The Ultimate Guide to the Best Roads in Angeles National Forest

The Best Roads in Angeles National Forestmaps by sarah bell

"Sunshine is free, and weed is legal.”

That is why I moved to California from New York in the spring of 2009. The simplicity of that statement spoke to the general cultural ethos of California’s permissiveness. But it wasn’t a complete statement. And it’s not why I stay here. What I do tell people is:

“California is the center of the universe when it comes to automotive journalism. We have the best cars to test, and we have the best place to test them: the Angeles National Forest.”

It’s not as punchy, but it’s even more vividly true. “Huge mountains” and “Los Angeles” seem mutually exclusive, but the whole region is contained by ridgelines. Hiking, camping, and even skiing in winter? Fine. But, more important to Road & Track readers, the area has the best driving and motorcycling on the planet. I live in these mountains, making an hour-long predawn slog to the hills multiple times each week to test and video cars. I simply had to pen this love letter to the huge, beautiful resource that makes my job the best in the world.

Roads in the Angeles National Forest rise more than 5700 feet above sea level in a few short miles. There are few homes, businesses, or intersections in the forest, and most of the tarmac is impeccably groomed. Other places in California are nice to drive. Everyone has their favorites. But to this video journalist, the vast, hilly, curvaceous emptiness above the city, with its bends, straights, zigzags, and panoramic vistas—and, if you time it right, virtually no people—is the greatest-possible asset. A network of roads connecting nothing and heading nowhere, and sunsets that can only be dreamed of in other places.

In the stories below are the three best routes to drive in the Angeles National Forest and, in a perfect world, the cars you want to bring to the party.

The North Loop

The West Loop

The East Loop