The junction at Mountain Center — where Route 74 meets Route 243, and the drive makes its single mandatory turn: NORTH (right) onto Route 243 toward Idyllwild.
Alright — heads up now, because here comes the one and only turn of the entire drive, and I don't want you to miss it. You're coming up on the little junction at Mountain Center, where Route 74 meets Route 243. In just a moment, watch for the signs to Idyllwild — and turn RIGHT there, to the north, onto Route 243. That's a right turn, off of 74 and onto 243, following Idyllwild. Don't stay on 74; if you do, it'll carry you off westbound toward Hemet and you'll miss the whole top of the mountain. So: at Mountain Center, turn right onto 243 toward Idyllwild.
Good. Once you've made that turn, you can relax again — that's the only real navigating you have to do all day. From here it's straight up Route 243 to Idyllwild, then straight down the other side to Banning. No more turns to think about.
Mountain Center itself is just a wide spot in the road with a store and a café — but it's the hinge of the whole drive, the point where we stop climbing the desert side and swing north into the tall pines. It also sits close to where a big wildfire started a few years back, and Boone will tell you about that further along. For now — you've made your turn onto 243. Climb on up to Idyllwild.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
