The Original Old "Ridge Route" - L.A to Bakersfield on Old U.S. Route 99 - High Speed Driving Video
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 มิ.ย. 2022
- This is the original drive from Los Angeles to Bakersfield via the Historical U.S. Route 99 with the Ridge Route included. If you had to drive anywhere from Calexico to Canada on the west coast during the years of about 1915 to 1932, this is likely the route you would have taken. After 1933, the Ridge Route was bypassed by the U.S. Route 99 Alternate, which used Piru Canyon and went through current day Pyramid Lake. This drive starts near the north end of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, north of the tunnels, at Figueroa and 26th Streets. The U.S. Route 99 then turned northeast onto San Fernando Blvd all the way up to Newhall. On the way up, through the City of Burbank, I had to jump a couple of obstacles using dissolves. The first is Burbank's Village Center Mall, which was built directly on top of old U.S. Route 99, making the alignment no longer passable. Second, I had to jump over the Interstate 5 Freeway from San Fernando Road from Grismer Avenue to San Fernando Road and Empire Ave on the other side of the Interstate. There was once a long existing tunnel there, but construction was going on while I did this video to re-install the underpass (which has since been completed). We then drive Sierra Highway to Newhall Road, then to Railroad Avenue to what is now Magic Mountain Parkway. As we approach the Old Road, we jump past it for a moment onto Feedmill Road, which was the old alignment before the bridge over the Santa Clarita River was washed out by the collapse and subsequent raging flood caused by the San Francisquito Dam collapse up on San Francisquito Canyon and washed things and bodies all the way to the Pacific Ocean, and even to San Diego. We then jump on the Old Road as a sort of proxy for the old alignment, which is really under the Interstate 5 easement. We then jump over Interstate 5 and hook into Ridge Route Road. After passing over the glorious and very curvy Ridge Route, we continue on northward through Lebec, hit a couple of the existing pieces of the old road in that area, and then make our way down to the tiny town of Grapevine and then Wheeler Ridge. Then back on I-5, which covers the old U.S. Route 99 alignment until we split off just past Wheeler Ridge on the original road on Union Avenue north to Bakersfield. Once in Bakersfield, one notices all of the old, run down hotels that once were actively dotted along the old U.S. Route 99 up to what is now signed as Route 204, which bears left and carries us over the Kern River and we then join the current CA SR 99. Like San Fernando Blvd in Los Angeles, the old U.S. 99 went through an older part of Bakersfield east of the current CA SR 99. The newer parts of the city mostly lie to the west of the CA SR 99 freeway. And an important note that U.S. 99 through Santa Clarita after the year 1930 was re-aligned over what is now, "The Old Road," west of I-5 from the CA SR 14 split to the 126. However, much of this U.S. 99 alignment sits under I-5. The Only portions that still exist are from San Fernando Road to Calgrove. And from Magic Mountain Parkway to CA SR 126. All other areas of that re-alignment now sit under Interstate 5.
This is where Dead Man's Curve is, just in case you want to know it's location:
• Where is Dead Man's Cu...
For more information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Rou...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_R...
PLEASE NOTE: If you have the SLIGHTEST interest in the Ridge Route, you MUST read Harrison Irving Scott's Book, "The Ridge Route: The Road That United California." He wrote the most comprehensive and most fascinating book on this historical road. Many of the facts, and the reason I knew where to look for locations, are because of Mr. Scott's great research and written efforts. He is the go-to person for information on the route. I originally shot and assembled this on June 04, 2015 and ran it on one of my other TH-cam Channels for many years with differing music. This is one of my favorite video shoots. The high speed aspect of this video is simply a post-production effect and is not mean to encourage speeding. Please always drive safely and prudently.
I last drove this route about 15 yrs ago. I live in Kern Co, but work in So Cal and took this route on 2 occasions when I-5 was shut down due to big traffic accidents. Its a fascinating route and a look at a part of California few will ever see. About the only people that go up there are oil workers (big pipe lines run along this route, and power company workers, along with sheep herders. Do NOT take that route in the wet months or when there is snow on the hill. Not even in a good off road 4x4. The snow wont last long..a few days..but the caliche mud will cause you big problems in the slide areas. Ive gone over the "Grapevine" just over 5000 times in the past 26 yrs. Gotta make a living.... shrug
Wow, that's a lot. I've gone over the grapevine thousands of times for sure as well over the past 25 years. Another thing to keep in mind, especially for anyone going southbound on the route who expects to punch out the other side into Castaic, is that there is now a gate that is normally closed. So you can't exit out to the south. The gate is located north of Templin Hwy, and just north of those ranchers that live in there. I'm not sure whose jurisdiction the gate is under, but in the past few years, I've only seen it open a very few times. So I wouldn't recommend the route as a way around an I-5 incident anymore for that reason. You'd most likely have to backtrack up and start another way down. Thank you for watching, Gunner. -Fred
Hey I also live in kern co.
I live in kern co. Too.
I’ll be moving to kern soon and making the commute to downtown LA as well. Any advice you have or experiences you would be willing to share with me ?
