Why California Abandoned Highway 39

California's abandoned Route 39, also known as the San Gabriel Canyon Road, holds a storied past steeped in the state's transportation evolution. Originally envisioned as a vital link between the coastal regions and the San Gabriel Mountains, Route 39 emerged in the 1930s, serving as a scenic route through stunning landscapes. However, due to environmental concerns, financial constraints, and the devastating effects of natural disasters like landslides and floods, portions of the highway were gradually abandoned. This abandonment resulted in its closure and eventual removal from the state highway system. Despite its closure, remnants of this once bustling road remain, invoking a sense of nostalgia and curiosity among adventurous explorers and historians eager to uncover the faded echoes of California's transportation history.
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IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
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Scriptwriter - Gregory Back
Editor - Karolina Szwata
Host - Ryan Socash
Music/Sound Design: Dave Daddario
» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

[@davepage2466]

Great overview. There is a LOT more to this story, but it will be a miracle if it ever reopens. There is also Shoemaker Cyn Rd, another attempt that was abandoned and includes 2 tunnels that end after the second one. However the closed section of 39 was in fact repaired-but they decided not to open it at the last minute. I've been up there many times, even have driven on it legally thanks to connections to the Forest Service. All those slides were repaired, road fixed in other places. But CA being CA, the money had to go to some other place. Then there was the 2002 curve fire, yikes. Then 39 was closed for almost a full decade after that due to storm damage-was the most peaceful I'd ever seen it. Your tax dollars NOT at work! There was a point where caltrans wanted to full on abandon the road-but the forest service said fine, as long as you return the area to completely natural conditions. Of course that would cost a fortune-so fortunately it remains and has been improved. It could easily be reopened with the rockfall tech and other construction improvements-but the political will is not there. It's a shame, since it cuts of easy access to many recreation opportunities and forces people to go miles around. Oh well.

[@heartoftherobot]

It’s supposed to be reopened in the next couple years! Here’s to hoping!

[@davepage2466]

I hope so, but I never get my hopes up. They have been saying it will reopen for DECADES and there is always some excuse. Would be nice before I die to see it opened though.@@heartoftherobot

[@heartoftherobot]

@@davepage2466 Though it’s officially past public comment, you should definitely email your thoughts to the Caltrans engineer, Karl Price, working on the project. Google “Caltrans CA-39 Reopening” and his information is there.

[@HNSthejypod]

@@heartoftherobot caltrans can't even keep the 2 open trust me this is not happening 💀

[@heartoftherobot]

@@HNSthejypod they do a pretty good job on the 2 all things considered.

[@brianmoore4299]

I grew up In La Puente. (60s & 70)s. Hwy 39 to us was Azusa ave. We used to go up to the canyon (as locals then called it) and utilize the riverbed for all sorts of activities. A lot of four wheel driving, motorcycle riding, swimming, partying. If you went south on 39 you could use Colima rd and Hacienda Blvd to take you through the hills and get you over to Beach Blvd which you followed all the way down to Huntington Beach. I hitch hiked that route everyday one summer to the beach while in high school. Only took two hours each way. Much faster if you had your own car.

[@lasttimeigaveafuck]

Lp my hometown too❤

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

Been in CA since 1959. Seen 405, 91 and 605 construction!!!! We drove to San Diego on PCH.❤❤

[@petuniasevan]

Before the landslide, our family used to go up that way for recreation. There is a retreat camp up at Angeles Crest which was an easy drive up 39 from Azusa which I got to stay at for a weekend when I was about 11 years old (about 1974). After the road got closed, we honestly expected it to be cleared and reopened right away. We moved away in 1979. I visited the last time in 2003 and went up that way to find that it was still closed. Very much a bummer.

[@elwoodblues9613]

I once camped at Crystal Lake, and spent all of one day on the trails above the campground. This includes the famous Pacific Crest Trail. Very nice area with very nice views, with a pine forest that is not as thick as the Sierras.

[@marnixmarquez5633]

I ❤ Tahoe

[@petuniasevan]

@@marnixmarquez5633 Somewhere north of 500 miles from San Gabriel Canyon! 😆

[@DeltaElites]

Yeah, I grew up in San Gabriel so the Azusa to Angeles Crest route was so much easier. I was truly saddened when I learned they would keep it closed. It was one of the best motorcycles rides in all of Angeles National Forest.

