With no particular place to go

“Decker Canyon Road — it’s up PCH about halfway through Malibu. You’re there in the mountains, you’re driving by these little old-feeling communities, there are some vineyards, and you’re looking out over the ocean. It’s a real car road. When we moved out here, I got a 10-year-old BMW convertible for my wife. So that’s what we drive when we take a drive like that. There’s room for the dog in back, and I kind of feel like a Californian.”

— Alex Chadwick

Host of National Public Radio’s “Day to Day”

“My favorite drive ever was Sunset Boulevard, between the house that Brian [Wilson] had in Beverly Hills and my place in Brentwood. In the early 1970s, we would record at Brian’s house and that drive back and forth, that was my break from work, my escape.

“There’s that great curve there. I used to get my quota of tickets every year right there. I had my little 1967 XKE, the most beautiful European sports car ever made. The afternoon sessions, that’s when I would get a ticket. But if we went into the late hours, which we did a lot, then I could really cut loose. It was like our private Laguna Seca speedway. Those were great days. You know, it hasn’t changed a bit either.”

— Al Jardine

The Beach Boys

“The Angeles Crest Highway. My father taught me to drive a stick shift on that road in a 1968 Datsun Roadster. Now I drive it to take my sons up for mountain biking, for family picnics, for hiking and occasionally for work. It crosses three obvious faults between the 210 Freeway and the Angeles Forest Highway. The view of Los Angeles is a picture of people on active faults.”

— Lucy Jones

Earthquake expert

“Kanan Road through to Malibu, Malibu to Los Posas, Los Posas to the 118 over to the 27 which is beautiful country up near Camarillo then down the 101 to Las Virgenes and then south on PCH to Sunset. It’s kind of a big lazy circle.”

— Julian McMahon

Star of Nip/Tuck

“It’s around 7 p.m., and I take Malibu Canyon to Mulholland to Old Topanga Road to Topanga Canyon to PCH. I love that time of the day and the way the light hits. Everything is beautiful — the mountains, the trees, the ocean.”

— Tracey Ross

Retailer to the stars

“My favorite drive generally encompasses Skid Row. Seeing that helps put one’s own by-comparison luxury problems in perspective. I generally pick a car I could imagine living in. You never know. For me, an unhip, big-ass Caddy fills the bill.”

— Jerry Stahl

Author

“Sunset Boulevard from Beverly Hills to the beach. I love the change of scenery, from the lush landscaping of the residential areas to the open skies, the rugged sand and rocks and the vast ocean at the end of the boulevard. No matter what you’re driving, it feels like you’re in a car commercial…. I prefer a Porsche.”

— Mariska Hargitay

Actress