California State Route 74

State Route 74 (SR 74), part of which forms the Palms to Pines Scenic Byway or Pines to Palms Highway, and the Ortega Highway, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs from Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County to the city limits of Palm Desert in Riverside County. Stretching about 111 miles (179 km), it passes through several parks and National Forests between the Pacific coast and the Coachella Valley.

State Route 74
SR 74 highlighted in red
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 374
Maintained by Caltrans
Length111.471 mi[1] (179.395 km)
SR 74 is broken into pieces, and the length does not reflect the overlaps that would be required to make the route continuous.
Existed1934[2]–present
Tourist
routes		 Pines to Palms Scenic Byway
Major junctions
West end I-5 in San Juan Capistrano
 
East endPalm Desert city limits (State Maintenance)
Location
CountiesOrange, Riverside
Highway system
← SR 73SR 75 →

Route description

SR 74 begins at an interchange with I-5 in the city of San Juan Capistrano and heads east as the Ortega Highway, loosely paralleling San Juan Creek. The highway leaves the San Juan Capistrano city limits and turns northeast, going through the community of Rancho Mission Viejo and entering Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park and eventually Cleveland National Forest. After going through San Juan Hot Springs, SR 74 enters Riverside County.[3]

The highway continues winding through the Santa Ana Mountains and passes through the community of El Cariso before descending into the city of Lake Elsinore. SR 74 continues northwest on Grand Avenue before continuing northeast on Riverside Drive and continuing along the shore of Lake Elsinore. The road continues southeast on Collier Avenue before continuing northeast on Central Avenue and intersecting I-15. SR 74 leaves the city of Lake Elsinore and continues through unincorporated Riverside County before turning east and entering Perris. After traveling through downtown, SR 74 merges with I-215 and runs concurrently with I-215 before exiting the freeway as Matthews Road.[4]

SR 74 travels southeast through the Romoland area of Menifee and turns east to become Pinacate Road, continuing through Homeland and Green Acres before running concurrently with SR 79 as Florida Avenue through Hemet. SR 79 splits off and heads north towards San Jacinto while SR 74 continues through East Hemet and Valle Vista before entering the San Bernardino National Forest. The Palms to Pines Highway parallels San Jacinto Creek as it winds through the mountains before intersecting SR 243 in Mountain Center and providing access to the Hemet Reservoir. SR 74 follows the Garner Valley Wash through Garner Valley before meeting the eastern terminus of SR 371. The road crosses the Santa Rosa Indian Reservation before going through the communities of Gardenland and Pinyon Pines and turning north along Deep Canyon and becoming the western boundary of the University of California Desert Research Area.[4]

As the highway descends to the Coachella Valley area, it parallels Carrizo Creek before entering the city limits of Palm Desert, where SR 74 meets its current legal eastern terminus. The SR 74 designation continued into Palm Desert as a city arterial to its eastern terminus at SR 111, which has also had its state highway designation removed through Palm Desert.[4]

Route 74 passes through many parks and National Forests along its route. Some of these places include the San Bernardino National Forest, the Cleveland National Forest, the Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, Lake Elsinore State Recreation Park, the Soboba Indian Reservation, Lake Hemet, Santa Rosa Indian Reservation, and Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.

SR 74 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System,[5] and for a portion near I-15 as well as from I-215 to the eastern Hemet city limits is part of the National Highway System,[6] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.[7] SR 74 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System;[8] however, it is only a scenic highway as designated by Caltrans from the western boundary of the San Bernardino National Forest to its junction with SR 111.[9] State Route 74 is called the California Wildland Firefighters Memorial Highway (from Lake Elsinore to San Juan Capistrano), as designated by various state laws.[10] The Palms to Pines Scenic Byway is a National Forest Scenic Byway.[11]

History
SR 740 became part of SR 74 when the highway was extended east
SR 74 was concurrent with US 395 in Perris

The route has been signed as Route 74 since the establishment of state routes in 1934.[2] Its original corridor between then CA 71 Corona Freeway (later I-15W) and present-day I-215 (then, I-15E and U.S. Route 395) was numbered as U.S. 395, through downtown Perris. East of the CA 74/U.S. 395 junction, from Romoland-east, was CA 740 (Florida Avenue).

The western portion of Route 74 in Orange County follows San Juan Creek and is named the Ortega Highway, after the Spanish explorer Sgt. José Francisco Ortega who led the scouts of the 1769 Portola expedition, first non-natives to ever see the area.

