Where I Go: The ‘Meandering, Beautiful, Dangerous’ Angeles Crest Highway

This Pacific Crest Trail Gateway Is Southern California’s Most Accessible Scenic Byway—When It’s Open, That Is

The Angeles Crest Highway winds thousands of feet above the Los Angeles basin, a meandering, beautiful, and dangerous road that leads to the hiking trails of the Angeles National Forest and historic treasures like the Mount Wilson Observatory and Newcomb’s Ranch (the rustic 1939 roadhouse built on the road’s only privately own land). With its western terminus not far from the La Cañada-Flintridge Target, that puts it just 20 minutes from the heart of downtown L.A., making it, arguably, the most accessible scenic byway in Southern California.

When it’s open, that …