@@taraskovali3175 It depends on where in Kern Co, you move to. If you are south of Bakersfield, you are in pretty good shape. Interstate 99 traffice at certain times of the day, morning and afternoon make the 405 drive familiar. The only issues to be concerned about other than a traffic jam in the morning and afternoon (and they clear up pretty quickl) is the drive over the Grapevine. You will find it on rare occasions closed by either weather (usually snow or ice in the winter) or by the equally rare vehicle accident. When they close the Grapevine.. its closed. Bakersfield is 89 miles -/+ from LA so that can be an hour and a half trip, depending on where you are going to or coming from. Thats also 180 miles a day over a 4500' peak. So drive a cheap econobox that gets a gazillion miles per gallon or fuel costs will eat your ass. If you are traveling light, consider something like a FIAT or Honda, If you are traveling heavy,, tools etc... Toyota Tundra or similar. Or even a diesel car or pickup. Its a LOT of miles a week so you need to drive something very very reliable with a good life history and good fuel mileage. Unless you are rich as hell and can afford to buy a vehicle every other year. Ive been doing this for 28 yrs, but staying down during the week and only driving down on Mondays and coming home on Friday nights (not counting weekend work etc etc). Now that being said..,Kern Co is a crap load cheaper to live in than any place south of the Grapevine (humm maybe Hemet.. shrug) I put 3 engines in 2 Ford Rangers in those years and now drive a late 90s F-150 that is bigger, more comfortable and gets the same or better mileage than the Rangers did. But I travel with 600-800 pounds of tools. Im a millwright. Shrug. Its an easy drive, gives you lots of time to think or put your brain on cruise control. I live over on the west side in a little town called Taft.
Been there since 1983.
The big cut at 20:45 is known as the Culebra or Swede's Cut. It was one of the very few places along the Old Ridge Route where a power shovel was used as they were very expensive to transport and use. There were enough curves on that road to make 110 complete circles. The asphalt sections over the original concrete strip identified those sections where sharp curves were daylighted in attempts to straighten out the road. The three lane Ridge Route Alternate was opened in the early 1930s and the 1915 road was demoted to secondary status. In the 1950s, the three lane road was upgraded to four lanes. The northbound lanes from Castaic to Templin Hwy (The English Switch) and the southbound lanes from Grapevine to Ft Tejon follow the early Ridge Route Alternate alignment. From Templin Hwy to the locked gate at Piru Creek (just before the dam) is the old Alternate alignment that passes under Pyramid Lake and comes out at Smokey Bear Rd (old Hungry Valley Rd) off-ramp. The original Ridge Route from Templin Hwy to Sandberg (Pine Canyon Rd) sustained major damage from the rains of 2005-2006 winter and was never reopened to the public. The road was repaired by the utility companies that own the pipelines and electricity that run along the road but when the road ownership passed from Los Angeles County to the Angeles National Forest, the land owners who held the easements where the road passed would not renew them and the Forest Service declined to take the rights-of-way by Eminent Domain so the gates were erected to prevent passage. Except by special permission from the Forest Service (Huell Howser, etc.), or by luck of an open gate, It is a citeable offense to drive the road. Another excellent video.
Hi LaneFrank! Thank you for all of that great information. I covered the RR Alternate on this video, having to walk some of it and take still photographs past the gate. Thank you for watching the video: th-cam.com/video/ZStk8YJQF74/w-d-xo.html Fred : )
Wife and I used to drive when we first met, anywhere. All along these old roads, just like this, barely paved, forgotten. It was just part of our lives for so long randomly going down roads, seeing where they lead in central and so-cal. It's so wonderful to see this. It brings back memories from decades back. We'd drive and drive. Thanks for this. All too soon, these roads will be gone from history. Here the are saved, for posterity. A memory of a time.
Thank you Nathaniel Schultz for your reminiscences of your drives. That's exactly what I like to do, and it's always an adventure. We travel on these slick interstates forgetting, or for some, not even knowing of these original routes that handled all of the traveling back in the day. I really appreciate your comments and your having watched the video. Thank you. -Fred : )
I remember this route from when I was a kid. My Grandpa preferred this route over the "New Road" as he called it. Until he drove a 1965 Mustang off the side with me in it. After that my Grandmother insisted that he take the new route from then on. Thanks for the flashback!
Wow!!! David, I'm glad that two were all right. Your grampa must have been a road racer. I had a Mustang too, and they're a lot of fun. Plenty of horses under the hood, so I can see how that could happen there. Thank you for watching David. -Fred : )
I love the, broken, forgotten, and the run down. It's were you find peace of mind and solitude. This drive changed my state of being. Powerful!
Thank you greatly, R D. I really appreciate it. I'm glad that the sense of serenity and solitude came over in the video. Thank you for watching it. -Fred
I’m 70 years old. I have been driven , and drove the old road many times.
That is really great to hear, Olin. I wish I had when the road was the only way through the pass. I'd like to have seen it in its heyday! Thank you for watching. -Fred
I made the same drive only southbound in 1985. It looks the same, I mean the road doesn’t look any worse now as it was then except it wasn’t gated back then. Still I was the only one on the road, nobody wants to drive it except the local ranchers and historical road enthusiasts like myself and occasional utility workers or sheriffs and firefighters. Thanks for sharing. Where I live outside of Lacey, Washington there are 3 separate roads within a mile of me that carried US 99 at different times before I-5 opened in 1969. US 99 has a fascinating history from Mexico to Canada.
