Oct 27, 20138 min read

MULHOLLAND TO HOLLYWOOD

Just before sunrise Saturday, I ventured out of Orange County with Matches to begin what eventually became a twelve-hour journey around the coast of California, through Los Angeles, and out to “the Valley” and back, all with one initial goal in mind: get Matches to the Hollywood Sign.

After a quick stop at UCLA, I took San Vicente from Wilshire to drop in on Brentwood, and wound up catching Pacific Coast Highway via Entrada Drive. It was nearly thirty miles north that we found ourselves treading onto the notorious Mulholland Highway – and by notorious, I mean celebrity homes and visitors, wineries, and a lengthy history comprising swarms of passionate and enthusiastic drivers.

MULHOLLAND HIGHWAY

Carved into the Santa Monica Mountains through to Woodland Hills before becoming Mulholland Drive, Mulholland Highway is a thirty-mile sweep of smooth pavement from start to finish offering vast oceanic and mountain views, clever rock formations, and one thing that completes every [performance] car and motorcycle enthusiast’s dream: those impulsive twisties! While I can’t say enough how much I endorse learning and keeping all motoring extremes on closed courses, I myself enjoy a vigorous canyon drive every now and then, but NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF A LIFE. So, please educate yourselves on safe, controlled driving and vehicle knowledge, and avoid getting into an accident. Stay alert, and share the roads!

From the entrance at PCH in Malibu through to the Decker Canyon and Kanan crossroads, Mulholland is a serene, spirited drive. Having gone on a Saturday, there were a good fifty-plus cyclists in this stretch, and while only two or three were a nuisance to pass, the majority of them were courteous enough to move aside at my approach. Regardless, I never caught up to another vehicle, and had encountered only a handful the opposite way before Kanan Road. The weather was great for open windows, too, hovering at 68°F around 9:30 in the morning.

I stopped in Calabasas at King Gillette Ranch, a recreational park and nature-retreat that apparently doubles as a filming location for NBC’s The Biggest Loser - information obtained by engaging in conversation with a wandering security guard. The ranch itself has a Eucalyptus tree-lined entrance that runs over a small bridge into an arterial stretch of car-wide paths that wrap around old oak trees and clumps of polished landscapes. I stopped at one point in close proximity to a deer lurking nearby before moving on, surprised that my exhaust didn't scare it off.

THE SNAKE

If you love the practice of Kinematics like I do, try the Snake. Famous for daring turns, close-calls, and The Rock Store, where it's said Jay Leno frequently shows off his toys, the Snake is the most popular place on Mulholland where drivers, however skilled, curious, humble or haughty, go to test their limits. It's the most speed-crazy car-loving section of public road in California, and Saturday was the first day Matches and I set afoot – or tire, rather – on this legendary tarmac. I was very excited!

Coming in from the west, we started down the Snake from the top, which is where everyone else ends up. I slowly passed a group of Infinity G coupes and Nissan Zs parked facing the overlook, which had one helluva view, but I stopped further down on a hilly patch of dirt at what’s called Edwards’ Corner, noted as the most dangerous turn up the Snake, and the last turn to boot if you’re heading that direction. You’ll find in researching this iconic road that it’s the most lane-crossed and hotly taken curve in the lot, resulting in the most amount of wipeouts, collisions and near-misses. At either end of this turn, you're also sure to find photographers and videographers staking out every vehicle and maneuver they encounter.

A large Porsche group seized all attention before we advanced down, and more continued popping up in clusters clear through the end of the highway. I made sure to thumb-up as many as I could to show my support for their enthusiasm, especially since I was unwilling to push my own car as freely with this being my first drive through. (It's the flat-four thing to do!) It was an incredible drive, though: rock faces and trees floating over the turns in half-tunnels, rapid inclines that quickly droop into pupil-dilating hairpins, and enough scenery beyond the overlook that I hoped every driver up there would slow down enough one day to take it all in. Overall, it’s a section of road that exhilarates on many levels, and after a mildly spirited first-drive down the Snake on Mulholland Highway, Matches and I are determined to come back for some G-forces, and to land a Rock Store photo worth stopping for to purchase.

I came across some info and video highlights on the Snake with Twistypedia. Check it.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE VALLEY

Having reached Topanga Canyon Boulevard from Mulholland, we ventured up to Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. Since this was an experience, I decided to brave the boulevard all the way to Laurel Canyon instead of easing down the 101 freeway, hoping to wind up in proximity of the Hollywood sign. The drive down Ventura was fairly hectic, primarily in that other cars were crawling to obey a speed limit maxed out at 35 mph throughout, so I hit over half of all red lights. The entire length of Ventura was lined with an array of unique shops and restaurants, though, so observing plenty of local lifestyle elements compensated.

Finally reaching Laurel Canyon, we ascended out of Studio City and turned to head east on another section of Mulholland Drive. This part of the drive could potentially be a lot of fun, but the roads are exceedingly rough and packed with tour buses and other motorists looking for viewpoints. Plus, plenty of homes and driveways sit against its edges, so I would suggest that Hollywood's Mulholland Drive be taken carefully at any time of day.

