Judy and I did a run to scope out a potential club event, starting from the Hansen Dam Recreational Area,
running up and over the ridge through Angeles Forest, over and under the Antelope Valley Freeway, and on
to Vasquez Rocks County Park. This is a neat geological oddity, located on an extension of the San Andreas
Fault near Santa Clarita. Many TV episodes and films have used this site for location shooting, including
the original Star Trek episode "Arena", where Captain Kirk is forced to fight an alien (the Gorn) to prove
the superiority of humans.
The route Judy chose - from Hansen Dam Recreation Area near I 210 (lower left corner)
North across the hills along Little Tujunga Cyn Rd. /Sand Canyon Road up to CA 14
(yellow line near top); East along Soleded Cyn Rd. crossing below CA 14, looping back
North and West along Escondido Cyn Rd to Vasquez Rocks (Pushpin Icon near top) near
Santa Clarita; Then back down to Soledad Cyn Rd along Agua Dulce Cyn Rd. finally back
to CA 14 South/West toward Los Angeles.
Fortunately, the roads Judy chose for this little trip were nice and twisty - Starting with Little Tujunga
Canyon Road, which has very nice, very tight turns, and a fast, moderate speed rythm both up and down the ridge.
Our tires were constantly talking during this part - busy and challenging. Near the crest, we encountered
a parked SUV with a complete drum set deployed, and someone with headphones madly drumming away. I guess his
neighbors complain when he practices at home.
The Twisty Drummer
Little Tujunga becomes Sand Canyon Road at the bottom of the downhill side, and this runs out to CA 14, the
Antelope Valley Freeway. After crossing the freeway, we turned onto Soledad River Canyon Road, which runs
alongside CA 14 briefly, before crossing under and getting squiggly. This is a nice follow-up to Little Tujunga,
as the speeds are generally much hogher, and the turns are nice sweeping ribbons of pavement throught rocky
desert terrain. Pavement is in good condition, with the exception of a couple of areas that have had alligator
cracking patched with drizzled tar. Not much of this, and usually just one or two meandering cracks running
along the direction of travel.
Near Acton, we made a turn onto Escondido Canyon Road ("Syracuse Road" according to the street sign - and easy
to miss if you're looking for Escondido,) which runs back up under CA 14 and on to Vasquez Rocks.
Trip time for this run was about 1 hour at moderate driving effort, on a Saturday afternoon in February. During
Spring, Summer, or Fall, I'd guess there's a lot more traffic from campers on vacation, judging by the huge number
of campsites lining Soledad River Canyon Road.
(Click on any thumbnail for a larger image.)
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