A segment of Route 74 named "Seven Level Hill," just south of Palm Desert, California, appears in the 1963 American comedy film It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World during the opening minutes of the film, when the major characters of the film meet for the first time following a car accident.

Route 74 between San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinore, due to its narrow width and high traffic volume, holds an ominous claim to fame as one of the most dangerous highways in the state.[12]

California's legislature has relinquished state control of segments of SR 74 in Perris and Palm Desert, and turned it over to local control. This includes deleting from the highway code an unconstructed segment that would have extended SR 74 from SR 111 to Interstate 10.[13]

On August 11, 1930, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors officially named the highway "from San Jacinto Mountains to the Desert" as the Palms to Pines Highway.[14]

Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions).[1] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

CountyLocationPostmile
[1][15][16]		DestinationsNotes
Orange
ORA 0.00-15.60		San Juan Capistrano0.00Ortega Highway (to Camino Capistrano)Continuation beyond I-5
0.00 I-5 (San Diego Freeway) – Los Angeles, San DiegoInterchange; western terminus of SR 74; I-5 exit 82
​Antonio Parkway, Avenida La Pata/La Pata Avenue – Ladera Ranch
Riverside
RIV 0.00-96.01		Lake Elsinore11.83Grand Avenue – Lakeland Village
17.24 I-15 (Temecula Valley Freeway) – Corona, San DiegoInterchange; I-15 exit 77
Lake Elsinore–Perris line​East end of state maintenance
Perris27.53
26.31[N 1]		 I-215 north (Escondido Freeway) / Redlands Avenue – RiversideInterchange; west end of I-215 overlap; former I-15E north / US 395 north; I-215 exit 17
​West end of freeway on I-215 / West end of state maintenance
​East end of freeway on I-215
23.54[N 1]
27.54		 I-215 south (Escondido Freeway) – San DiegoInterchange; east end of I-215 overlap; former I-15E south / US 395 south; I-215 exit 15
​34.33 SR 79 south (Winchester Road) / Vista Place – Winchester, San DiegoWest end of SR 79 overlap
Hemet36.92Warren RoadServes Hemet-Ryan Airport
40.59 CR R3 (State Street) – Sage, Aguanga, San JacintoNorthern terminus of CR R3 (State Street continues north to San Jacinto)
41.34 SR 79 north (San Jacinto Street) – San JacintoEast end of SR 79 overlap
44.74Ramona Expressway
Mountain Center59.25 SR 243 north – Idyllwild, Banning
​71.75 SR 371 west – Anza, San Diego
Palm Desert line East end of state maintenance
Palm Desert96.01 SR 111 – Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Indio
96.01Monterey AvenueContinuation beyond SR 111; eastern terminus of SR 74
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  1. Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along I-215 rather than SR 74.
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See also
  •  California Roads portal

References
  1. California Department of Transportation. "State Truck Route List". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (XLS file) on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. California Highways: State Route 74
  3. Orange County Road Atlas (Map). Thomas Brothers. 2008.
  4. Riverside County Road Atlas (Map). Thomas Brothers. 2008.
  5. "Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of the California Streets and Highways Code". Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  6. Federal Highway Administration (March 25, 2015). National Highway System: Riverside–San Bernardino, CA (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
    Federal Highway Administration (March 25, 2015). National Highway System: California (South) (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  7. Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  8. "Article 2.5 of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of the California Streets & Highways Code". Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  9. California Department of Transportation (August 2019). "Officially Designated State Scenic Highways and Historic Parkways" (XLSX). Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  10. California Department of Transportation; California State Transportation Agency (January 2015). 2014 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California. Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. pp. 52, 214. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 30, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  11. Staff. "Palms to Pines Scenic Byway". America's Byways. Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  12. Weikel, Dan (August 11, 2001). "Driving a Deadly Dinosaur". LA Times A Tribune Newspaper website. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  13. "CA Codes (shc:300-635)". Leginfo.ca.gov. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  14. Lech, Steve (2012). For Tourism and a Good Night's Sleep: J. Win Wilson, Wilson Howell, and the Beginnings of the Palms-to-Pines Highway. Riverside, CA: Steve Lech. p. ix. ISBN 978-0-9837500-1-7.
  15. California Department of Transportation (July 2007). "Log of Bridges on State Highways". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation.
  16. California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006

Further reading
  • Law, George (October 3, 1920). "The 'Pines and Palm Trails' of Wonder". Los Angeles Times.

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