Destinations

DESTINATIONS

The Lookout Roadhouse

Lake Elsinore, California

WHEN THIS MAGAZINE GETS A hot new test bike in, we start making excuses to head to the Lookout Roadhouse.

Naturally, the Lookout has all the necessary ingredients to recommend it: good food and drink, friendly people and a great view; in this case, of Lake Elsinore. But the real reason for going to the Lookout is the great road that leads to it.

Designated as State Highway 74, the Ortega Highway sprints east out of the town of San Juan Capistrano, 50 miles south of Los Angeles. At first, the traffic is heavy, stoplights abound, and there appears to be an endless expanse of housing tracts.

But within five miles, the Ortega Highway turns into a windy, challenging two-lane road. Twohundred-year-old oak trees, scat-

tered around large meadows and rolling hills, greet the rider as the highway follows San Juan Creek.

There, as the highway climbs into the mountains, sweeping curves intermingle with tight twisties and an occasional half-circle loop, as high-country brush and pine trees replace the oaks of the valley below.

After 25 miles, the mountain and the road drop sharply to the town of Lake Elsinore. But just past the summit is the Lookout Roadhouse, a quaint, ramshackle cafe where bike riders have been gathering for years. Like us, they believe that a brisk Sunday-morning ride up Ortega Highway followed by one of the Roadhouse’s hearty breakfasts is one of the joys of motorcycling.

Ron Griewe

Information

The Lookout Roadhouse 32107 Ortega Highway Lake Elsinore, CA 92330 Hours: weekdays, 10 am to 4 pm; weekends, 8 am to dark. (714) 678-9010