Ridge Route

Route map:
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Castaic–Tejon Route in California. For the Ridge Route in ancient Israel, see Way of the Patriarchs.

Ridge Route

Map
Ridge Route highlighted in red
Route information
Length44 mi[1] (71 km)
Existed1915–1970
Component
highways		 US 99 after 1926
Major junctions
South end US 99 / SR 126 in Castaic Junction
Major intersections SR 138 in Gorman
North end US 99 in Grapevine
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountiesLos Angeles, Kern
Highway system
Ridge Route, Old
Ridge Route is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Ridge Route
Nearest cityCastaic, California
Built1915
ArchitectW. Lewis Clark and J.B. Woodson
NRHP reference No.97001113[2]
Added to NRHPSeptember 25, 1997
View of the route, 1920

The Ridge Route, officially the Castaic–Tejon Route and colloquially known as the Grapevine,

Sierra Pelona Mountains ridge south of Gorman. Much of the old road runs through the Angeles National Forest, and passes many historical landmarks, including the National Forest Inn, Reservoir Summit, Kelly's Half Way Inn, Tumble Inn, and Sandberg's Summit Hotel. North of the forest, the Ridge Route passed through Deadman's Curve before ending at Grapevine
.

The road was bypassed by the three-lane Ridge Route Alternate, then

U.S. Forest Service
; other remnants are used by local traffic.

Route description

The Ridge Route was officially the Castaic–Tejon Route.

San Fernando Pass and along San Fernando Road, Magic Mountain Parkway (both part of SR 126 until the early 2000s)[6][7] and Feedmill Road to a former bridge over the Santa Clara River.[8] A 1930 bypass of the tunnel and Newhall through Weldon Canyon is now part of The Old Road.[9]

From Castaic Junction north to

runaway trucks. Two bridges were built to allow traffic to cross to the left side.[13] Near the north end of this area, the Ridge Route curves away from the newer bypass.[14] The road enters the Angeles National Forest about one mile (1.6 km) south of Templin Highway, with the Forest Service road designation 8N04.[15]

Establishments in the forest included the National Forest Inn, Kelly's Half Way Inn, Tumble Inn, and Sandberg's Summit Hotel.[3]

Remains of the steps to the National Forest Inn

The National Forest Inn was on the west side of the road. A popular place, composed of white

clapboard buildings, it was described in a 1932 highway beautification pamphlet as "the sort of filling station that gets into a national forest and is no addition thereto". On October 14, 1932,[16] a fire began in the garage, and took over a day to put out. When the Ridge Route Alternate bypassed the site to the west, the inn was not rebuilt, and all that remains are concrete steps.[17]

About two miles (3.2 km) north of the National Forest Inn is Serpentine Drive, where the road curves around the sides of hills as it climbs out of a low point in the route (about 3,200 feet (980 m) above sea level).[18] North of the curves, the road passes through Swede's Cut, also called Big Cut, Culebra Excavation, or Castaic Cut. The cut was the largest on the route, with a depth of 110 feet (34 m).[19]

Reservoir Summit, also called Reservoir Hill, is 3,883 feet (1,184 m) above sea level. The Reservoir Summit Café was a popular high-class restaurant on the east side of the road, closed in the late 1920s; the

foundation remains. The summit was named after a now-dry reservoir, one of three probably built for the concrete used in paving the road.[20]

Kelly's Half Way Inn was roughly halfway between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, on a small knoll with a single tree on the east side of the road; all that remains is remnants of the foundation.[21]

The Tumble Inn, later Mountain View Lodge, was on the west side of the road, and closed when the Ridge Route Alternate opened in 1933. Steps, including the top step with "TUMBLE INN" in the concrete, and a retaining wall remain.[22]

Historical marker

The Sandberg's Summit Hotel, later Sandberg's Lodge, was just north of Liebre Summit, the highest point (4,233 feet (1,290 m)) on the road, at 4,170 feet (1,270 m) above sea level. The hotel was built in 1914 and served travelers from the opening of the road in 1915. Built of logs, it was a high-class hotel. The place, which had become a ceramics factory, burned down on April 29, 1961, from a fire started by the new owner—who was converting it into a "camp-type operation" for

Quail Lake.[15]

Looking north through Swede's Cut

The Ridge Route crosses the

SR 99, but the southernmost piece in Grapevine was bypassed by the Alternate west of it, and is now between southbound and northbound lanes of I-5.[25]

History

Before the Ridge Route

Before the Ridge Route, roads between Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley were less direct.