[@Randy.E.R]

I can tell you that Highway 39 will never be repaired. I have lived in the California Desert for 59 years and have learned how CalTrans prioritizes its work. A good example is US395 throughout San Bernardino and Kern counties. Yes, it is a US route but is maintained by CalTrans. This two lane death trap becomes a four lane highway once it reaches Inyo County where fewer deaths have occurred. There is more than enough land to make it four lanes in San Bernardino and Kern counties, so what gives? There is not enough commerce along that stretch of highway to support an expansion as there is in Inyo county. The number of fatalities along that section really doesn’t matter to CalTrans. This is the same reason CA14 is two lanes in one of the most deadliest and remote sections after Red Rock canyon. There is not enough commerce in that area to make it worth widening it to four lanes. Yet, fatal car accidents continue to happen every year. I could give more examples, but you get the idea

[@kennethluedtkejr1903]

Yes many deaths on 395 and I am only talking about the stretch going through Adelanto.

[@Porsche996driver]

This reminds me I need to get out more. I remember the big storm in ‘78, I almost drowned riding my bike home from school lol. Great backgrounder in the CA road system - what vision to build out this network. It’s amazing in SoCal you can drive one hour in any direction and be in a different ecosystem. Desert, ocean, coastal scrub, rivers, lakes, foothills, mountains - we all need to get out more. Peace and love all.

[@DiscGoStu]

Bridge and Road to Nowhere are such awesome hikes, especially in summer when you can enjoy a swimming hole in the river and picnic under the trees. Those tunnels are extremely creepy though, something about massive, abandoned structures in the middle of nowhere will always creep me out

[@carlstrohmeyer]

I grew up along the broken part of the route in the 1960s. And actually, for a time, the route did connect via Hacienda Road/Blvd from the Beach Bvd part then jogged over to Azusa Ave. I can still remember the Route 39 signs along Hacienda

[@KaiPonte]

Great video! I used to drive regularly from my office in Cerritos to my customer at Edwards Air Force Base near Palmdale. I would either have to go around the 14 to the 395 or go up the 15 to 138 to the south entrance. My mom had taught fourth grade in the late 1960's and still had a California geography textbook, with a freeway map of Southern California. That book had the 39 freeway going from Huntington Beach all the way to Palmdale. Of course, it also had the 2 freeway going straight through Beverly Hills, which was also canned.

[@elwoodblues9613]

It is so LA that the most popular trail in SoCal is to an abandoned highway bridge. I did this hike. The trail is very unofficial, but its lovers have added things to the route to indicate that you're going the right way. It is not an easy hike, but it is a good one. As for the last four miles of 39, rebuilding and reopening it would be great, but I think the problems are insurmountable. The land in that area is too unstable to support a roadway.

[@johnfech3985]

So this is now a hiking trail not an off road vehicle one? Again unoffically.

[@elwoodblues9613]

@@johnfech3985 - yes. The big storm wiped out most of the roadway leading to what is now the Bridge To Nowhere. The last mile is intact, although unpaved.

[@HyBrad]

That makes sense, but it doesn't stop them in Big Sur HWY 1. Obviously it's a high traveled road, and there are people living along it, but there are larger slides (literal mountains falling down on it) that they repair.

[@chadwells7562]

@@HyBradThey have no choice on Hwy 1 out by Big Sur etc because that’s the only place to build a road that services the coastal communities. I love riding and driving our SoCal mountain roads, but they’re a luxury

[@BobTheHatKing]

The Mount Waterman you have in the video is a small residential road in a gated community less than 500 feet long. What you’re looking for is the Mount Waterman Ski Lifts on Highway 2 (Angeles Crest Highway) east of the Highways 2 & 39 junction (north end of the closed section). It still is a 2 hour drive to go around the closed section from its south end back down highway 39, west on interstate 210, and then back up and around highway 2.

[@knaudi86]

A state legislature is a deliberative body (a group). A legislator is an individual member of that body. Just a helpful note on your terminology, Ryan.