That's cool that you know where those old U.S. 99 alignments are outside of Lacy. I'll check them out someday. Thank you for watching, Mr. Brady! -Fred
As a SoCal motorcyclist who has explored MANY off-the-beaten-track roads, I always wanted to find the end points of old 99 and ride it. However, now that I've seen how many washouts and broken patches there are, I think it might be a little too much and will probably have to live vicariously through you. I LOVED this video. These are just the kind of roads I love to discover. I don't why they attract me (us!) so much. Perhaps it's their lonely, quiet beauty, and romanticism of the old days. You can certainly tell by the road construction that they did things differently back then. If you could instill the past's common sense into people today, maybe it wouldn't be so bad now. We'd have and maintain more roads like this
I agree with everything you wrote, Neil. I feel the same way when I find a road that was once a main thoroughfare, but is now sitting quietly as if frozen from another age. You described it perfectly. I actually think you could enjoy some of it on your motorcycle. You would probably want to come from the north (from CA SR 138 onto Ridge Route Road), and just take it slowly for a while. Some of the turns are bumpy, but there is a lot of it that is ride-able, especially on a two-wheeler. And you could just go down it for a while, not the whole thing because the gate at the southern end is almost always locked these days... just about 3/4 of a mile north of Templin Hwy. So it's better to come down a ways from the top. Anyways, if you ever decide to do it, I'd love to hear about your experience. I have a feeling from what you wrote that you would find it absolutely meditative. -Fred : )
I thought the same thing. I would love to ride that road but it doesn't look Harley friendly. Maybe on the Pan American?
To hell! I’ll STILL ride my road cycle on this!! Taking slow and taking in a slice of rare past. Completely fine by me. It has been a goal of mine for some time now... would have been completed already if I didn’t live a ocean and state away. So, my trips back are a tad few and far between for all the road adventures on my list.
Yeah, I ride, too, and was thinking that this might be a nice day trip...until I saw the middle portion of the route between Castaic and where it meets up with Tejon. Still some nice road to ride, though, even if that middle portion is a no-go. If it wasn't so remote, I might be more willing to give it a try, but the thought of an unfixable flat or some other issue forces my common sense to step in. But if I had a dirt bike or dual-sport, I might be more willing.
I knew someone who road the Pan American highway. A guy from Munich, and he loved the trip. You should do it! -Fred : )
We used to see deer , and Eagles and Bears ! back in the day and I’m saying it Right Now that things used to be a hell of a lot better then !
Thanks for documenting this piece of history! My family has traveled that route in all its different variations for the past 100 years. Not sure if this has been mentioned but there is a group called Ridge Route Preservation Organization that is doing really great work in trying preserve the old route. A great group of volunteers!
Hi Robb. Yes! I know about the RRPO. They are great and I'm glad that there is some consciousness of wanting to oversee and preserve the Ridge Route. That's really amazing that your family has that kind of history with the route. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
Are they the people doing the drainage work up there or is that the State? It looks like they did a lot of work that protects the road getting washed out by slides near the top.
My step Grandfather drove truck from LA to Bakersfield.......took 8 hours in the 1930s. No heater, no windshield, a bucket of hot coals under the legs. Thanks, Nilo.
Wow, that's amazing! -Fred : )
Simply outstanding! I've lived in the SFV all my life, driven up and down the 5 freeway countless times and never knew this road actually went all the way to Bakersfield. I caught glimpses of it from Huell Howser's California's Gold, but he never drove the whole route.
Huell Howser was awesome. Just after having been graduated from U.S.C., I interned at KABC Talk Radio, checking mail and other stuff in the office. Huell had a mailbox there at the radio station, and one time he sat next to me while he checked his mail and I did something else. I told him how much I loved his, "California's Gold." He was so nice, and he had that folksy way about him and his thick Tennessean accent. -Fred : )
Back in 1988 I took my first trip on the Ridge Route Road from Templin Highway to the 138 in a 1988 Isusa 4 x 4 because I-5 had a big accident. The journey was slow, because most of the route is a dirt road with many curves, with few passing points. I plan on taking Ridge Route Road this September (2022) as part of group from the Ridge Route Museum in Frazier Park. This time I’m going to take my 2021 Nissan Titian Pro4X on this trip. Great video, you did some amazing research.
Thank you so much, Michael. That's great that you've done the route already, and that you knew that you COULD do the route to get around the traffic jam. A lot of people just plumb don't know about it. Also, these days, it's normally locked at the bottom side, so it couldn't be used as a detour. I'll bet your Nissan Titan Pro will handle it real well and that you'll have a blast. Please let me know how your visit goes. Enjoy! And thank you for watching the video, Michael. -Fred : )
Im thinking about doin it on a motorcycle.
I'm a Bakersfieldian born decades after the Ridge Route closed and would love to take it when I go down south. Love a good twisty road, especially one without any traffic. Thanks for the detailed information.
You bet, DJ! Just know that there is a gate on the south side that is normally closed. It is about two miles north of Templin Hwy. So if you start from the north side (CA SR 138), you will be able to enjoy a lot of it. But most likely, you will have to turn around and go back up (north) to get back out. Enjoy! Fred : )
Very good video, thank you. Grew up in Burbank. The family would travel up Hwy 99 in the 50's, through 60's, Burbank to Stanislaus County.
When the video got to the Old Ridge Route I swore I saw George Raft and Humphrey Bogart in their produce trucks. 🙂
Lol Bob. I'll bet you did. And I think I saw Alfred Hitchcock shooting another horror film along Gorman Post Rd. Thank you for watching, Bob! -Fred
Really enjoyed it. Thanks for doing it. Drove it twice approximately 30 years ago but from north to south. An old timer told me he drove a Bulldog Mack (chain drive) from LA to Bakersfield and when they got to the long downhill at Wheeler Ridge, they would tie off one of the chains so the truck would go twice as fast. Almost 60 miles per hour.
