I've resisted adding Ortega Hwy. To this site for quite some time, not because it wasn't a great road but because it is so heavily traveled by commuters and tourists that it is very difficult to have any fun. While in the past this may have been a favorite of many sports car enthusiasts and motorcyclists, all the development in Lake Elsinore, Temecula, and Murrieta have brought this road to a standstill. When you throw in tourists and families out for a picnic on the weekends it doesn't leave much of a window for people who enjoy a curvy road for what it is.

However, given that it is one of the few long stretches of fun road in the LA/Orange County area you should check it out if you haven't already. I was recently returning from Temecula very late at night and returned to LA by this road (it is much preferred to the 15-91-605 route) and had virtually no other traffic to contend with, so it is possible to see what this road would have been like 20 years ago.

There are several places with some population along this road, marked in blue on the map. It isn't exactly like downtown Los Angeles but care should be taken with driveways and pedestrians. The drop down into Lake Elsinore (or climb out if you are coming that way) is quite spectacular and is probably the best part of this road (cyan on the map).

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