Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74)
- mapped
- 57.6 mi
- mapped
- motorcycle crashes, 2021–2025
- 90
- motorcycle crashes, 2021–2025
- serious or fatal
- 33
- serious or fatal
- fatal
- 2
- fatal
Is Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74) open today?
No Caltrans closures listed.
Checked Sat, Nov 14, 10:05 AM Pacific. These lists don't include every closure: Forest Service gates and fire closures can be missing. All riding roads this week.
Is Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74) safe to ride on a motorcycle?
We don't rate roads as safe or unsafe: crash counts can't say how risky a road is, and popular riding roads have more crashes partly because more people ride them. What the records show: 90 motorcycle crashes were reported along its 57.6 mapped miles from 2021–2025, 33 of them serious or fatal (2 fatal). 61% involved no other vehicle. What to watch for: Desert heat, steep switchbacks with sheer drops, crosswinds and sand on the road.
This week's weather
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Motorcycle crashes and deaths on Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74)
90 motorcycle crashes were reported within 60 m of the road from 2021–2025: 33 killed or seriously injured someone, and 2 were fatal. 61% involved no other vehicle. Busier roads have more crashes partly because more people ride them, so these counts don't say how risky the road is.
Bends, straights and junctions
Outside city limits, 98 motorcycle crashes were reported on Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74) from 2021–2026, 18 of them within 40 m of a junction. Of the other 80, 65 (81%) were in bends tighter than a 100 m radius, which make up 24% of the road. So crashes gather in the bends, more than their share of the road. 50 of the 65 crashes with no other vehicle were in bends.
A crash alone in a bend usually means running wide or losing grip: set your speed before the bend, look through it, and expect gravel, sand or diesel mid-corner.
Crashes with another vehicle in bends are often an oncoming car across the centre line: keep away from the centre line in blind bends.
The bends with the most crashes
- 4 crashes in one bend: 3 with no other vehicle, 4 of 4 on the grade going downhill; tightest radius about 93 m.
- 4 crashes in one bend: 4 with no other vehicle; tightest radius about 54 m.
- 4 crashes in one bend: 2 with no other vehicle, 0 of 1 on the grade going downhill; tightest radius about 62 m.
How we tell bends from straights, and every riding road compared
Camping near Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74)
Campgrounds and RV parks within about 5 miles of the road (straight line), nearest first. Seasons, fire restrictions and closures change, so check with whoever runs it before you go.
- Pinyon Flat CampgroundForest Service · 1 site · 4,023 ft · 0.1 mi from the road · toilets, feeOn the mapReserve
- Hurkey Creek ParkRiverside County Parks · 4,404 ft · 0.1 mi from the road · feeOn the map
- Thomas Mountain Yellow Post 14,416 ft · 0.2 mi from the roadOn the map
- McCall Memorial Equestrian Park4,467 ft · 0.3 mi from the road · feeOn the map
- Lake Hemet Campground4,351 ft · 0.3 mi from the road · feeOn the map
- Ribbonwood Equestrian CampgroundForest Service · 8 sites · 4,077 ft · 0.4 mi from the roadOn the mapReserve
Campgrounds from Recreation.gov (federal campgrounds, 2026-10-18) and OpenStreetMap (2026-09-28); water, toilets and showers only where they're listed. Elevation from USGS.
Common questions about Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74)
- What is Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74) like to ride?
- Switchbacks from Palm Desert up into the San Jacinto Mountains toward Hemet.
- How long is Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74)?
- About 57.6 miles as mapped in OpenStreetMap, for the stretch we cover.
- Is Pines to Palms Highway (SR-74) open today?
- As of Sat, Nov 14, 10:05 AM Pacific, no Caltrans or LA County closures are listed on it today. These lists don't include every closure (Forest Service gates and fire closures can be missing), so check Caltrans QuickMap before you go.
Other riding roads nearby
Crashes: motorcycle crashes reported within 60 m of the road, 2021–2025, from the California Crash Reporting System (CCRS). Road: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Weather: National Weather Service. Distances to other roads are between their middles, in a straight line. How the data works.