[@TheForce02]

Having worked that area for many years, driving in the closed section numerous times, I would say you did a good job covering the story. My opinion dealing with CalTrans and seeing the road for more than 15 years is that it will never reopen as a major route, just as an emergency escape route. Dealing with the environmental issues and money involved with construction just isn’t in the cards. Side note, just before Coldbrook Campground is the large paved areas and another gate that is usually open. Pay attention to the west side just past the gate. As you drive up SR-39 look back and you will see that they actually started cutting a new road on the west side after the road failures in 1978. They didn’t make it too far before abandoning it as well.

[@zaneandrews7065]

Yay you finally changed that intro that would blow out my eardrums as I listen thru earbuds at work. Reminded me of the history channels modern marvels show on cable TV

[@reddog-ex4dx]

Good job Ryan! Very well done.

[@davidfairless1028]

We rode motorcycles up 39 to Angeles Crest Highway many times before it was closed. Awesome riding; we would usually ride to Wrightwood and then come back. Living in north Orange County at the time, we would go up Beach Blvd., take Hacienda through La Habra Heights, and then Azusa Ave. to the mountains. When 39 closed, it became an hour of freeway to get to one end of Angeles Crest to start the twisties in the mountains. Ugh! When it closed, we just rode the whole length of Angeles Crest. Now I live in the Sierra, southeast of Sacramento and the twisty road starts at the end of my driveway!

[@classic.cameras]

Reminds me of those insane "highways" in Pakistan. Wow this place is absolutely nuts.

[@m.d.grimes1622]

My family used to camp at Crystal Lake in the fifties, I used to drive up there in the late sixties...a very challenging road to drive at best, especially in the snow. Weird to think of my life as history.

[@CrewMotleyCrue345]

Hiked that abandoned road 39 part back and forth from the islip saddle and did a loop from little Jimmy camp to Crystal lake and back through road 39

[@AtZero138]

Cheers from Huntington Beach CA 🇺🇸.... Highway 39 or Beach Blvd.. can't even avoid it.. its life here..

[@DrInQTel]

Surprisingly well researched. Nice Video!

[@Sebastian001]

I love this channel I always watch it as soon as a video is out

[@gailnewcomb8256]

Route 39 looks like a really scary road. I’ll have to pass on it. Great video and very interesting. Thanks ❤😅

[@lopezexplora]

I love this abandoned highway, it’s perfect for exploring and hiking through it🥾🥾

[@markshietze4783]

Awesome ! Excellent content ... very entertaining .. keep up your good work ❤😊

[@dudeonbike800]

Very cool video! Thank you for sharing. Looks like it would be nice to explore by bike.

[@JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts]

Thank you for the historical detail about this route. ❤

[@ITSHISTORY]

Any time!

[@justinheffernan1]

Growing up in Glendora this was a favorite hike as a teenager. You should look into doing a video of the orange groves in the San Gabriel Valley and the building of Rubel Farms Castle.

[@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat]

Yup you said it.

[@visiondemedici6347]

Nicely done. I can’t ever see it opening where it is routed. Very interesting story.

[@darold1966]

If you want to see a another alternate road project, check out Devil's Slide on the coast. The new tunnel handles the traffic and the old highway grade is now a hiking trail. Similar will happen at Last Chance Grade further north.

[@WillN2Go1]

Skip the first 6 minutes unless you're really really interested in obscure bond issues that happen decades before Highway 39 was even planned.

[@mantaraay101]

I've been to the shooting range in the video @ 12:36 and always wondered about the bridge to nowhere and why it was there, this was a great video to watch!

[@djsi38t]

Great job covering the history!.

[@ITSHISTORY]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MrGoldInfinity]

Enthusiast driver of Southern California. HWY 39 is my last major mountain road and I’m positive it’ll never be opened ever again. To all the old folk that got to use it before the natural disasters, y’all are so lucky. Still have Angeles crest hwy though

[@25kmgb]

Very well researched and presented

[@snuffysmith6058]

I used to hike and fish the east fork of the San Gabriel river in the '60's. My church group made many hikes from Roads End up canyon (eastward) to a tunnel cut into the mountains. My guess was it was going to connect to Wrightwood or there about. We didn't have the equipment to explore the tunnel but I always wanted to. I had wonderful times on the east fork, very fond memories.

