Yahoo Autos Tackling Angeles Forest's Most Technical Road in a Toyota GR Corolla
Looming over the concrete cities of Los Angeles and Orange Counties are the San Gabriel Mountains. Six million or so years ago, two tectonic plates played the slowest game of chicken, and neither blinked. Granite pushed upward and formed several 8000-plus-foot peaks, with canyons dropping as deep as 4000 feet. For reference, that’s the average depth of the slightly more famous Grand Canyon.
I’ll traverse the tarmac draped like spaghetti over this granite wonderland on three roads: Highway 39, East Fork Road, and Glendora Mountain/Ridge Road. Each is rich with directional diversity. Half-mile straights, open sweepers, yumps, and switchbacks all await and will carry me from reservoir to mountaintop to suburbs.
For reasons that will be eminently clear, the vessel for this particular exploration is a Blue Flame 2024 Toyota GR Corolla Circuit Edition. Its frantic and frenetic 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine wallops out 300 hp and 273 lb-ft of peak torque—numbers competitive with rivals whose turbocharged powerplants have greater displacement and a fourth cylinder.
The GR Corolla sits atop the Scoville scale of current spicy hatches. It’s lighter than the Volkswagen Golf R and churns twice as many wheels as the Volkswagen GTI, the Hyundai Veloster N, and the Acura Integra Type S/Honda Civic Type R. GR Corollas are special; they’re assembled on a different production line from the “normal” Corollas. The GR’s structure is fortified with 349 additional spot welds and nine extra feet of adhesive, making it much stiffer and enhancing responsiveness.
A.
The section of Highway 39 north of East Fork Road is a dead end, which means no commuters. Plus, you can “cheap close” it by going out to the end, making sure no one is there, and coming back down to a point where you have an empty section. “Eau Gabriel” is a 1.5-mile section of very high-speed sweeping bends and long visibility.
B.
The closest thing to an alpine switchback in the Angeles National Forest, this section of 39 climbs steeply with tight curves. On the way up, hammer down. On the way back down, ease up a little and soak in the incredible vistas.
C.
Glendora Ridge Road offers the most unbelievable views of the forest in all directions. The two-mile “Ridge” is one of the finest stretches of tarmac in California.
D.
Stop at the Glendora Mountain Road lookout to take in the view and get a photo before hitting the rapidly descending switchbacks, which give distinct Japanese tge vibes.
Many of the best back roads go nowhere, and the portion of Highway 39 that matters skitters for 22.6 miles between where you don’t want to be and where you don’t have a reason to go. It is sometimes referred to as “California’s Forgotten Highway.” In 1978, a massive landslide closed the northern section, and a litany of factors kept it from ever reopening. What was planned as a vein from Huntington Beach up to mountain communities—and, farther north, the desert of Lancaster—is now solely a fun dead end with stops along the way for hiking, fishing, and camping.
“The 39” rewards a car with a broad skill set, and the Toyota has just that. Stability and grip give you enough momentum that 300 hp will feel like plenty. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires hold the 3269-pound Corolla in corners, effectively directing big centrifugal force toward the next bend. The turbo surge is exciting, and the shifting action is solid and quick, though the distance between pedals makes heel-and-toe challenging even for those with wider-than-average feet.
The final third of the 39 is shaped like the results of a lie-detector test for [insert name of politician you don’t like], sweeping violently back and forth in a series of cliffside switchbacks that make one grateful for guardrails. Here, I can feel the difference between the drive modes, which distribute power to the Circuit Edition’s front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials in a 60/40, 30/70, or 50/50 front/rear split. The modes feel distinctive, pulling the front around or overdriving the rear, but I end up choosing Track mode for the rest of the day.
After backtracking down 39, I turn onto East Fork Road, cross the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve, and quickly climb the steep Glendora Mountain Road to my prize: Glendora Ridge Road.
This is the slowest of two ways to drive from West Los Angeles to Mount Baldy by nearly double. In the 1800s, early settlers used this ridge to ferry supplies and ore between the city and Allison Mine, preferring the spine of the mountains to the treacherous riverbed at the bottom. Crossing a continent merits a commute with a view.
The ridge road looks like a dream. The setting sun makes the western mountains appear blue and hazy. Look east, and that same sun is painting the snow-covered Mount Baldy a gentle shade of pink. This portion of the two-way road lacks a centerline, a rare delicacy out here. Be careful in blind corners.
Unlike the 39, Glendora Ridge Road has no high-speed sweepers or lengthy straights. The miles are packed tight with cambered turns, varied enough in shape to prevent the rhythm from being a monotonous slalom. Third gear is rarely necessary; the few “straightaways” are better measured in footballs than in fields.
Between the unpainted blacktop and the all-wheel-drive hatchback, my transformation into Rallye Monte-Carlo driver is complete. The car shines here. The steering is weighted right and quick—though lacking substantive intel from the tires—helping you find apexes and avoid fallen rocks easily. The GR is 10 inches shorter than a WRX but an inch wider, helping the Toyota pivot quickly before buzzing to another corner like a hummingbird that drank Red Bull. The engine sounds angry yet unremarkable. I don’t care. This car is the devil on your right shoulder, compact and urging you to party. Other than the pedal spacing and a lack of lumbar support that may bother some drivers, this car is an excellent instigator.
It’s hard to justify paving this road today. Unlike most of the asphalt that snakes through Southern California’s national forests, you won’t find picnic tables or spacious turnouts along this ridge. This road is a pinhole in the Forest Service’s budgetary bucket, but it is a write-off worth savoring.
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