State Route 371 is a state highway in Riverside County in the U.S. state of California, serving as a short 21-mile connector from SR 79 near Aguanga to SR 74 near Anza. It is a heavily-used shortcut from southwestern Riverside County to the Coachella Valley in central Riverside County via SR 74. The current route was part of SR 71 until 1973, when SR 79 and SR 71 were co-signed from Aguanga to Temecula. In 1974, the portion of SR 71 from Temecula to Corona along I-15's current alignment was deleted, and the orphaned route from Aguanga to Anza was re-signed as SR 371. SR 371 is the main highway serving the communities of Anza and Aguanga and connects both towns. SR 371 crosses through the private community of Lake Riverside, as well as Cahuilla and the Cahuilla Indian Reservation. It is the primary road running through the town of Anza but mostly serves rural areas. The highway is often plagued by shutdowns due to snow, ice, wind, and wildfires, which occasionally causes local schools to close.
Route description
SR 371 begins as Cahuilla Road at an intersection with SR 79. It travels northeast away from the community of Aguanga, loosely paralleling Tule Creek for the first few miles. SR 371 continues through the Lake Riverside community, crossing over the outflow of the lake. The highway enters the Cahuilla Indian Reservation and passes by the Cahuilla Creek Casino in Cahuilla before passing through the community of Anza. SR 371 briefly becomes Kenworthy Bautista Road and parallels Hamilton Creek as it enters the San Bernardino National Forest before terminating at SR 74. SR 371 is not part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.
History
Route 277 from Temecula to Anza was added to the state highway system in 1959. In the 1964 state highway renumbering, the part from US 395 to SR 74 was included as part of SR 71. In 1974, the part from near Aguanga to SR 74 became SR 371. Before 2003, the intersection with SR 79 was very dangerous, as northbound SR 79 traffic had to stop at a stop sign and there was no such sign for southbound SR 79 traffic or for SR 371 traffic headed towards its western terminus. Now, there are stop signs in every direction at that intersection.
