Readers of Mopar Muscle might be unaware that parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) offers the widest variety of high-performance SUVs of any manufacturer. It starts with the Dodge Durango SRT 392 (read our comments on our road trip in the Durango SRT 392 Mopar Edition, a high-performance SUV that can tow an 8,000-pound tiny home), the Maserati Levante (which is a very distant corporate cousin to the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Challenger), the Alfa Romeo Stelvio (whose 505-horsepower V-6 is three-quarters of the V-8 found under the hood of a Ferrari California T 2+2 hardtop convertible), the “standard” Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, and the subject of this road trip, the bad ass, over-the-top, Hellcat-powered, 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. That’s quite a high performance SUV portfolio. Bet you didn’t realize that?
While we would have loved to have rented Willow Springs for a day (or have FCA do it for us) to put the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk to the test, we recognize that most owners will never drive their Trackhawk to its limits on a proper race track. What most owners do is drive their Grand Cherokee Trackhawk to the bank, to the supermarket, take it on a family vacation, and a few will use it to tow their Viper race car to the track… Willow Springs perhaps.
Instead, we took it on a two-day road trip touring some of the best drivers’ roads in Southern California, most in Northern San Diego County, the same ones often used by manufacturers for their new-vehicle press launches. Some of these California secondary roads feature long high-desert straightaways. wide sweeping turns while others feature switchback that are the envy of any you’ll find in high Alpine passes in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, or Austria. I know because I’ve driven these great roads in my backyard as well as those challenging Alpine passes on many trips to Europe over the last 15 years.
Day One
Our adventure starts in Temecula, California Wine Country. There we stayed at Pointe Winery Inn which allowed us after an Eggs Benedict breakfast at the on-site Bouquet Restaurant. With one of my buddies, Dave, who helps me out with the photos on my local road trips, we were able to get out the door before 9 AM, heading south towards our day-one destination, Borrego Springs.
So as to not to duplicate the roads on our route, we headed north through the various vineyards in Temecula to Hemet where we picked up CA 74, part of California’s Palms to Pines Scenic Byway for the climb to Mountain Center. With the Trackhawk’s all-wheel drive and huge tires all around along with the 15.7-inch front rotors on its Brembo brakes (larger than those found on the last-run Vipers), it’s possible to effortlessly attack the curves easily at twice the suggested speed without breaking a sweat. Every time I drive a Grand Cherokee SRT8, I never cease to amazed at what’s possible in an SUV that weighs more than 5,000 pounds.
At Mountain Center, we took a quick left to detour to Idyllwild where we stopped for coffee at the Mile High Cafe. We doubled back to Mountain Center, to one of my favorite stretches of two-lane road in all of California, the stretch of CA 74 that runs to CA 371. In the wintertime, when there is snow on the mountain peaks to the east, you almost feel as if you’re driving in the mountains of Switzerland. While there was the temptation to hammer it, knowing better, I didn’t. And a good thing I didn’t as if I had, I would most likely have been pulled over as there is almost always a CHP Explorer hiding off on the right-hand side of the road.
At the intersection of CA 371 we make a right and head towards Anza and on to Aguana where we make a right turn on CA 79. At one point we will be just three miles south of our starting point at the Point Vineyard before making a left turn to head south on CA 76 to County Road S6 for the climb up to Mother’s Kitchen Restaurant for a photo op on the way up to Mount Palomar, This is a very challenging section of smooth tarmac, just the ticket for the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, which again makes us forget we’re driving a 5,000-pound SUV, one that itself can tow up to 6,000 pounds.
After a quick stop at what might be the smallest post office in California, we head south on West Grade Road through the trees back to CA 76 past Lake Henshaw on our left, to The Hideout Saloon, just off of the highway. It’s been recently renovated but wasn’t open on the day of our visit. A building that was once a gas station provided a photo op for my Golden Retriever Max.
Had it been open we would have eaten there – we will return at a later date to sample the grub – and headed to the famous Julian Pie Shop at the intersection of CA 79 in Santa Ysabel where CA 76 goes off to the southwest towards Ramona while we headed to on CA 78 to The Candy Apple Bakery in Julian for lunch.
On weekends this is a bikers’ favorite and the wait just to order a sandwich can take up to a half hour. On a Friday afternoon, we walked up to the counter and ordered lunch and sat out on the patio with Max, who drew a lot of attention. The road through the center of Julian was blocked off for the annual Homecoming Parade.
As soon as the festivities concluded, after we walked down the street to the Apple Alley Bakery for a slice of no-sugar-added apple pie (I’m still on my low-carb Keto diet, more on that later) we loaded up Max back into the Grand Cherokee’s cargo compartment. We were off through downtown Julian to CA 78 and pushed on through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Again, with the change in elevation and some tight turns, we pushed the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk hard but not even close to its capabilities. That will have to wait for another day.
Look for the signs for County Road three and the Tamarisk Grove Campground on your left for the road into Borrego Springs. You’ll approach Borrego Springs from the south, making a left-hand turn on Borrego Springs Road about two miles south of town. When you get to the huge roundabout in the center of town, depart at the nine-o’clock position on Palm Canyon Drive. On the left, you’ll see a vintage trailer park before reaching a sharp left-hand turn. There, turn right on Hoberg Road and you’ll reach the day one’s destination, the classic Palms at Indian Springs.
While there are several highly-rated places to stay in Borrego Springs, none has the Mid-Century vibe of The Palms at Indian Head. Originally built in 1946-7 when it was called Hoberg’s Desert Resort and rebuilt after a fire in 1959, it has played host to many Hollywood luminaries who wanted to get away from it all. Some who flew in on their own private planes that landed on the airstrip to the east of the center of town. Those that stayed at the hotel included Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Raymond Burr, Montgomery Clift, and many other stars who wanted more seclusion than offered in Palm Springs. The Hoberg’s offered a three-day, two night’s special that included six meals.
For us, just one day was necessary to absorb its Mid-Century charm as well as a gourmet, price fix three-course meal at the onsite Coyote Steakhouse. But not before taking a swim at the hotel’s gigantic, almost-Olympic-sized pool. (All this Mid-Century ambiance will set you back about $100 a night but searches online found rooms discounted to as little as $80. Such a bargain.)
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