A Trip On California's Historic Highway S-2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- County Highway S-2 travels from the deserts of Imperial and San Diego County to the mountains. A good portion of the highway travels along the same route that was used from 1700s to get into California's interior, and was one of the major routes to California during the gold rush of 1849.
The S-2 goes from Ocotillo in the south to Highway 79 near Warner Springs in the north, and travels through Anza Borrego State Park. Along the way there is beautiful scenery, historic stagecoach stations, ranches that hosted troops in the Mexican-American War, and a path through stone that was carved by hand. It is a great day trip and one of the best drives in San Diego County.
The S-2 follows a lot of the same path as the Southern Emigrant Trail, The Butterfield Overland Stage Coach, and the trail taken by General Stephen Watts Kearny and the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican American War.
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I haven't been out there in a few years. When I was stationed in San Diego in the mid 80's and early 90's, IMmy favorite motorcycle trip once or twice a month would be a loop from San Diego, east on 94, to S2, to 79, south to 76, west up and down Mt Palomar, and then west to Oceanside, then south on the coast back to San Diego. When I moved back in the early 2000's we would take our jeep to slow ride the trails in Anza Borrego. S2 was always a peaceful lonely place to be.
I really like that you take your family along on your adventures. What a way to teach history to your son!
I am kicking my son out of bed before sunrise and taking him with me. Great comment Mr. Martin!
I didn't get along very well with my parents, it was the late sixties and I had long hair. But the one thing my parents gave all of us was the love of travel, we went all over the country! So I'm glad he's teaching his son that love of travel an expanding your horizons!!
It's interesting that S2 ends at the "T" junction for Warner Springs, there is a glider port, where my dad kept his plane. Warner Springs is a perfect place to fly gliders because the cool air of the ocean meets the warm air of the desert. I spent many hours with my dad flying in the skies over Warner springs. Thank you for jogging my memory, and thank you for your videos, I learn alot from them.
That history on Box Canyon is impressive!
Being born and raised in San Diego county and living there for 45 years there is a lot to explore, I never got to see it all but S-2 was always a favorite motorcycle ride. Over 300 mile trip from National City out to Warner Springs then down to Ocotillo on S-2 and back for home on I-8 jumping off at Jacumba to take Hwy. 94 back towards home. I miss that.
@@billyjoeboomboom It's called BLM and property owner allowing them for money, unfortunately when they are worn out and no longer useful the blades get ground up and put in land fill along with the other composites, the copper and steel recycled. They only last 20-25 years before they are done and I wonder if the companies are held to a deal where they have to clean the site up or is it shut down and walk away.
I watched a TH-cam video where they have been cut up, placed in a giant ‘grave’ in the ground, and covered up with dirt somewhere in Wyoming. So sad, these composite wind blades will be there for thousands or millions of years. 🙁 Ask the migrating birds what they think of them? Ask Texans how well they work providing electricity during a snow storm (ref Jan/Feb 2021). 🤔 How well do they work when there is no wind? 🤔
Everytime I see a trip someone takes in the dry desolate desert area but hear it's in San Diego county I think that is crazy since my mind immediately says San Diego, Pacific Ocean, Ocean breeze and shipping ports. Thanks for all these adventures I am no longer as young as I was and no longer live in my home state of California, so these trips are truly a treat and a escape. Thank you
Another great report. Thank you. Incidentally, I just drove part of S-2 about 3 weeks ago. However, I began from Julian, where I had visited a friend. And yes, there WAS "no traffic", something I found hard to believe - in CA. No tailgaters, no speeders, no crazy people, just peaceful driving.
S-2: the coolest road in SoCal. :) Hwy 1 gets all the press, but I LOVE S-2!
S-22 is also very nice going into Borrego Springs on the way to the Salton Sea. I always bought fresh dates from the locals there. Delicious!
@@CaliforniaFly Another great one. Those roads out in the desert are so much fun.
@@classiclife7204 I rode up Mt.Palomar in 2001 to see the observatory but it was closed up. On the way up a mountain lion ran across the road in front me about a hundred feet ahead going uphill. That was the first one of two I saw in 2001. I wasn't about to stop for a photo op.
@@CaliforniaFly YEah that whole area belongs to the mountain lion. Their world; we're just passing thru!
@@CaliforniaFly , Palomar mountain is so beautiful💜
I enjoyed that. I grew up in San Diego, and went camping often. Anywhere between Mt Laguna and the county line. Many times to Dos Cabezas. A couple of times at Agua Caliente. And all over Anza-Borrego. The place is beautiful.
Thank you for checking out the video. Yes, its such a fantastic area. Can't wait till the weather cools down some to head back out.
