CA 243

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 243 reopened yesterday after a long closure relating to winter storm damage this past February.  CA 243 is a highly scenic route that I used to frequent from 2011-2013 and mostly aligned on the Banning-Idyllwild Panoramic Highway.  As the name "Panoramic Highway" suggests CA 243 climbing the San Jacinto Mountains has a swath of vistas overlooking Banning in San Gorgonio Pass and the San Bernardino Mountains.  The current iteration of CA 243 was added to the State Highway system in 1970 and was mostly just a maintenance takeover of Banning-Idyllwild Road.  Previously CA 243 had been designated over the planned freeway which was planned to connect I-10 to I-210 in 1964.  In 1968 this unbuilt freeway was re-designated as part of the planned route of I-605.  While on my trip through the Banning Area the Caltrans QuickMap indicated CA 243 was open 7 miles south of I-10 to the boundary of San Bernardino National Forest.  Unfortunately most of that open mileage was only accessible to local traffic south of the City Limits of Banning.  I'm hoping to update the photo log in this blog in the future but the the historic information for CA 243 along with maps scans can be found below.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/11/california-state-route-243.html

[Max Rockatansky]

Here is something interesting that was pointed out to me on the California's Historic Highways page; CA 243 was once Signed County Route R1.  I was forwarded a 1966 Goshua Highway Map which shows R1 over the future route of the second CA 243 (and current iteration).  This would certainly explain why there is an County Route R2 and R3 but no longer an R1.   The one thing that vexes me, why was R1 approved?  R2 was approved in 1964 which makes me think it was 1964 or prior.

[skluth]

I drove up to Idyllwild on CA 243 yesterday. No pics as I thought Max had already posted some. Sorry. I will say the drive up was incredibly smooth with new pavement all the way from the base south of Banning up to Pine Cove. There was a construction crew working on the NB lane between Pine Cove and Idyllwild with traffic alternating on the free lane, but I'm not really sure what they were doing. There was another set of construction equipment just south of Idyllwild, but it was a Friday afternoon and it looked like they were gone for the day.

[Max Rockatansky]

I drove up to Idyllwild on CA 243 yesterday. No pics as I thought Max had already posted some. Sorry. I will say the drive up was incredibly smooth with new pavement all the way from the base south of Banning up to Pine Cove. There was a construction crew working on the NB lane between Pine Cove and Idyllwild with traffic alternating on the free lane, but I'm not really sure what they were doing. There was another set of construction equipment just south of Idyllwild, but it was a Friday afternoon and it looked like they were gone for the day.

I had a couple photos back in the old days of the climb up to CA 74 but unfortunately they didn't make it through my 2013 hard drive crash.  I was really disappointed that I couldn't get up the hill a little bit back when I wrote the above article.

[Max Rockatansky]

I finally circled back around CA 243 two days ago.  Suffice to say it was quite the climb out of Banning, kind of reminded me Horseshoe Meadows Road:

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzCLRs

[Max Rockatansky]

And now the blog is updated with the full alignment of CA 243:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/11/california-state-route-243.html

[theroadwayone]

I've been along the southern part of the route many times and some of the views from there are quite amazing.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've been along the southern part of the route many times and some of the views from there are quite amazing.

The climb out of Banning in particular is pretty dramatic and quick.  Caltrans doesn't have a ton of roads that hug switchbacks like that in such short succession.  It reminded me of Old CA 190 on Horseshoe Meadows Road having had a chance to drive 243 fully again for the first time since 2011. 

[pderocco]

I've been along the southern part of the route many times and some of the views from there are quite amazing.

The climb out of Banning in particular is pretty dramatic and quick.  Caltrans doesn't have a ton of roads that hug switchbacks like that in such short succession.  It reminded me of Old CA 190 on Horseshoe Meadows Road having had a chance to drive 243 fully again for the first time since 2011.

Here are a couple of panos I shot from up there in '08. Hasn't changed much since then.
https://pbase.com/pderocco/image/95446656/original
https://pbase.com/pderocco/image/95446658/original

[ClassicHasClass]

Nice stitching job on those panos.  What did you use to do it?

[pderocco]

Nice stitching job on those panos.  What did you use to do it?

Pano Tools, then cropping and globally adjusting in Photoshop.

[Max Rockatansky]

Something for the original CA 243 which was a component of the San Gabriel River Freeway:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2023/03/the-original-california-state-route-243.html?m=1