Full of twisties! Angeles Crest Highway - Flintridge to Wrightwood, California

Just North of LA, this motorcycle ride takes you through fantastic mountain views and forest on a multitude of twisties and hairpins via the Angeles Crest Highway from La Cañada Flintridge to Wrightwood, California. The motorcycle route is 59 Miles (95 KM) and can be completed in 90 minutes.

Photo by Vatche Kaprielian/Flickr

La Cañada Flintridge reaches an elevation of 460 meters between the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest; it's a town of 20,000 people. Forbes claims it's the 143rd most expensive US city to live in, with an average estate price of 1.3 million. Interestingly, the city is home to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory so that may explain it. There are many things to do here like: play the first Frisbee Golf Course, visit the Descanso Botanical Gardens and playing golf at La Cañada Flintridge Country Club which I highly recommend. I've actually played this course many times and got my first hole in one and my longest drive of 255 yards at this course.

Photo Credit: Organizing La Blog - http://esr.cc/KxMOeM

Photo Credit: La Cañada Flintridge Country Club - http://esr.cc/KxN9y6

To start the ride go North out of La Cañada Flintridge towards the mountains. The Angeles Crest Highway starts out straight, in town, then turns into a couple of long turns before it settles into 59 miles (90 KM) of twisty roads and hairpins through the San Gabriel Mountains. The road is a narrow two lane mountain sometimes sandwiched between rock faces and the cliff edge or with trees on both sides. It was newly renovated in 2009 following several years of being closed. Because it is so new, many riders feel they can push the speed to the max. Be aware that almost all crashes on the Crest are the result of entering a turn toohot. It's common to see police watching or even following you or your group ride just to see if you make a mistake on your motorcycle. Due to forest fires the Crest sometimes closes for months at a time, hopefully you can experience the Crest when all is well. For more information about the Crest visit http://esr.cc/JElpc7

The Eastern portion of the Highway is lightly travelled and you're not likely to encounter Los Angeles' famous traffic jams. However the Western side of the highway and the Angeles Forest Highway sees heavy traffic Southbound during the morning and Northbound traffic in the evening. Plan your route time accordingly. The Crest gets very busy during the weekends because many riders check out the area.

The ride ends when you reach Wrightwood, California at the Eastern edge of the Angeles National Forest. Wrightwood sits at 1,800 meters in elevation, with a population of 4,500. The road heading up to Wrightwood is just as curvy and twisty as before. Just to the West of town is a popular ski resort: Mountain High with snowboard, ski, and even tube runs. In the summer, it's open for any disc golf players out there. More information http://esr.cc/JXJXte A great biker friendly place to eat is The Yodeler Restaurant.

Photo Credit: Rider Magazine - http://esr.cc/KRkOSn

Angeles Crest Highway - Flintridge to Wrightwood, California is the ultimate ride for the motorcyclist who enjoys roads full of twisties and long sweeping roads. Enjoy the ride! #EatSleepRIDE