C206 PLT ACCEPTS VISUAL TRANSITION FROM SCT TO SNA BUT FOLLOWS WRONG FREEWAY; ENDING AT DEP END INSTEAD OF APCH OF RWYS 19.

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CAME FROM N/EMT WITH FLT FOLLOWING UNDER LAX CLASS B AIRSPACE. HANDED OFF TO TWR TO RPT AT MILE SQUARE. ACKNOWLEDGED BEING UNFAMILIAR AND TWR INSTRUCTION WAS TO FOLLOW FREEWAY AND DO A SHORT APCH TO RWY 19R (SHORT APCH NOT AN ISSUE FOR A C206 AND A LONG RWY). FREEWAY SPLITS AND I FOLLOWED SOUTHERN BRANCH -- RPTING IN ERROR; ARPT IN SIGHT. I THOUGHT THE DARK RIVER VALLEY S OF THE ACTUAL ARPT WAS THE ARPT. OBVIOUSLY; IN RETROSPECT; AND ONE OF THE LESSONS LEARNED; I HADN'T SEEN THE BEACON OR AT LEAST RECOGNIZED THAT THE BEACON WAS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE FREEWAY FOR WHAT I WAS CALLING AN ARPT. AS I APCHED THE DEP END OF RWY 19R/APCH END OF RWY 1L; THE CTLR RECOGNIZED I WAS IN THE WRONG POS -- THOUGHT I WAS SETTING UP FOR RWY 1L. SIMULTANEOUSLY; I ALSO RECOGNIZED THAT I DIDN'T HAVE THE ARPT IN SIGHT AND WAS ACTUALLY SETTING UP TO LAND IN SOME MUD. CTLR SENT AROUND TO DOWNWIND FOR RWY 19L. LESSONS: 1) NIGHT IN SOCAL IS A VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE WITH A LOT OF LIGHTS. 2) SHOULD HAVE BEEN QUICKER TO REALIZE I DIDN'T REALLY HAVE THE ARPT. THIS IS THE REAL MISTAKE HERE PROBABLY; RPTING THE ARPT IN SIGHT WITHOUT MORE CONFIRMATION AND CONFIDENCE. 3) LCL LANDMARKS TO UNFAMILIAR PLTS SHOULD BE A RED FLAG TO MORE EXPLICITLY ASK FOR VECTORS AND BE VERY CLR TO THE CTLRS TO FOLLOW CAREFULLY.