You missed the awesome palm canyon. It's hard to see travelling from the south east. Love the S2 area, very special! Great video! Thx
It's amazing to think of just how much intense labor past generations would just take in stride. "Gotta get these wagons up there. Cant go around. Let's carve out a ramp." 😮 Interesting video, Steve. Thanks so much!
On a side note, I hope things have gotten easier for you folks getting out since the pandemic is over.
Traveled it many times. Grew up in South San Diego area. Had lots of Boy Scout Troop events bringing us thru there.
When I was a kid in the late 60s-early 70s, we camped often at Butterfield ranch just north of Vallecito. I rode many miles off road on my dirt bikes there.
Great video. I lived in Borrego for 5 years and patrolled S2 quite often and did a lot of off-roading. Pinyon Mountain trail was one of my favorites. Thanks for the memory.
Got stuck out here with some friends almost 20 years ago. Good times
Thank you for this video. I have many happy memories of camping along the S2 with my Boy Scout Troop 672, Escondido, Thanks again..
always enjoy..... good job I was chair ws historical society you brought up how relivant to history this route was ❤
6:33 One of my ancestors in the Mormon Battalion came through this canyon and was a blacksmith at Sutters Fort when they found gold there. Actually I believe the trail is just next to the waterfall on the East side and can still be walked today. A very narrow trail they had to pull the wagons up. I got this from research I did before visiting Box Canyon.
Really love your work. As I commented in another of your videos, you take me back to the late 60s when my family took weekend drives with sack lunches and I remember the Box Canyon stop vividly. It was a hot summer day when we visited the site. Mom could never drive past an historic marker without reading it, and--given the canyon's proximity to the marker, we went out to see it and I remember mom commenting that she was actually grateful that we didn't have a/c in our car or we wouldn't have been willing to leave its cool confines to see such sights.
Just a thought on one of your comment: "While the trail that the S2 follows has been used since the 1700s..." Bet the Spaniards followed old Indian trails as early travelers depended on spring water or rain-catching tinajas to travel the deserts of the area and these were usually connected by Native trails that Spaniards later followed. At least, that's been my understanding.
I really enjoy the trips down memory lane that many of your videos trigger in me, keep up the exceptional work.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Before the Vallecito area is Aqua Caliente County Park with its hot springs. Great place for birding, camping, and just a day trip for lunch and time in the hot springs.
Anza-Borrego is one of my favorite places in the world! Thanks for this.
Mine too! So much to see and do there, and so beautiful.
Lots of desert Tortoises and other wildlife in the State park.
Lizards and snakes are abundant.
And lions.
I live down the road on the 79.
Thank you for your videos. Your narrations are excellent. We used to live in SD county 20 years ago and have learned more about our old stomping grounds in the back country from your videos than when we lived there. We used to Jeep all over these roads and areas.
Thanks for the kind words. We live in San Diego and love the area's back country and there are a lot of places we want to check out.
I drove this for the first time last month starting in Ocotillo. The little CBP checkpoint was a surprise. Saw only a few cars the entire trip. There are a few interesting "communities" on the West side of the road.....and a very strange, well maintained airstrip near one (but on the East side of the road). Love the tie in with the Butterfield stagecoach trail. There are parts of that, that are still visible in El Paso, TX.....but it's now on a military base. The history and the US Desert SW is amazing. Great videos.
Yeah, after Epstein Island I really wonder about "well maintained airstrips" out in the middle of nowhere. SD county has some very big money people, probably the type that are above the law.
Wow, really interesting and looks like a trip me and My Mom would have liked to take. Too bad she's gone now because I'm sure once she saw this we'd be off, that's what we did alot when we watched Californian's Gold with Huell Howser. We visited a lot of the site's he featured on his show.
I was raised in California and never even knew this existed! Thank you so much for your adventure I really enjoyed tagging along.
Your experience and knowledge is unparalleled.
Ocotillo and Shell Canyon were my old stomping gtounds during my youth in San Diego. Thanks
I Remember when the Campbell ranch house still stood, we found (still have) an old news paper that had been stuck in the wall with a bunch of other old papers and straw as insulation. the year on the papers letter head was 1865.
@9:35 my favorite intersection 💜, the sunrise highway is amazing , ty for putting this together.
Steve thanks, it's so nice to see these places and to hear about the history. Have a great day.
Last year in January, just South of the Agua Caliente park, I came across a family of bighorn sheep grazing right next to the highway. And they didn't run away when I stopped my car and got out! It made the ride even more enjoyable.
Oh wow! We've never seen any bighorn sheep on any of our visits. That's pretty lucky (or we are just unlucky).
