit a tumble weed somewhere around these roads a couple years back, that took forever to remove from the grills/radiator. I didn't know they were so pokey.
Joe told me about the Rennline' screens, I've yet to do....

Mike