Drive More of the Best Driving Roads in San Diego on Our 2nd San Diego Backroad Enthusiast Route

Explore more of San Diego's best driving roads on this scenic east county loop. The route winds through canyons, mountains, and country roads, from Jamul to Mt Laguna and back. The route starts from the Rancho San Diego Towne Center, located on Campo Road between Spring Valley and Jamul. The map below provides an overview, but read on below for more information.

After leaving the starting point, you’ll head south on Campo Road before turning east on Lyons Valley Road. You’ll pass the Lyons Valley Trading Post before the road bends north. You’ll cross under the I-8 freeway, and, after passing Descanso, you’ll begin an incredibly scenic mountain loop that takes you through Guatay, Pine Valley, Mt Laguna, Lake Cuyamaca, and then back through Descanso. Once you’re back in Descanso, you can either take the I-8 freeway straight back to San Diego, or continue following the route onto Japatul Road, Dehesa Road, and finally Willow Glen Drive, bringing you back within a mile of the starting location.

Try the Drives & Detours app for a narrated experience including tips and points of interest!

There are a couple of optional detours along this drive worth mentioning. The first is near the starting location off Campo Road. It’s a short one mile out-and-back up a twisty little road called Millar Ranch Road. This road gets almost no traffic and makes a fun little warm-up run.

Millar Ranch Road

The second detour is Engineers Road, located farther up in the mountains, just south of Julian near Lake Cuyamaca. Engineers Road is very twisty and very narrow, almost like a paved jeep trail. In fact, it's so narrow that if you encounter an oncoming vehicle, you will probably both have to slow down and get as close to the edge as possible in order to let each other pass. Luckily, encountering another vehicle is rare and it's a fun little road. However, because it's so narrow, we really only recommend it for motorcycles and small cars like a Miata, Lotus, Cayman/Boxter, etc.

Engineers Road (click for map)

It should be noted that Engineers Road doesn't necessarily have to be an out-and-back drive. There is a way to exit to the north via Boulder Peak Rd, to Eagle Peak Rd, to Pine Hills Rd. It goes through a few neighborhoods and isn’t that exciting, ultimately winding up on the east end of Julian, just outside of town. For that reason, we recommend it as an out-and-back.

As mentioned above, after Cuyamaca, you wind up passing through Descanso again. Some people may opt to jump on the I-8 freeway here to get back to San Diego, but we like to avoid the freeway if possible, and there are some great roads on that last leg that takes you south of Alpine on Japatul Rd and Dehesa Rd. Plus, if you’ve been driving a while, you’ll probably be getting hungry by the time you hit Alpine, and there are a few good options.

One place we like to recommend is Alpine Tavern and Grill. They have cold beer and a great food menu including burgers, a prime rib French dip sandwich, meaty pizzas, and more.

Another place worth recommending is Pearson Brothers Winery. They make their own honey wine that’s produced from wildflower honey that comes from their 60-acre wildlife preserve. It’s pretty unique, and they even offer tours of their preserve on most weekends.