Lol. That's an awesome account, WG Newbury. Thank you for watching it. I really appreciate it.
This is very interesting video! I can recall Huell Howser doing a report on the same route, and that back in the late 20's the trucks would deliver LA times to Bakersfield taking this route each night, to arrive by 6 am in Bakersfield. They would use the concrete curbs to help slow the trucks, so they would not pick up to much speed! They probably drove from 1 am to arrive at 5 am in Bakersfield! A very long road trip!
My dad "Died" along that route back in 1942 or 43, while sleeping and the driver started to take a nap too, and they ended up driving up a hill on the other side of the road at a curve. He went to sleep on the ground while waiting on a tow truck, and when they reached the bottom of the hill, he overheard another driver at the truck stop say "There was a real bad accident up there, and one guy died, saw him right there laying out on the hillside"!
It's truly an amazing old route. I didn't know that the L.A. times drivers used that route. What a load of driving every night that would have been. I think that you meant in your story that someone perceived as your dad having died when he was really just resting. I hope that this is the case. Thank you very much for watching this video, Kangenpower7. : )
I actually stumbled on this a bit tired and thinking 66 instead of 99 and then realized it wasn't Rt. 66. But I found it so interesting, I kept it and came back to it the next day to watch. It is really well done. I found the route on Google Maps to look up some of the areas and found there are many historical markers for the route. I see that there are many groups interested in the Ridge Route and have several websites for it. Thanks for the video.
Hi Tom, yes, there are definitely some historical groups that keep track of what's happening on the route, as well as know the history of it (better than I do). As you drive it, there are still a lot of those historical markers along the way. Some refer to hotels and inns, as well as service stations that used to be there, while others describe some difficult or notable feature that was a challenge in building the route (such as Swede's Cut). Thank you for watching, Tom! -Fred : )
What a fantastic tour you have shared with us. Thank you so much for your time and effort. ♡♡♡ from Burbank
Thank you for the upload!! Very nice! 👍
You get, LLJ L, I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching it. -Fred
Thankyou for this fantastic video!
You bet, Ronald. That's so cool that your grandmother had the courage and determination to take that route on back then. I'm sure anyone would have felt it was an ordeal, and especially a woman back in those days. Your grandmother was a real road pioneer! Thank you for watching the video! -Fred : )
Wow... That take me back to my childhood days going from Bakersfield to L.A. that was in the 70's, I often wondered what happened to that road, now I know ... Thanks for the Memories
Yeah, it's still up there baking in the sun every day. Lol. Thank you for watching, Richard Thomas. -Fred
This is awesome! I am so glad you doccuumented this wonderful piece of history. I love it🥰
Thank you, Cheryl. I really appreciate you're having watched the video. It was such a link for Southern and Central California when roads were just starting to expand that when I've been on it, I try to really keep in mind how much of a tether this narrow road was for people and for early commerce. -Fred : )
Approve your choice in soundtrack, too! Well done and epic!
Yes, this is good. I also remember our trips with our dad, 1940's into beyond the 1950's, from San Fernando Valley where we lived, traveling this same route to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park areas and camping in the back woods our of there. Definitely remember the ridge route. Also hunting for quail up on the ridge route not too far from route 138. Frazier Park during the winter and playing in deep snow up there.
That's awesome that you were old enough to have those vivid memories of those trips, Chuck! I enjoy seeing places along the road and imagining traveling through there during the really early days with the hotels and service stations along the way. Thank you very much for watching the video.
Wonderful video! Thank you! Many memories of old 99. My mother was born in 1925 and remembered making family trips to see relatives in a Model T, from Bako to LA and back. Took forever!
That's so great that your mother was able to tell you about the trips when it was really the only way through, other than going through the Antelope Valley and via the Tehachapi's. My spouse's grandmother took it too back in the day (also born 1925) and we loved hearing her talk about it. She always spoke about it with wonder, like it was really a trek. I'm sure it was back in those days with those older cars and such. Thank you Al Moore for watching the video! -Fred : )
I've been up on the ridge route so many times I can't even count but never been past the gates in either direction very far so this video was very special to me and I thank you for making it.
You bet, Thomas. If you do decided to go through it, say, this summer when the days are longer, you might want to start from the top side. Start from CA SR 138 where it meets Ridge Route Road and then head south. The reason that I say that is because the top gate is usually open, and even that is a ways down. But the bottom gate, which is only like a mile and a half north of Templin Hwy, is almost always locked. So you will get much more for your money if you start at the top side and head south. You will indeed need to turn around at the bottom gate if you decide to go that far, but by then, you have seen most of the Old Ridge Route. As a disclaimer, I haven't been through there since last summer (2023), so I don't know for a fact that the top gate is now open. But it's always been each time I've been through there, which is tens of times. Thank you for watching the video. Fred : )
thank you for this absolutely beautiful driving video , i love streets like that. it takes me back in time, when most things where better. cheers from germany.
Amazing video! I enjoyed riding along with you!
Thank you, Michael. I really appreciate that you watched it. -Fred : )
Nice, well done video of the old route with lots of notes along the way.
I love your video. I have been fortunate to be able to travel a large part of this route.but never through the South gate of the Ridge Route. Thank you for letting us experience that special drive and important part of California history. Your comment about the difficulty and challenges of driving a really old car up there was on target. It was a very tough drive with a lot of overheating and breakdowns.
