Santa Clara Truck Trail: Tough Course for Fun Times

Imagine running hard on your favorite course, doing peachy keen. But at the end, there's a foreboding climb into the mountains. The signs say, "no traffic," the tarmac declares rough times ahead, and the guardrails do not exist. However, good views and fun times are ahead if a brave driver is willing to grab their reproductive organs of choice and head on up. At first, everything seems fine, but the road begins to encroach on the driver as lanes become nonexistent and rocks and rubble mock the driver with loose grip and light scratches against the car's body. Finally, it all clears up, and there's nothing left except a fantastic view. Oh, and the way back down with gravity shooting seductive eyes is a real femme fatale. This is the Santa Clara Truck Trail.

Sanic's Drive-along: Keeping Cool When Mistakes Happen

Another episode of Sanic's Drive-along! This time I tackle Santa Clara truck trail that sits between Sand Canyon and Little Tujunga. I wanted to upload this video for everyone to know and learn about driving in a safe manner.

Sand Canyon: Braking to Go Fast

Sand Canyon is the great little downhill course that requires great footwork on all the right pedals. Imagine going to the water park, and the park has that one water slide where they drop people at steep angles. That would be Sand Canyon as gravity will be the driver's number one friend or number one foe.

Sand Canyon begins (or ends) where Little Tujunga Canyon begins (or ends). It connects Little Tujunga Canyon with the 14 and Placerita Canyon. It's only about three or so miles long, but going downhill all the way is a load of fun.

Little Tujunga Canyon: the Tire's Barbershop Quartet

Little Tujunga Canyon is the little runt of the three Tujunga brothers. Alongside Big Tujunga Canyon and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon, Little Tujunga Canyon (LTC) is the littlest brother who got all the hand-me-downs and got stuck with his uncle's rustbox, but that's all LTC ever needed to be fast. LTC is a touge that stresses good driving, following the perfect line, and keeping up the momentum around corners. Going fast isn't how much a driver has under the hood, it's how well they can keep up a consistent speed through a technical course.

Sanic's Drive-along: Little Tujunga Canyon

Just a little drive-along across the 11 miles of Little Tujunga Canyon. Check out the video below.

Mt. Wilson

The intersection of ACH and Mt. Wilson

Mt. Wilson is like the kid who invites you over for a summer pool party, but when you get there, all he has is a bag of opened Cheetos and single Slip 'N Slide. At first, you may not know what to do: join in on the fun or call your mom to take you back home. However, closer inspection of that Slip 'N Slide reveals that it's actually 100 of the slides put together that stretches out to about five miles. Once you get on, the fun never stops until some asshole comes around a blind corner and pushes you off a cliff.

Upper Big Tujunga Canyon

Intersection where ACH and Upper BTC meet

Imagine the two Big Tujunga Canyons (BTC) as twin brothers, but Upper BTC popped out of the womb two minutes early and staked a claim on the best tit. Throughout Upper's life, the big brother felt like it had it made. Upper had everything handed to it: well-paved roads, plenty of scenery, and long stretches of road where it can flaunt its American muscle.

Upper BTC stretches between Angeles Forest Highway and Angeles Crest Highway, connecting the two. There are some auxiliary roads on its long stretch, but its only purpose is to connect the two highways and nothing more. The road does not connect to "Lower" Big Tujunga Canyon in any way.