East Oakland.[26]

Another route between Los Angeles and Bakersfield followed the southern approach to the Ridge Route to

Saugus, but took a longer route between Saugus and Gorman, heading northeast through the San Francisquito Canyon to the Antelope Valley and west to Gorman. The rest of the route, from Gorman toward Bakersfield via the Tejon Pass, followed the same path as the Ridge Route.[26]

The

Beale's Cut—at San Fernando Pass, south of Saugus and Newhall (east of Sierra Highway, west of the Antelope Valley Freeway or State Route 14). The path followed by the stages was changed to pass along the Pacific Coast from Los Angeles in April 1861.[28]

Similarly, the residents of the City of Los Angeles approved the expenditure of a good deal of money towards the building of the

San Fernando Tunnel through San Fernando Pass, was completed on September 5, 1876.[29] The railroad's route between Saugus and Bakersfield was even longer than that of El Camino Viejo and the Butterfield Overland Stage, heading east through Soledad Canyon before turning north via Palmdale to Mojave and northwest over Tehachapi Pass.[30]

In the 1910s several power companies built lines through the area. The

Pacific Light and Power Company opened a power line, both staying fairly close to the entire Ridge Route.[32]

The two general routes followed by the Butterfield Overland Stage and the Southern Pacific Railroad—known respectively as the Tejon Pass Route and the Tehachapi or Midway Route—were the main

bond issue was approved in 1909 and 1910 to build a state highway system, including the Ridge Route. The new California Highway Commission was unable to raise funds in the East, but Los Angeles again contributed funds to ensure that construction would go forward.[33]

These routes all shared the roadway south of Saugus, which was generally flat but included the crossing of San Fernando Pass. As discussed earlier, this was deepened at the county's expense in 1858. The

Newhall Tunnel, for railroad traffic only, which opened in October 1910.[35]

Construction

The California Highway Commission considered several easterly routes between Saugus and Gorman:

Bouquet Canyon (used by both automobile routes) had bad drainage; and San Francisquito Canyon (used by the Tejon Pass Route) was steep and narrow. Another possible route, through Piru Canyon to the west, was rejected because of a proposal for a dam. This route was later chosen for the Ridge Route Alternate, but had to be abandoned in the 1970s due to the construction of Pyramid Lake.[36]

Leveling concrete pavement on the original Ridge Route, 1915
Reinforcing concrete, 1919

The route chosen was direct from Saugus to Gorman, over the top of the ridge for many miles. Due to cost and drainage concerns, and a desire to reduce altering the terrain, the road was built with 697 curves, high in the mountains.[36][37] Construction on the Ridge Route, officially considered to run from Castaic Junction (west of Saugus on the road to Ventura) to the bottom of the grade at Grapevine,[5] began in 1914.[38] The highway was one of the earliest projects completed by the California Highway Commission.[39] Horse-drawn scrapers were used.[40]

The new road, designed with an ideal

radius of 70 feet (21 m). The unpaved road, which had cost $450,000 (about $9.81 million in 2023)[27], opened in October 1915.[42]

In addition to being part of the state highway system (as a portion of the unsigned

US 99 in 1926.[44] The continuation south via Saugus and the Newhall Tunnel towards Los Angeles, also part of Route 4, was added to the state highway system in 1917.[35]

The San Francisco Chronicle called the new route "one of the most remarkable engineering feats accomplished by the State Highway Commission. It is Southern California's Magnus Opus [sic] in mountain highway construction."[45] It was also credited with stopping efforts to split California into two states, by linking its two halves over the rugged terrain separating them.[46]

Work on paving the Ridge Route with 4-inch (100 mm) thick

bond issue was passed in July 1919, this portion was paved from September 1919 to May 1921; the dangerous detour during the paving included a 20 percent grade. The paving added about $1 million to the cost, for a total price of about $1.5 million (about $20.3 million in 2023)[27], which was not paid off until 1965.[48] Asphalt was added on top of the concrete for 20 miles (32 km) south from Swede's Cut in 1922, and in 1924 a number of blind curves were widened and straightened.[50]

Bypasses and the fate of the bypassed road

Ridge Route Bypass in 1943, looking north towards Grapevine

In 1929 the state decided to build a new

at-grade intersections.[53]

Even this four-lane Ridge Route Alternate was not adequate for the traffic, and the first section of eight-lane

Pyramid Lake was completely bypassed. I-5 over the mountains between Castaic Junction and Grapevine was completed on August 24, 1970, at a cost of $103 million (about $624 million in 2023).[27][54]

Deadman's Curve on the 1915 Ridge Route in Lebec, abandoned when US 99 (later upgraded to I-5) was built over Tejon Pass

Portions of the old road continued to exist as a county road. The longest preserved segment was the part bypassed by the Ridge Route Alternate, between

SR 138 near Sandberg, including the portion through the Angeles National Forest. The road for about two miles (3.2 km) south from SR 138 is part of CR N2.[14]

Harrison Scott, a retired engineer, was traveling north on I-5 with his son in 1991, when his son speculated about the difficulty of driving over the first road through the rugged terrain. Having some extra time, and recalling a drive on the old road in 1955, they left the freeway and traveled along most of the abandoned section. Near SR 138, Scott asked a county road crew which was resurfacing the road if it was still maintained by the county, and the crew replied that they didn't know who maintained it through the desert.