That's great that you have done some of the route, Duane. Yeah, it amazes me every time I've been up there to think that it was the main conduit between Southern and Central California. And now, you can just whiz along I-5 through the whole pass in about 40 minutes or so. I'll bet those original road builders would never have dreamed of an eight lane highway. Lol. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
Thank you for this video. I live in Lebec and take I5 almost every day to Ventura. I have always wanted to drive as much of the old Ridge Route and old 99 and you have done it for me. I have done Castaic to Templin Hwy several times, esp if I 5 backs up. And I have driven around Lebec, Frazier Park and Gorman since it is my main street. I drove some of it south of 138, beautiful! But got nervous when I reached a section that said End of County Maintained Road and there were lots of rock and crumbling road, so I turned back. Fascinating history and interesting to see how the roads have evolved.
Thank you Karl. Yes, I would say that if you drive it, to do it in a high clearance vehicle. It's not off-roading or anything like that, but it's really bouncy and probably not good for the Honda's or Kia's shocks. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and it handled it well. I have a Honda CR-V and had to do some pick up shots, and it was no fun in the Honda. I appreciate that you watched the video, Karl. -Fred : )
It's hard to believe this was a major highway back in the day
Hi Dana Sutton. I'd probably call it, "the only highway," back then. Lol. You could have gone around through Bouquet Canyon, through Mojave, over the Tehachapis, and then into the Central Valley (by way of what later became Old U.S. Route 466). But it was so circuitous that the Ridge Route really was the only reasonable way once it was constructed. But yeah, driving through it must have been an ordeal. Thank you for watching, Dana. -Fred
Very very cool! Thank you for posting!
Thank you for watching, Raider Carl. I really appreciate it. -Fred : )
Love your channel. Just discovered it. Was a resident of So Cal for the first 55 years of my life. brings back memories. Now a MT resident. Thank you.
Hi Ray! I love Montana. I drove through a small part of it when I was up in Wyoming, and I've got two great friends from Montana. Thank you for watching. -Fred : )
Can’t imagine 2 vehicles passing one another on this
I think back then they were probably bumping along at pretty slow speeds, Mike. And also, I have read about a lot of accidents that started to increase as more cars came through, including many that went over. But it is indeed narrow. Thank you for watching, Mike Cassidy! -Fred
Very enjoyable the video of traveling on the Old road(U.S.99) from Los Angeles to Bakersfield. Many people drive on U.S. routes for nostalgia & for the history of what it was like traveling before the building of the nations interstate highways. I subscribed.
Thank you Christpher O'Rourke for subscribing. Yes, that is exactly me. For some reason, I just love driving old routes and imagining what it felt like in the old days having to lodge at those motels and stopping at the service stations peppered throughout those old roads. Thank you for watching the video, Chris! -Fred : )
Great job making this video! Really enjoyed the choice of music also. ♥️👍
Thank you, Charlie! I really enjoyed making that video. It took a long time, but it turned out to be a nice way to document the route. Thank you for watching it. -Fred : )
Thank you for this amazing video. Much of my life was spent with family in Bakersfield and in Los Angeles so traveling the grapevine was pretty normal for me. My dad talked about the old route a lot. He would point out the parts of it you could still see whenever we would go visit my uncle in Santa Monica. What a treasure this is!
Thank you, @jontoubeaux7361, that is great to hear that your dad was telling you about the old route back then. My dad did the same with me. I'm really glad that it's still sitting up there. It's rare these days that such a historical feature is not either terribly dissected or destroyed after decades and decades. Thank you sincerely for your message and for watching the video. -Fred : )
What an amazing video! Thank you!
Thank you Mike Anderson. I really appreciate it. I enjoyed making it! -Fred
More videos like this please! Great content!
Thank you, Ishinurskull. I really appreciate it. I'm working on some ideas currently. Thank you for watching. Fred : )
I lived in Bakersfield until 1970 when I got transferred to the LA area. Seems to me that I read an article about the old Ridge Road and decided to drive it in my VW bug . It was an amazing trip into the past. I remember back then there were several two pump gas station remnants along that narrow road (one was a Richfield) and every now and then you could look over the side of the road and see a wrecked truck or two that had been down there for decades. My best memory was the old Lebec Hotel that was located on the old road just before you started the down grade into the San Juaquin Valley. It had been closed for several years and was dangerously dilapidated but I went inside and shot lots of photos. I found room receipts on the floor that were dated from the early 50's with a nights stay listed at $4.50. After an hour or so of doing my photo thing several employees showed up from the Tejon Ranch and asked me to leave (nicely). A year or so later I was driving by on 99 and was sad to see the old Lebec Hotel had been torn down. Thanks for the trip down memory road.
Wow, tomedwards53! That's amazing that you got to see all of that! Well two thoughts. 1) If you still have those photos, please put them online somewhere. People would love to see them. If you don't have the ability to (access to a scanner, etc.), then just let me know and I'd be happy to scan them for you. 2) You mentioned the Richfield gasoline stations. You probably know this, but a lot of people don't. That is, that Richfield built those stations all up and down, I believe from L.A. into Washington State. They and tall towers with the Richfield name on their sides and a beacon atop each tower. The idea was that as a sort of promotion of their brand, they were helping pilots to orient themselves as they flew up and down the coast. These towers with the beacons were placed at intervals up and down U.S. Route 99, and also I believe U.S. Route 101 for part of it's length. Just such a cool fact. There are a few of the stations and a few of the towers still standing. Anyways, thank you for watching the video. -Fred
@@rapidtopography1334 Unfortunately during a rather acrimonious divorce most of my Kodachrome transparencies were, shall we say, "lost". Such is life. I do remember showing the Lebec photos to friends (remember slide projectors?) and they were amazed-- had no idea the Lebec Hotel even existed. Sorry I can't share them now.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But at least you got to experience what was there once. Thank you, tomedwards53 -Fred
A wonderful exploration of a gem right under my nose! I've traveled so much of this route on my own but not after Gorman. I didn't know that the Ridge Road existed. Thanks very much. Now planning to make the trip and throw in a little rock collecting too.