[@paulsto6516]

I have hiked to the bridge. I miss the San Gabriel Mountains! Do a piece on the "Ridge Route" connecting L.A. to Bakersfield. If you haven't already. Thanks for posting.

[@princessmarlena1359]

I grew up in the SGV. Never been to the bridge, unfortunately.

[@elizabradley4797]

My fireman boyfriend drove the # 39 fully covered in snow ~ He just drove over the rock slides ~ kinda scared~ but he knew what he was doing ~ views were outrageous ~ #39 used to go all the way up to topside highway & there was a huge lodge bar ~ husband and I drove there in late 80's on the old #39 offroading then finding road ~ adventure for sure ~ I had an old old map ~ so kinda felt our way up and through ~ Great Flood of 1938 ~ my great aunt was a school teacher to young Hollywood actors ~ day of flood was payday so he father extemely stern German directed her to go get her paycheck 'heck or highwater'. ~ so she did & made it got her pay check & went back home to East Pasadena California ~ bridges were out but maybe she took Street car to Sixth Street which sadly stupidly they have now torn down. It was a beautiful example of BeauxArts ~ Soundly Built ~ This was quite interesting Thank You ~

[@mrxman581]

The old 6th street viaduct suffered from concrete rot. It had to be torn down. There was no fixing it. They tried for years.

[@davidgrisez]

I am aware of this permanently closed section of California Highway 39 in the San Gabriel Mountains. I have driven a few times on Highway 39 from Azusa to the place where the highway is closed. I found it interesting to learn that there have been some plans to rebuild and reopen this section of California Highway 39. However because of cost, landslide prone areas, big horn sheep and budget reasons I suspect this section of Highway 39 will never reopen.

[@LEBUMCHOKEDIN6FINALS]

Interesting I never heard of this highway before. But the Central Coast highway 1 is the most beautiful scenery in the whole state by far

[@Sam-mw5hx]

Wow, what a great video go often to those roads and canyons, and always wondered why that section was closed. Glad to see a video on it.

[@ITSHISTORY]

Thanks 👍

[@rickblaver4525]

The roads I’ve driven on 18 wheels would blow your mind!

[@glenn_r_frank_author]

That norther segment of 39 seems pretty pointless actually. I mean I guess it would give an alternatives to people in some of the small communities along highway 2 - alternatives to going all the way around to either La Canada Flintridge or 138 near wrightwood... and maybe it is needed for fire safety alternatives, I dont know. I know that a lot of cyclists and car enthusiasts drive the open parts of upper 39 up to crystal lake. I even know a few cyclists and hikers who have explored some of the closed parts of the road. There is some pretty steep terrain up there. Thanks for posting this. I have wondered about 39 and also about the part that does not go over the Hacienda heights area. Another great video.

[@jackieloveslife]

Interesting video. I grew up close to Route 39

[@TomiLoveless]

I traveled over this road on greyhound in 64' the road was a nightmare, for all the underpowered truckers, and as a result all the drivers caught behind them on the steep parts. Has anyone done a study on the number of fatalities on this road? My thinking is it was very high. Passing lanes were nonexistent! I know many truckers lost their lives from brake failures. Runaway Trucks were famous on this passage.

[@TheShornak]

I have hiked that East Fork trail from the farthest that you can drive all the way to The Bridge to Nowhere. I believe it's actually more like a 7 to 8 mile hike round trip. The bridge a bungee company uses it for Bungee jumping. Just on the far side of the bridge you can see where the road goes into a tunnel that has been filled in. It's a great hike that can be done in 1 day, get there early and the bridge is really impressive. I wanted to go farther and see where the tunnel comes out but it was getting to late in the afternoon so had to head back.

[@megmoore335]

Glendora ridge road from Glendora Mountain Road to Mt Baldy road is crazy, as well as the fire roads you can drive with a 4wd. Though it would be so incredibly cool for this to reopen one day, it just seems the San Gabriel Mountains are just too wild to be tamed like that. Goes back even to Echo Mountain (Sam Merrill trail in Pasadena), where they had a cable tram that brought people up the Mountain, was destroyed in fire, and never rebuilt 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@toomanyjstoomanyrs1705]

I concur. I love the Sam Merrill trail going up to Echo Mountain. Yes, the San Gabriel mountains are unstable. It's just a matter of time for the Angeles Crest Highway is reclaimed by the mountains.