Santa Anita Canyon Road, then a county road.[56]

curb
in 2007

For the next six years Scott worked to get the road added to the National Register of Historic Places,[37][55] and finally succeeded when, on September 25, 1997, the National Park Service added the 17.6 miles (28.3 km) in the forest to the National Register.[2] He later used his research for the National Register application to write a book, Ridge Route: The Road That United California, published in 2002.[40] The Ridge Route was also designated as a California Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2008.[57]

The route was repaired in 2005 following heavy rainfall, but the road was not reopened as of early 2013, due to objections from Angeles National Forest officials.[58]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinations[1]Notes
Los AngelesCastaic Junction00.0
 US 99 south		Continuation south
00.0 SR 126
Gorman3048 SR 138
Kern​3455Frazier Park
Grapevine4471
 US 99 north		Continuation north
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ^
    California Division of Highways (1956). California Official Highway Map (Map). Sacramento: California Division of Highways.[full citation needed
    ]
  2. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 15, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c Duginski, Paul (December 29, 2019). "The Grapevine is the heart of California's freeway system. It's also vulnerable". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  4. ^ California State Legislature (October 2, 2001). "Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 98: Relative to the 1915 Ridge Route Highway Historical Monument". Legislative Counsel of California.
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-615-12000-8
    .
  6. ^ California State Legislature (October 12, 2001). "Assembly Bill 635". Legislative Counsel of California.
  7. ^ California State Legislature (September 25, 2003). "Assembly Bill 1717". Legislative Counsel of California.
  8. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 89–91.
  9. ^ a b Scott (2003), pp. 60–61.
  10. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 93–94.
  11. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 100, 289.
  12. ^ Scott (2003), p. 102.
  13. ^ Scott (2003), p. 283.
  14. ^ a b Thomas Brothers (2009). Los Angeles County Street Guide (Map). Thomas Brothers.[full citation needed]
  15. ^ a b United States Geological Survey. National Map Viewer (Map). Reston, VA: United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2007.[full citation needed]
  16. ProQuest 163044885
    .
  17. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 114–119.
  18. ^ United States Geological Survey (1988). Liebre Mountain Quadrangle (Map). 7.5-minute. Reston, VA: United States Geological Survey.[full citation needed]
  19. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 71, 119–120.
  20. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 43–45, 121–126.
  21. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 126–130.
  22. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 135–138.
  23. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 144–160.
  24. ^ Scott (2003), pp. iii–iv.
  25. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 162–224.
  26. ^ a b Scott (2003), pp. 1–2.
  27. ^
    Gross Domestic Product deflator
    figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  28. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 15–19, 24–25.
  29. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 63–64.
  30. ^ Rand McNally (1895). New 11 x 14 Map of California (Map). Chicago: Rand McNally.[full citation needed]
  31. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 31–32.
  32. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 37–38, 41–42.
  33. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 47–51.
  34. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 23–27.
  35. ^ a b Scott (2003), p. 57.
  36. ^ a b Scott (2003), pp. 64–65.
  37. ^ a b c Pool, Bob (October 13, 1997). "Ridge Route's Scholar". Los Angeles Times. pp. B1, B3.
  38. ^ Scott (2003), p. 67.
  39. ^ a b California Division of Highways (January 1930). "New Location on The Ridge Route Unsurpassed for Mountain Alignment". California Highways and Public Works. Vol. 8, no. 1. pp. 9–10.
  40. ^ a b Pool, Bob (August 14, 2003). "Around the Bend, Old Road May Find New Life". Los Angeles Times. p. B2.
  41. ^ Scott (2003), p. 85.
  42. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 69–75.
  43. ^ Scott (2003), p. 76.
  44. ^ Rand McNally (1926). Junior Road Map of California and Nevada (Map). Chicago: Rand McNally.[full citation needed]
  45. ^ Scott (2003), p. 77.
  46. ^ Scott (2003), p. iv.
  47. ^ "Ridge Route Now Open; Paved from End to End". Los Angeles Times. November 16, 1919. p. VI1.
  48. ^ a b Scott (2003), p. 284.
  49. ^ Staff (March 30, 1919). "Ridge Route, Why it is Closed, and When it will Open". Los Angeles Times. p. VI3.
  50. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 79–86.
  51. ^ "Valley Road Good, Oakland to L.A.". Oakland Tribune. April 14, 1935. p. 2B.
  52. ^ a b c Scott (2003), p. 285.
  53. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 265–267.
  54. ^ Scott (2003), pp. 283–285.
  55. ^ a b Scott (2003), pp. 285–289.
  56. ^ "Conversation with Harrison Scott". The Ridge Route Sentinel. Ridge Route Preservation Organization. Fall 2006.
  57. ^ "The "Ridge Route" Historical Marker". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  58. ^ Pool, Bob (January 13, 2013). "Ridge Route Repair Group Runs up Against Forest Service". Los Angeles Times. p. A21.

Further reading

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