Pines to Palms, or Palms to Pines, depending on whether you drive West/East, East/West respectively, is a real treat to drive. I am fairly certain that the engineer who designed it was a driving enthusiast. It is a rather fast road, diverse, almost no surprises, and is chock full of passing opportunities.

I believe that Highway 74 drives best West to East. Beginning in Hemet, it snakes into the San Bernardino Mountains. Once the narrow bridges are cleared, I open it up and get busy. My experience has been that (in this portion of the road) in a S2000, the predominant gear is third. Not too many corners where very aggressive driving will ask for second, but I suppose they could be found. My experience has been that the speeds that most of these corners allow put an S2000 right at the top limit of second to far from the turn exit.

Not too far in, the most interesting parts of this road emerge: two lane passing zones. These zones are not mundane straightaways, but banked S turns offering plenty of visibility to the next turn. The first passing zone is a bit choppy, and the S2000 tends to skip a bit here, at high speed. The second passing zone is amazing; banked S turns with each bank offering a crisp line (and visibility) to the next bank, super clean, and long enough to satisfy most drivers. Sometimes I'm tempted to just turn around and do it again and again.

A few more turns, and you are offered the choice of taking 243 North to Idylwild and Banning. I think 243 drives best North to South, so I continue east on 74.

Reaching the summit of the road, you are faced with a very long straightaway and a choice: To do it, or not to do it. Go ahead, do it. The only thing to watch out for on the straight is a little market to the right, and farther in, a fire station and small community. I tone it down to respect those who live there, but once out of there, open it up again and fly off. It is very easy to reach very high speeds here, and with no perceptible crown to the road, it is relatively safe. (LatG note: this is where I got my ticket when I opened it up. This road is patrolled by CHP and they have instant-on radar so my V1 didn't really help me.)

The straightaway turns back into fast twisties, a dipping straightaway guaranteed to make your passengers green, a very brief slow down for a little community, back to some fun fast stuff. Over all, the road is clean, with a few tar patches but nothing excessive.

Be sure to stop at the Vista Point. Beside the amazing view of the Desert Cities, you can also get a gander of what awaits you below: a series of wide looping constant radius turns that just scream out to be run at the limit. (see picture #2) The only problem with this portion of the road is that it's so brief. I could do turns like that all day.

Overall, a very fun road, with something for everyone, with the exception of those who are looking for super tight driving. Advisories I would make would be to watch out for the narrow bridges on the West side, and make sure you identify the communities as you approach them- the first approach can be done very quickly, and you may be in the middle of the community before you realize it.

The only turn that I can think of that is surprising is East to West, about a mile or so west of the 243/74 split. It is very easy to have a lot of speed into this sharp corner, and while it doesn't look like a negative camber bank, for some reason it acts like one. I have almost lost it there more than once (in lesser degrees with each occurrence), and I know for a fact that people have.

An added bonus to this road is that it is close to highway 243, another great track. If you're in So Cal, Highway 74 is definitely a road you want to try.