[@chadwells7562]

@@toomanyjstoomanyrs1705Probably after the collapse of the United States dries up funding. I’d give it 2 years without maintenance to he untraversable, probably around 10-15 for major sections to be destroyed. Full reclamation about 30 years.

[@toomanyjstoomanyrs1705]

@@chadwells7562 I'd say California collapses first, spelling doom for these roads to "nowhere.". Let's face it, Angeles Crest Highway is not as important as Hwy 101, etc. Of course, to us these roads are extremely important but not so to the bean counters.

[@Maldoror200]

​@toomanyjstoomanyrs1705 ..Damn, You guys..how fatalistick.."Thee END Is Near..!!"

[@chadwells7562]

@@Maldoror200 Look out your window circa December 2024 and you’ll see we’re right.

[@post_obamacore]

Fun video! My folks grew up in Duarte, and my grandparents lived there for a million years. Always wondered why we couldn't easily go up into the mountains!

[@johnw2026]

Driving on mountain roads with switchbacks doesn't bother me. But when he was showing the Google Maps view of Hwy 39, I saw places where the road tilted sharply sideways down the mountain slopes. That would bother me! 😳

[@davepage2466]

It's not accurate. I've ridden my bike and even driven on the road(legally) a few times. It's passable, has been fixed but the powers that be decided not to open it back up. It's actually "safe" as far as the road goes, but the rockfall is a problem.

[@m0tamanic]

@@davepage2466 can you still bike it!legally?

[@davepage2466]

bicycle or motorcycle?@@m0tamanic

[@m0tamanic]

@@davepage2466 I want to do it on my pk ripper with the Bmx homies

[@gregoryziers5406]

Great video, very informative about highway 39. I’m in favor of reopening highway 39 to Angeles Crest Highway. Technology in slope stabilization has improved over the past 40 years. They can build bridges over the most damaged areas in a way that the slides can pass under. Which would allowed bighorn sheep to traverse under.

[@davidmata9952]

CA-39 once went through Hacienda Blvd. and Glendora Ave., until reaching I-10. CA-39 was also originally supposed to be extended beyond Angeles Crest Hwy. and into the High Desert.

[@AM711]

Beach Bl also holds one of Cali's most important historical landmarks - Knott's Berry Farm & on Hacienda Rd there's the largest Buddhist temple in the country

[@joshkleifgen6525]

I just drove East Fork rd. on a visit back in August. I always ride Azusa Canyon up to East Fork and run East toward Mt. Baldy Village, then South down the mountain.

[@glennac]

We currently live in Azusa a stone’s throw from Azusa Ave (Hwy 39). Thanks for covering this surprise topic. 🙏🏼

[@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat]

My sister owned a house around there. She now lives near GMR

[@MyNameIsChristBringsASword]

I used to ride through that area on weekends what a great and potentially dangerous ride with all the blind turns.

[@paulmorissette5863]

Fighting the San Andreas fault. Good luck.

[@dwightdonnelly8662]

Great history lesson

[@rufusmacck3712]

I have traveled 39 to 2 many times back in the day in my MGTD. Before Crystal Lake there was a resort that had a small but neat restaurant. The road narrowed to one lane for a bit in one stretch. I certainly agree that the road should be reopened. It would help relieve traffic a little on the 15 through the Cajun Pass and the 210 in La Canada where the Angeles Crest starts. Then again…. maybe we should think about it.

[@diane1390]

That looks like a very iffy place to put a highway. I'm surprised they put on in there. 😮

[@donlawson3330]

FYI: it's "legislature", not "legislator"...

[@chrisfallis5851]

Thank you. That gaff was bothering me as well.

[@sullyps3]

@@chrisfallis5851 Gaff is once in the video, four or more times is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the word means. Inigo Montoya said it best, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

[@MozeePH]

@ 5:20 What a interesting emblem/ logo design choice for the Cal. Dept Pub works Div of Hwys ….

