A hydraulic control system for a vehicular drive system including a hydraulically operated belt-and-pulley type continuously variable transmission and a hydraulically operated frictional coupling device engaged for running of a vehicle, the hydraulic control system including: a first solenoid valve for regulating a belt-tensioning hydraulic pressure for tensioning a belt of the transmission, a second solenoid valve for regulating a transient coupling hydraulic pressure to be applied to the frictional coupling device in the process of an engaging action, a line-pressure regulating valve for regulating a line pressure used for hydraulically operated devices of the mechanism, and a hydraulic-circuit switching device operable to apply a control pressure of the second solenoid-operated valve to the line-pressure regulating valve after the frictional coupling device has been placed in a fully engaged state, and to apply a first control pressure of the first solenoid-operated valve to the line-pressure regulating valve while the frictional coupling device is in the process of the engaging action.