That's awesome, Donald! I am really glad that you enjoyed the video and discovered something out of it. Just so you know, there is a gate that is most often locked at the southern end of the Ridge Route, just north of Templin Hwy by about a mile. So I would recommend entering the Ridge Route from the northern end (from CA SR 138, using Ridge Route Rd south). At least in that way, you'll be able to see more of it. If the gate is locked on the bottom, then you would just have to turn around and go back, which is most often the case. Enjoy your adventures! -Fred : )
Great drive! Amber traffic lights are your favorite to keep video flowing. Nice job enjoyed it.
Thank you, John. I appreciate it. I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. -Fred : )
Always fascinated by the old routes. Love the trip!!! Keep making CA road videos!!!
Thank you, Tammy! I really appreciate that you spent time watching it. And I'll keep making them. Fred : )
Crazy road I had hate to try drive it in the dark or in bad weather. Great ride with excellent editing. Your luck to live in such a beautiful state.
Thank you Douglas. Yeah, can you imagine having to have done that road in rain, or worse, when the roads get iced or snowed on the couple of times per year up there. I'm with you. Sunny weather driving only for the Ridge Route. Thank you, Douglas, for watching the video. -Fred: )
Great video, and great tidbits of information along the way. I grew up in Bakersfield, and have driven the 99-I5 route into and out of LA more times that I can count. Now I have some cool stuff to look for along the way and some new "useless knowledge" to share with the family while doing it. Thanks so much for this!
Also, it seems you're in Bakersfield, too, judging by how many of your videos begin from and end here. Nice to see you reppin' ole Bako on the TH-cams.
Hi Brian, yeah, I'm always looking to learn things along various routes. There is so much history along a lot of the old roads, many of which have turned into much larger highways and freeways now. Yes, I live in Bako. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, but in the last few years I was there, I found that life had gotten way too nuts there. And I had already had a long relationship with Bakersfield from 1996. So I moved here. It's great. I like that everything, especially on the west side, is new.. new stores, new houses, nice wide roads. It's so different from LA where everything it so compressed. I was just down in LA today and had to fight the traffic to get out again. LOL. Oh well. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
If you were driving on 99 through the Valley as a kid, you certainly remember the Giant Oranges. We'd head to Calaveras in the spring, and stopping for fresh OJ and nuts was always a treat.
That sounds awesome. I'm a child of the 60's, and a teen of the 80's, so I missed that time by a decade or two, but my dad remembers coming out in 1955 and seeing lots of groves still around. My mom came out in 1949 and she remembers the San Fernando Valley as mostly agricultural. Thank you for watching, Dean Dupont. -Fred : )
Very well documented! The Old Ridge Route was one of my more relaxing scenic routes to west Lancaster at times.
That's great that you have driven it, PawFan. It's so separate from everything else and so serene. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
It’s cool seeing someone make a video about a place I’ve lived my entire life :)
Do you mean Bakersfield, Crystal? Or do you mean somewhere along the RR, like in Santa Clarita? -Fred
Oh wow, what a great video, straight through the Old Ridge Route! Ahh this was about the time I found the road... all the matting patching the potholes. Much of the old route has been repaved, south of Reservoir Summit. It looks like they were getting ready to do it in the video. I remember crossing through those gates the first time and being in awe. Felt like finding something truly wild, a hidden treasure ❤
Thank you, Ridge Route Gallery! I appreciate your comments. I am still awestruck each time I drive it. It is so peaceful up there, and yet, it was once the main conduit between Southern and Central California. I love it! Thank you kindly for watching the video! -Fred : )
Beautiful video!
Thank you, Gordana. I really appreciate that you watched it. -Fred : )
Love it (and I'm now the 420th subscriber, who knew?) I've spend many hours perusing the California Highways & Public Works volumes to see examples of the old alignments in their original form from areas I was familiar with. Tracing the Ridge Route on Google Maps always left me wondering what it looks like today, so thank you for documenting it! Living in Palm Springs for 10 years let me explore smaller decommissioned routes that still exist of US 60-70-99 around Banning and Whitewater, you can see the foundation of the old Sheppard's Restaurant along the alignment at Whitewater. Another favorite was the US 60-70 two lane adjacent to the 10 around Desert Center, with several bridges from the 1930's plus abandoned gas stations (2) and the DC Cafe. The Chevron pumps are still there, last inspected by Riverside County Weights and Measures in 1966. I found some old button reflectors interstate signs from the early days of the 10 behind the DC Cafe, and a painted sign for Kaiser's Eagle Mountain mine.
Hi John, thank you for mentioning the California Highways & Public Works books. I was not familiar with them. I have been researching exactly what you mentioned; those old 60-70-99 alignments in the Inland Empire and out to Coachella and Imperial Valleys. I have started doing some recording out there but have still a lot to do. I love those areas. I've been to the Whitewater alignment, which is very cool to see. Thank you for writing the above, and for watching. I really appreciate it.