[@theconceptualist8626]

I never knew this, despite growing up around Beach Blvd (SR-39) my entire life. Very interesting!

[@TheAverageNooob]

I only knew it was closed because of the road being destroyed and too dangerous. I work in the area around Route 39 helping out the Angeles National Forest. I've been down East Fork but never questioned the bridge. Cool to know now

[@sceb]

I hiked up this path and bungee jumped from the bridge to nowhere many years ago

[@timkoza3764]

I like what you’re doing. Peace and love.

[@MetalSandman999]

If you live or have loved pretty much anywhere in Orange County, you are very familiar with the south end of Highway 39. You might not have any idea about all this history of the road. The South side is just a normal major thoroughfare (called Beach Blvd.).

[@drh3b]

I grew up at the other end decades ago, where it was definitely bustling as Westminster and Huntington Beach developed what was still half farmland when we moved in. It's even more bustling now from the what I've seen on videos and Google Street View. IIRC from a different video, Highway 39 was separated about a year before we moved out.

[@Dwayne-mb2uj]

Me too I lived in Stanton and went to Garden Grove schools from 65 to 74 when we moved to Fountain Valley One time we bought a new car and drove it up to Crystal lake where we saw a bear . My Mom made my Dad turn around when things got a little too curvy and kind of scary .

[@onbearfeet]

I live near the southern end of 39 today, and my immediate reaction to the title of this video was, "I'm pretty sure Beach Blvd isn't abandoned ... I got dinner at a poke joint there a couple nights ago."

[@Dwayne-mb2uj]

@@onbearfeet OK I am not hip what is a poke joint?

[@RajanSingh.1]

@@Dwayne-mb2ujPoke is a Japanese-Hawaiian dish. Usually with raw fish + toppings I would recommend

[@angeleide1344]

I did a hike on the road to nowhere. In Azusa It’s 5 miles to the bridge where the road stops but if you go past and around the side a little there is the cave they started to go through the mountain . The hike itself has very little incline and crosses back and forth across the river and was aGREAT TIME

[@Ramcharger85]

Love stories like this. Wow, a ghost highway. ❤

[@AslanKyoya1776]

I grew up near Beach Blvd and never knew about this stretch until recently

[@javier-m75]

amazing. cool video

[@caseycooper5615]

Great overview of the history of California highways, and a very good job overall. One thing I can tell you about Route 39 in the southern part is that it was planned to be a freeway, with the (formerly) 4-quadrant cloverleaf interchanges with the 405 and the 22 freeways built in anticipation of that. Like all freeways, it would have wiped out large swaths of houses and businesses had it been built as programmed for in the early 1970s. Since the areas the proposed freewaywent through were white and middle class at the time - well you get the picture. I recall in 2008 they had $11 million budgeted for its reconstruction, but at the last moment the money was shunted to open Route 1 at Devils Slide south of San Francisco. I've hiked it and can vouch for the challenges in rebuilding and keeping it open. The San Gabriela are heavily faulted granite akin to building on gravel. I think the bridge bypassing the problem rock slide would be the most feasible solution as that has been done (so far) successfully on Route 2 just a few miles away. However, it is still building on a literal pile of rocks. It will be interesting to see what happens. At a minimum, it should be maintained for emergency access, as that had proven critical in a couple of recent fires in the area. At the very least, it will make it easier for the big horn sheep to get around

[@roberthuron9160]

Maybe the California Transport ation Department could use the Japanese revetment technique that they use on their railways,and the Swiss have similar problems,and they have found solutions! Suggestions only,as both those countries have experienced many of California's problems! Thank you 😇 😊!!

[@wiseal9063]

you mean like rapid crime without prosecution

[@IndigoJo]

There's a highway in England that was lost for the same reason -- the A625 west of Sheffield. It passed through the Peak District (a part of the Pennines that is a popular tourist destination because of its closeness to Sheffield, Manchester and other towns and cities) and there is a hill called Mam Tor which was the site of one landslip after another. Eventually there was one that proved too big to repair the road, and for years the road remained on the map with a gap in the middle, which on some maps was marked "road closed at present". Eventually it was decided (not sure whether by the government or the county council, as it's a locally managed road) that it would be too costly to repair, and it was closed for good and declassified. You can walk the road, though, and you can see all the layers or tarmac that were laid again and again after the landslips.