Charging through more twisties, we approached the Hollywood Bowl area of Hollywood Hills. There were a couple other points coming out to face south where my hopes were let down for closing in on the Hollywood sign, but it was at this particular turnaround where it made its greeting, albeit from afar.

This evidently was not close enough, so I reopened Google Maps on my phone to check out the area. I saw that a bridge with no name connected Mulholland to home tracts near the sign, so off we went. The bridge led to Lakeridge Place: from this perspective, and how it sits on Google Maps, turning right onto Lakeridge seemed like the way to go since the sign was in that direction. Heading up, back and around, however, was a total bust. The sign was right on top of us, with the “H” being the only visible letter as the rest fell behind it.

Bummed, I drove back past the bridge with no name. We continued straight on Lakeridge, and turned right on Wonderview Drive, which scaled up a large u-turn road where I turned right again, which actually turned us back around, turned again, went through a loop, kept turning - whew! We then hit Lake Hollywood Drive, which continued through onto Tahoe Drive. Next was Canyon Lake, where we turned left to hike up a small hill and, as you can see in the opening photo of the post, we were pretty freakin’ close!

Obsessed with getting Matches right under it, though, I couldn't stop there. So, driving back down and continuing on Canyon Lake, we veered left at the fork after the Lake Hollywood Park and overlook, which turned into yet another Mulholland Highway! This was barely a two-car-wide street, though, and the pavement was immensely broken up and uneven, so prepare yourself for a bumpy ride with a lot of close calls if you find your way here. (Matches was almost hit head-on twice. If a busy street with blind turns is considerably narrow and absent a dividing line, please mind your side and not take up the whole thing, people!)

A good half-mile in after the fork, the road split again. I chose to go right for directional-traffic’s sake, but either side met again before another split that offered a choice of going uphill, or downhill. I turned left to go up, and the street appeared limited: three private driveways in each direction. Thinking we were treading private roads, I took the roadway straight ahead with a sign that read, "No Access to the Hollywood Sign."

Nice try, locals! I drove to the end, which turned into a dirt pathway where other hardcore voyagers in their cars were trying to close in on the landmark, and finally got my picture of Matches ridiculously close to the Hollywood sign!

MULHOLLAND... DIRT-DRIVE?

Returning over the bridge with no name and continuing on Mulholland Drive past Laurel Canyon, Matches and I set out to cover more of Mulholland on the way to tracking down Mandeville Canyon Road and hitting Brentwood again. It really is a fun road. There are a lot of tourists, and I imagine weekends are worse for it, but the bus and van operators were kind enough to pull over and let cars pass. You can tell the local drivers from the tourists, too, by how spirited they were - or, perhaps it's the other way around? We passed more scenic overlooks of the valley, and of canyons on the Los Angeles side, an old 50s-style New York Fire Department fire engine (I wish I had stopped for a picture), and saw more crafty homes and facilities.

There was construction on Mulholland past Skirball Center Drive, so it was a controlled single-lane stop for a few minutes over the 405 freeway, and the construction workers watched as my shiny-clean Subawoo passed by. That wasn’t going to be the last surprise, though. I continued on Mulholland because it appeared on Google Maps as connected to Mandeville Canyon over the hill.

Reaching a T-section at Encino Hills Drive, I turned left onto a gravel slope to stop and locate on my phone where Mulholland continued from there. Because the map indicated I was still on it, I went ahead and ventured on, so Matches went off-roading!

A Jeep owner driving in the opposite direction waved in his enjoyment, and each time I pulled over for pictures, someone walking, cycling or driving by would stop to ask if I was okay or in need of any help - what compassionate people! I eventually decided to ask a couple walking by if Mulholland became paved up ahead and connected to Mandeville, and they informed me that Mandeville Canyon was only approachable down by the 405. Since Matches was on regular Federal 595 street tires for daily driving, I didn’t want to risk driving further in and puncturing a tire, so I started back against my enthusiast impulse. Keeping to my exploratory appetite, however, I decided to take Skirball down to Sepulveda versus the 405, smiling and waving at the construction workers as they openly gazed in bemusement of a now, very dirty Subawoo coming back the other way to rest temporarily in Santa Monica for a quick munch on tacos at the beach.

ENDING THE DAY'S JOURNEY

After tacos, it was already 5:00 p.m., and I was still eager to travel Topanga Canyon Road from PCH before nightfall. Heading north again from the Santa Monica Pier, I made my way to the canyon, and was forced to travel slowly behind a parade of other vehicles. It wasn’t very fun, but it was relaxing with the windows down, and the Top of Topanga Overlook was a nice stop, which was where another Subaru owner complimented Matches. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware he owned a Subaru until he and his girlfriend were leaving, so I didn’t have the chance to repay the compliments. (Nice Legacy!)

To save time, I continued down to the 101, but heavy traffic urged me back onto Ventura Boulevard, where I again took Laurel Canyon, this time to Hollywood Boulevard and into Los Feliz. With the amount of traffic around Griffith Park, however, I became weary of a now twelve-hour long journey with Matches, so we headed home, where he got a nice shower to wash all that Mulholland dirt off the next morning.