I think I've met Anza park rangers that said they've never seen them before. As the adage goes, they see you way before you see them. I was well aware of how lucky I was to see them up close!
Those are called "borrego" in Spanish. As in Anza-BORREGO state park. Anza was from the Anza expedition from Tubac, Az to coastal California (they discovered the San Francisco bay and area). Yes, they walked that road too.
One time I was camping at Yaqui Wash and the sheep were grazing the hillside above. They blend in and are hard to see except for when they move. But I could just slightly see the terracing they make on the hillside.
Those smoothed grooves and surfaces in Box Canyon are not likely from chisels but from wear caused by dragging heavy loads, possibly even using the iron tired wheels to help ease the loads up. You can see similar grooves in many locations where historic roads cross exposed stone, regardless of slope. Some will simply be two parallel grooves worn into the rock. In the Sierra, there are occasionally bits of rusting iron adhered to the stone where it scraped off the tire.
I made this trip last fall to scout out Rv camp spots, love it out there.
Can't believe that wagon's were able to fit up that carved rock area in box canyon
Really enjoy traveling the old routes via your vlogs.
I’m originally from San Diego. When I was in the Boy Scouts, Troop 59 in Pacific Beach, we did a lot of our local backpacking trips out that way. But about 5 years ago, I was driving around the area of Warner Springs and decided to take the same drive, the opposite direction. What a great part of San Diego history. Thanks for sharing this video and sparking the memories. You guys do a great job with your channel!
taking a trip out to descanso soon, definitely added this to my itinerary of stuff to do! im from east county but havent explored most of san diego past alpine, definitely excited to see all this cool history
I’ve been on this route many times. Very interesting
Awesome thanks man! Amazing they used hand tools to carve out rock to hoist their wagons!! 😯
Loved your video on S2 we use, to take Cub and Boy Scouts camping out there every year. Also would go out every year to see the Spring bloom. Hope to take some out of state visitors there next spring.
its such a great drive. Hoping to get back out there myself now that its cooling down.
One of my favorite drives.
Thanks!
Wow, thank you. We really appreciate it!
Well done video! Your narrative and information shared was impressive.
Keep it up, and I will keep reposting your trips!
Really like ur podcast , it reminds me of California gold show on channel 18 ❤ keep up the great work be safe out there
Definitely gonna check it out. On my list of things to do.❤️😀
thanks for sharings , o interesting
Don't forget Agua Caliente County Park with hot springs just South of Vallecito.
Are you sure the marks in Box Canyon are from the pioneers chiseling the rock? Looks like a water "dry-fall" or desert seasonal waterfall marks that were made by sand/soil that was carried over the dropoff and made by friction, when the rains come in the winter. ????
That's what I was thinking
Actually it's legit that the mormon battalion did chisel out that wall wide enough. It was a monumental effort--serious stone and brick workers.when they got into Old Town (San Diego) they dug many stone brick lined deep wells for the locals which flowed for may hears
I love the museum in Ocotillo - it's on the southern side of the 8
thanks Steve ! ! ! !
One of my favorite day trips drives. Thanks for sharing.
Another great video. Thanks again for the history lesson. As I get older, I seem to be developing a much greater interest in history, and learning about what life was like in our nation's past. You do a fantastic job of explaining things....I wish you could have influenced my old history teacher. 😀
Been up and down that road many times but at 150 MPH or more on the Hayabusa I never really got the chance to take in the sights or check out the history of the road. Thanks for the video.
Nice Video. A disclaimer could be: Make sure you and your vehicle can handle a breakdown or not get one,
Anza Borrego Desert State Park is the largest State Park in the country....
It's hot in summer. In the hundreds.
Your videos are well put together. I like seeing areas what you show for historical reasons and I also have a metal detector and it gives me ideas of places to go.
You seem like the kind of dude who would have driven a station wagon a lot in the 80s and 90s, inspiring his son to also have a station wagon, and later have fun with a TH-cam channel about driving a station wagon.
@@rocketwagon1000 guilty- I had a 83 Corolla station wagon which I got over 400k miles. Now I’m a grandpa with a Jeep Cherokee XJ
@@steveblankenship5474 ha yup I know. I still have the emblem from your Toyota =).
I was a SERE instructor at Warner Springs from 99 -02. Knew the area well.
Great video. Thanks (really!) for not mentioning Canebrake.
Really like these videos. I find the history very fascinating.
Thank you, we appreciate it.
@@SidetrackAdventures your video about the Salton Sea inspired me to finally go and check it out for myself today. Got the date shake and went to salvation mountain and Bombay Beach. It was a fun time even though I went alone. Thank you.