[@charkswitlazers]

Open the road to motorcycle only. I say this because of its width and likely weight restrictions. Reconstruct back to original form and let 2-wheeled vehicles traverse it. That will also preserve the road as cars/trucks are far heavier and cause more damage.

[@davepage2466]

You can motorcycle it-if you know how. Heh.

[@e92e36]

there’s enough space to squeeze bikes past the gates. might not be fully legal but if you really wanted to you could ride it

[@henrywashington3732]

A 2 cent tax builds thousands of miles of freeway back then. Today a 25 cent tax gets 10 miles of pot holes filled🙄

[@Thomas63r2]

I always thought that Highway 39 was Beach Blvd through Orange County

[@lesliecarr312]

CA HWY 39. Goes through some very very rugged landscape. Nice views. But the incredibly precipitous drop-offs along the incredibly narrow roadway and hundreds of hairpin turns looks like suicide waiting for its next unsuspecting victim.

[@chadwells7562]

People have driven off the sides and not been found for years or ever. There was an accident on Glendora Ridge Road a few years back, when they went down to get the bodies they found another accident that happened 5 years prior and hadn’t been discovered

[@user-zq3iz3zn5m]

Wow! Beach Blvd. North

[@Lucifleur73]

Woah!!!! There was supposed to be a freeway to La Habra?! Is that way it's so far from a freeway?! That makes so much sense now. Thank you!

[@mingrui1862]

What is the name of the music in the background?

[@Podus81]

That road would forever have problems. I see why they gave up. Thats some crazy geology.

[@MarioLoco03]

I've driven on that abandoned part after crystal lake. Bt this was back in the 90s. Took an '85 Jeep renegade there.

[@ray017ray017]

@1:55. That hair caught me off guard lol

[@edwardaustin740]

I enjoy American history. I'm always learning something everyday. Thanks Ryan for entertaining my brain 🧠. I appreciate it.

[@ITSHISTORY]

That’s the point!

[@chrishayden7016]

When I was a young lad, there was a movie made before Lucy and Desi were...Lucy and Desi, called The Long Long Trailer. Was it made in this area? BTW, their screen names were 'Tacy' and 'Nicky'.

[@sharirogers6826]

the Lucy movie was filmed on Tigoa Pass, West of Bishop, not Hwy 39.

[@royfreitas7583]

I want to say I drove a fire engine up that in 2002, as there was the “curve” fire and it intersected with Hwy 2 as fire camp was in Azusa.

[@GramCanyonSam]

Great gold down there, the shovel sign is a clue

[@lasttimeigaveafuck]

i wanna get gold 😔

[@waynejohnson1304]

Why don't they just build the highways on the ridge of the mountains? That way, they don't have to worry about landslides.

[@stickynorth]

Reopen it but have seasonal closures to protect the sheep. We do the same thing with Highway 40 over the Highwood Pass in Alberta every year. It shuts down from December to June for sheep preservation reasons on top of it being the least used mountain pass and a geo-engineering nightmare like this too... It's a great Summer/Fall drive but in winter? I wouldn't want to even try it with a Hummer or Land Rover...

[@demonNthesn0w]

I didn’t know this about Cali. I gotta start traveling around Cali

[@jochenheiden]

Thats funny. I’ve lived in SOCAL most of my life and I’ve never even heard of this highway.

[@andytang04]

The drive up there is nice even though it is closed at a certain point

[@nephhhhhh]

Hola from a CT employee 👋🏽 :)

[@ejdotw1]

excellent

[@DisHammerhand]

I've been to the Bridge that leads to nowhere. I think the old Mt Lowe railway in near there.

[@steveturner3864]

The San Andreas fault runs almost directly under that road. Forget about it

[@johnbarron4843]

Man this was great!

[@jonathanturek5846]

I rode on highway 50 in Carson valley today. Small world

[@doug973]

It is the Sierra Nevada. Adding mountains is redundant as "Sierra Nevada" means snowy mountains.