Wow! That is interesting, especially the gas pumps, showing how the constructions of I-5, I-10, and I-15 and the realignment and/or abandonment of those roads caused many businesses to fall by the wayside.
Yeah, Tammy, I think about that a lot for some reason. How a new alignment can just crash a bunch of businesses. It shows how driver really want convenience as close to their routes as possible. Thank you for your comments. -Fred : )
What a cool video! I really enjoyed this. Cheers from San Diego 🍻
Thank you, Anchors Aweigh. I really appreciate it. I enjoy occasionally taking the Amtrak down to San Diego and eating in the Gas Lamp District. It's a great town. -Fred : )
@@rapidtopography1334 Next time your in Town peep out Liberty Station or North Park. 🤙🏽
I will for sure! -Fred : )
As someone who was born and still here in Bakersfield, I always knew Union Ave was the original 99 and I had always wanted to drive it to LA to see where it lead. This video was an accidental find! I cannot believe that I drive on the old 99 around town!! Flabbergasted.
Thank you for this video. 💜 💜
That's great, Mindy that you already know that Union Ave was part of U.S. 99. That explains all of those huge hotels that sat along it for so long until they recently razed most of them down. I really appreciate you having watched my video. Thank you! -Fred : )
Thank you. I drove LA to Bakersfield in the 70’s while working there.Loved it. Sadly I never knew about the original road that my Dad took in a Model T as a young man to get veggies to sell in LA.
Hi S K. Like you, I never saw it until I was an adult. My dad used to talk about it when I was a kid, but I only got myself to go see it I think the first time when I was in my late 30's. When I was young, I would have been able to ask a lot of people still alive about their memories of it. But, of course, I didn't. But at least it's still there today. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
Thanks for a most enjoyable video. Well done my friend. All through the 1950's I would ride with my parents from Bakersfield to SoCal to visit relatives. I always remember my Dad stopping half way up the Grapevine at a wide spot in the road where there was a natural spring that came out of the side of the cut. He needed to cool down the radiator of our old 54 Chrysler. The water was very cold and tasty.
Wow, Old Trucker, that's so cool that you have those specific memories of traveling through the Ridge Route with your dad and stopping at specific spots. I wish I had those. Thank you very much for watching the video. -Fred : )
@@rapidtopography1334 Well, actually I subscribed to your channel.
Thank you kindly for subscribing. I really appreciate it! -Fred : )
Old 395 thru the back way was a interesting drive also.
Hi John, yeah, I was just starting to look into the 395 where it extended down towards Temecula southwards. It was a long road back then. I have to do more digging to find out what of the old route is still there. Thank you for watching the video. Fred : )
Good memories. My grandfather was a truck driver and my dad said he told stories about driving the old ridge route. My dad and I made many trips up there in the 70’s when we lived in Van Nuys. I went exploring in the bushes down hill from a turn out that could of been a gas station or something and found a couple of old soda bottles that people threw over the edge. Also drove the motorcycle on the other roads in the area. They put up the gates after the storm of early 2005. It was washed out in many places. Thanks for the memories.
Hi Bob! That's great that you have those memories. BTW, I grew up in Studio City and went to Farrell's and Shakey's on Van Nuys Blvd all the time as a kid. I'd love to have heard your grandpa's stories about driving the Ridge Route. I'll bet he saw a lot of those inns and service stations and remembered them. And like you, my dad and I went driving a lot. I think it's why I enjoy going places so much. It's a great father/son activity because so many stories can be told while driving. Thank you for watching, Bob. I really appreciate it! -Fred
@@rapidtopography1334 … Been to Farrell’s many times after high school football game. Graduated from Van Nuys High, ‘74. Besides the ridge route, my dad and I explored Last Chance Canyon, Cerro Gordo, Saline Valley and lots of other places. We were always camping somewhere. Always roughing it. Seems like there were too many places and not enough time.
I'm Grant High School, Class of '83. I'm going to look up the places that you mentioned. Thank you for mentioning them. -Fred
My grandfather was a Civil Engineer and helped build SoCal roads in 1915. As a motorcycle rider of over 50 years it's very hard seeing sandy curves approached so fast in the video! lol Great video, thanks.
That's awesome, Steven, that your dad was a civil engineer. Boy, if I had met him at a BBQ or something, I'd have been asking him so many questions, he'd have to have swatted me away. Lol. I love that stuff. -Fred : )
SUper awesome... I appreciate the history as much as you do! traveling these roads, dozens of times.... I've often wondered what was up in those hills, along 5... Now I know!!!
Thank you, James. I appreciate your interest in the same history as I do. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
like visiting the past through a time tunnel...
I totally agree with you, YahshuaLovesMe. That's why I like finding old routes when I am able to. It's great to imagine that at one time, that old route was the main artery of people and car movement around the states and nation. I get totally obsessed with seeing where the previous route was before the main interstate came along. Thank you kindly for watching my videos! -Fred
What a peaceful drive, with a great soundtrack too!
Thank you very kindly, Mr. T. I really appreciate that you watched the video. -Fred : )
Thank you for posting! Videos of historic California back roads are always so enjoyable. While watching this video I thought about a couple of drag racers out of Bakersfield, James Warren and Roger Coburn. During the 70's they ran the Rain For Rent top fuel dragster. They earned the nick name "Ridge Route Terrors" from traveling that road to drag strips in the LA area. In fact, they paid homage to that old road by having a mural painted on the cowl of the dragster. Ridge Route Terrors was custom painted like the letters were carved out of boulders complete with tailings. Above and below were road signs that said Bakersfield and Los Angeles. Just a little piece of Ridge Route trivia. Keep up the great work with the videos!