@@dustintaber Glad you had fun. It really is an interesting place.
I really appreciated this video. I used to own a 3-1/2 acre parcel on the north side of S2 in Vallecito Valley. Was going to build there after I retired from the Navy (1996, that didn't work out).
Purchased from the Romano family - Romano's Italian Resturan in Julian. Sold it to a guy named Lance. He said he needed the isolation to develop a nuclear meltdown catcher (seriously🤣).
Today, on gogle maps that location is labeled, "Lance's Ranch."
Would really enjoy a video featuring Little Blair Valley.
Southbound on S2, Little Blair Valley (dirt) road is not far beyond Shelter Valley. It's a left turn off of S2 .2 miles beyond the 22 mile marker. Still easy to remember since my last visit there in 1995. If you visit there on a Saturday you are likely to to find dozens of astronomy enthusiasts with their telescopes set up on a dirt road that runs about 3/4 of a mile east-west on the north side of the valley. They, as I did in the past, go there for the very dark night skies.
Continue on Little Blair Valley Rd. along the west side of the valley. You'll come to a 'T'. Turn left (east) and the road ends at the pictographs trail head. It's a fairly easy hike, a little over a mile I think, but there is some elevation change. H2O !!!
Also, if you visit in the spring you may see something I only witnessed once. Viewing from the hills north of the valley, the entire floor of Little Blair Valley was purple. The color was quite vibrant and was the result of bizzillions of tiny purple flowers each about a quarter inch in diameter.
I really miss San Diego❤ ... I really appreciate your videos.
Thank you so much!
I can't believe you skipped right passed Agua Caliente park. That was always my favorite place out there, to stop, and to use that road to Mexicali or San Felipe. Or other points east.
Steve love your videos!!! Next time you pass through Vallecitos can you give us more info on Eileen o'Conner who is buried there in a little cemetery. I heard 2 bandits also are buried there from a botched holdup. Thanks
Thanks bro, Merry Christmas! ✌️💖
Thank you, Merry Christmas to you as well!
@@SidetrackAdventures 💯
Love your stuff!!!
Really well put together videos. Great narration, video, audio & editing. Definitely can tell you put lots of time in these productions. Thanks for your work. Very informative. Maybe you’re the next Huell Howser. 😉
Glad you enjoyed it, but I don't think there will ever be another Huell Howser. Thank you for the kind words though.
I second the thanks. I appreciate your efforts.
I’ll be the 3rd to say thanks! 😀
I was out at Vallecitos campground with a few of my fellow astronomers last Jan 2021. Not very cold, dry, clear, semi-dark starry sky. Not much shade there for the tent people, RVs & trailers make their own shade. Like everywhere in San Diego County, we’re losing our dark skies to light pollution of SD, Temecula, Riverside, even El Centro creeping in from the east. TJ & Tecate, Mex. are no help either. At Vallecitos, one can see a huge light glow behind the mountains, silhouetting them. Even Julian, CA is trashed to the SW. No one cares about light pollution. Soon kids will think the Milky Way is a candy bar because no one, and I mean no one will ever see it again in SD County. 🙁😔🌜⭐️🔭
My kind of ride, I'll check it out next trip down.
Wow we live a few exits from warner springs always wondered where it took you too what it was.. now I got a trip to make
Word to the wise: The S2 from Ocotillo north to Shelter Valley is not serviced by AAA. Make sure you have a reliable car and know what you're doing. It's desolate out there.
Very cool video, and great commentary with this history.
Was there just last week.
Wow!! Thank you for posting this video. I’m learning a lot from watching and planning day trips from your video. So thanks again.😊
Glad it was helpful for you.
@@SidetrackAdventures Think I might actually do this as a day trip, stop along the way. Continue up the 79,( I love Warner Springs) Eat there or somewhere along the way, maybe check out that little Casino out there, back through Temecula,I love the old fashioned " junctions" and south back home.. ❤️🙏👉🇺🇸
Know this area very well, use to Ride my motorcycle every weekend to Borrego Springs via Montizuma, then take 78 to Julian via Banner Grade. A little warm in Borrego the summer months.
Thank you 🙏🏼
Good drive
We spent the night in a little motel. The other guests seemed to live there. They were the weirdest, scariest group I've ever seen. Imagine Charles Mason and his followers.
Go out to Desert Shores and the Sea & Sun Motel. When Camp-run-Amok was open you would meet some interesting people. Never had any problems.
@@CaliforniaFly Thank you for the suggestion.
I hope I ain't taking it too far, but what fun!
😂😂😂😂😂
Helter skelter!😮
Awesome video, love to learn more about San Diego and Southern California history. Do you have a PATREON?
