Many of the roads in Malibu run north-south, but Mulholland Hwy. crosses the entire region east-west and is the best way to reach all the other great roads in the area. Compared to the other roads in the area, this road is so long I have decided to break it into sections for review.

The first is the WESTERN SECTION, which runs from PCH up to Decker Canyon. There is actually a section where Mulholland is broken and you must take Decker to complete, so this is a good place to separate sections. Overall this is my favorite part of the road and was actually the road I used to break in my first car worthy of a Lateral G sticker.

Heading up and away from the coast has you following a narrow but well maintained road that winds its way along a stream with the occasional overhanging tree. There are one or two houses and driveways in here, but nothing to serious and vary rarely do I see any other traffic. This far north and you have left most people, even other sports cars and bikes, behind.

Eventually the road breaks away from the water and starts to wind up the mountain. There is a first section with some big (and some tight) hairpin turns which will lead to an area that is relatively straight. After passing the huge satellite dishes off to the east you will find yourself among a few ranches. There aren't that many driveways but I usually take it easy here.

Once past the houses, however, it's time for the fun to start again. After a brief plateau the road begins to climb again and treats you to several hairpins and a nice series of s-turns with an amazing view down the valley towards the ocean. Once at the top you can turn north on Little Sycamore Rd. which turns into Yerba Buena and works its way back down to the ocean, or you can turn north on Decker Canyon and head to the next section.

The CENTER SECTION isn't as good as the Western when taken as a whole, but there are some great pieces and it is longer overall so probably has more actual miles of the good stuff.

The first portion headed east from Decker is fairly narrow with lots of tight turns. Once it meets up with Encinal Canyon, the road improves and is more like Kanan Dume for a few miles. After crossing Kanan and heading over a slight ridge, the roads demeanor takes a sudden turn.

For the next few miles you will find your skills taxed as the road takes a drastic drop in elevation down the side of the mountain. A series of hairpins and s-curves will find you in a narrow canyon-like setting including a section where the rock walls are hanging well over your head. Watch out for oncoming traffic taking more than their share of the road here, it is quite narrow.

Once down safely from that section the road enters a residential area and meets the Rock Store. You can choose to stop here, bikes may find a place to park on weekends but cars will have a harder time, the road continues east through some housing developments and a few cross streets.

After passing Cornell Rd., however, things get good again. Not nearly as technical as the portion east of the Rock Store, between Cornell and the traffic signal at Las Virgines Rd. the road is far from straight but is not so tight that you can't have a little higher-speed fun here. Some very short straights and a few high-speed sweepers brings you down to the signal and the end of the really fun parts of Mulholland.

The WESTERN SECTION really isn't that much of an enthusiast's road; it is mostly straight and houses start to become more common. I primarily use this part to access Stunt Rd. and head up to the crest, eventually hitting Tuna Cyn. and back down to PCH. However, if your destination is somewhere in the Valley or you intend to take Topanga Canyon back down to the beach Mulholland Hwy. ends at Mulholland Dr. (which unfortunately does NOT tie in to the good part in the Hollywood Hills) near Topanga.

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