Thank you. We do not have a Patreon.
Hot daYum! Round-trip! Hombre, this is one of your best! I am going to take my sweet-Azz time on Hwy. S-2. I plan to spend the night somewhere too. QUESTION: Box Canyon, you were there. Give me a heads-up. The Mormon Battalion couldn't get around that? Clearing a path up that ridge looked pretty gnarly! I am kind of a California history buff. There is a spectacular Mormon Museum including stories about that trail in Old Town, San Diego. Also, there is an annual festival at San Pascual Battlefield & Museum (Kit Carson) including stories about that trail (next to the S.D. Zoo). Visit Julian for more history (and apple pie) and Los Penasquitos Canyon Trail (waterfall).
I found my max fuel mileage on a harley sportster on s2 south. Julian to Ocotillo. Can't believe i made it
gr8 video - one point of confusion - Anza-Borrego State Park shows up way further north along S-2, via S22 on maps. Is there another park entrance further south shortly after Ocotillo?
One of my favorite roads!! Love your videos 🙏🏽💕🙏🏽💕
Awesome! Thank you!
I like the content and your style
Great work, you did missed Aqua Caliente hot springs and camp ground the favorite spot of mine on S-2 and don't forget Stagecoach RV Campground and last the turn off to the Mud Caves.
I know the new owners of Stagecoach RV campground. They are really transforming the place! Definitely worth checking out.
Ive done this route. My first time was on a moonless night. It was pitch black and I was in fear for my headlights’ good health!
I used to love traveling to California back in the day but now days:(:(
California is almost the same , the only difference is people that got hooked on government issues and they cannot enjoy the state without some kind of negativity 🤷🏻♂️
@@angeldamian9124 wrong i was born there early 60s grew up in San Fernando Valley then did 3 yrs Cardiff by the sea. Its definitely not the same/as good as the old days. And the government things have allot to do with my 4 kids future so I care. Cali sucks to all high hell, glad I escaped in 1990 and never looked back. Adios
@@jebronlames7789 , I’m very happy for you and God bless you , and please don’t come back
@@angeldamian9124 no worry on that, adios amigo. Stay blessed
Nice video, good info, pleasant narration and background music. Subscribed!
Thank you very much!
These are great information videos but I like to know if you ever going g to do these videos in Texas
Is trail 3 hrs round-trip or 3 hrs each way?
Round trip.
Freakin awesome! Historic info makes me wanna drive to soCal . How about the Greatest El camino real routes? Ty!
We hope to do something on the El Camino Real Commemorative trail at some point.
That's a good one to ask
Please do.
I would love to find a map of the El Camino Real. A modern map.
Already hit the like button. About to sub.
El Camino Real="the royal road".👍🗽
Looks like you might want to have a full tank of ⛽ starting out on 2. it doesn't look like there's too many stations out there.
Nice job.
“Story Boards"
I have different information about box canyon, which I learned from the information plague in the parking lot. The waterfall was not carved my men, it comes from the tremendous rainfall over the past several thousands of years, when the climate in California was much wetter. The Mormons built a bypass trail on the East side of the wash or river bed. And they had to move a about 6 foot large boulder by hand in order to create a narrow path for wagons pulled by mules or horses. This boulder is still there and you can see it from the parking lot. Also you can still walk on the Mormon trail, which turns just a few yards before the boulder to the south east. This trail the Mormons used to bypass this difficult section of box canyon. But the first trail was not suitable for horses and wagons. Thats is my knowledge about box canyon, I hope I am mainly correct.
Glad my life is taking place now.
Are you allowed to metal detect in these areas?
The "wind caves" you mentioned at abt 1:45, is actually The Domelands and is, in fact, not in Anza Borrego Desert State Park.
Nice video, great music
Have you always been a history buff? I'm learning more about Southern California than when I was going through school.
Thank you. Yes, I've always been interested in history. Love being able to be able to get out and experience it too.
That's public school for you. They do more damage than good.
I went to John Marshall Elementary in San Diego and in the 3rd grade I had to learn the different dairy cows. I'm assuming the Dairy Council pushed it
Another great video. I'm curious if you have heard of some of the legends that involve the Vallecito Stage Station? A couple involve ghosts of people who died there as well as a white horse and phantom stage. They were great to listen to while camping there when I was in the Boy Scouts. The other involves some bandits who are supposed to have robbed a stage and buried the loot somewhere in the area of the Vallecito Stage Station. The story goes they got into a fight at the station and shot one another and their loot has never been found.
I'll have to ask my dad about it, who knows a lot more about local ghost stories than I do.
thanks for your vids