Those are great remembrances, cup-a-joe. I wish I had seen those adornments that you described. In the 70's, I was a kid, and my dad used to drive us up the Old 99, but I had not been on the Ridge Route until I was an adult. I'm so glad that so much of it is still there and pretty much intact, save a few bumps along the way. Thank you for watching, Joe! -Fred : )
@@rapidtopography1334 I found a video of old Fremont Dragstrip recently. At 27:41 you will see that mural. th-cam.com/video/GNhJd6Hi7IA/w-d-xo.html
@@cup-a-joe8042 Oh, how cool. I will check it out tomorrow. Thank you for finding this. Awesome!
I just watched the Fremont video, cup-a-joe. I really enjoyed seeing those great cars. Wow, some of them were so iconic looking. Thank you again for the video referral. -Fred : )
Wow.
What a fantastic video.
The music is just right.
And, though not on this route, reminds me of traveling up US 99 as a child with my parents, in the 1950s, where we would see northbound truck drivers, on the hot summer days, standing on their running boards with their shirt off, steering their rig, with a brick on their accelerator pedal.
We always looked forward to seeing the big 76 sign over the gas station at the top of the Grapevine.
Great memories, Steevee1945! That's amazing that those truck drivers used to do those tricks while driving. I used to note the Union 76 sign at the base of the Grapevine as well. I was sad to see it dismantled. Thank you for watching and Happy New Year! -Fred : )
Thank you , I have always wanted to do this .
You bet, Dakarai. I'm really glad that you found the video of the drive interesting. Yes, it's still there, and just awaiting your exploration on it. Just be aware that there is a gate at the lower end that is closed most of the time. So, when you go on it, you should enter from the northern side (CA SR 138 to Ridge Route Rd). It's serene up there. You'll appreciate it when you do it. -Fred : )
Great ASMR. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, just like when I drive this route!
Lol WhitSundayDreaming, I'm glad that the video enhanced your relaxation. It's the effect I'm going for most of the time. Thank you for watching. Fred : )
Great work! Thanks!
Thank you, Steve! It was a labor of love. -Fred : )
My parents drove that road several times when I was very young . The car was a Willie's Overland and later on a Chevrolet pickup truck with the kids asleep in the back truck bed .
I think that's a testament of how heavily children can sleep, Thomas. Lol. Thank you for watching the video. I really appreciate it. -Fred : )
I had been on that route many many times in my 20s. I still live in Bakersfielfd to this day and I’m so glad I don’t have to do that again.
Yes is is beautiful but curvy and scary too. Thank for these memories from over 50 years ago.
You bet, ibjbUSA. Yes, once you've driven it a few times, you really do appreciate the very straight interstates in regards to how swiftly they get you home. Lol. Thank you for watching! -Fred
I must have traveled over the Ridge Route from LA in the late 50's at least twice. We camped in Yosemite twice when I was around 8 or 9. I wish I could remember those trips!
I hear you, Roger. I know I never traveled the Ridge Route, but I did travel the Ridge Route Alternate, which went through Piru Canyon where Lake Pyramid now lays. We used to go up to Sequoia (my parents and I), and though I remember the trips, I can't recall going through that canyon on old U.S. 99. I'm sure it just felt as if we were going through the mountains, so it was unremarkable to me. But I wish I could recall something in there. Thank you for watching! -Fred : )
Wow...what amazing trip! Thank you for sharing. I hope your vehicle handled it well! I look at this video through 3 different lenses: stagecoach, early cars and modern cars. Cant imagine the strain it had on the horses to go from Bakersfield to LA - not too mention the dust and the heat on both humans and beasts. I wonder what that length of time would be? The Model-T's - like you commented - 22 horsepower that could go 40 mph, but still with all turns through those canyon speed wasn't a factor. You could close yourself off from the dust, still a hot or cold drive depending on the season. And modern vehicles...great suspension, climate controlled...and quick. We have it good! I now live in Washington, there are remnants of Hwy 99 from Eugene to Portland, Or. and a 5 mile section through Vancouver. WA. Haven't traveled any other section of Hwy 99 except those.
Yes, if you decide to drive it, Brian Wool, it's better to do it in a vehicle that has more ground clearance than less. It used to be a smooth ribbon of concrete, but after having been resurfaced with asphalt a few years after it was built, then adding in the lack of maintenance and the hill slides that have collected onto it, especially in the hairpin canyon turns, it's really become bumpy in parts. And like you said, I'm sure it was more of a strain on every type of transportation that went through those parts because you are ascending and descending a lot more than on U.S. Route 99, and then later, Interstate 5. They had the equipment to move huge masses of land later on in order to create a straighter, lower path. When you're on the Old Ridge Route, you know that you are really high up in comparison to what we drive today. Thank you for watching, Brian! -Fred
Nice job. You helped turn a 45 minute stationary cycle into a 90 minute ride. Fun imagining I was mountain biking it, more so the rural parts than the traffic parts! Editing the red lights out, especially in LA, must have taken some time, patience and effort.
Like old Route 66 got consumed by I40, this did the same. You were off the grid as you passed under the utility grid many times I noticed, starting around 20 minutes, and back on the I5 grid for the consumed portions. Nice bit of history!!
Thank you, pburress, I appreciate it. I'm glad that it was fun to watch. I imagined being in an older, 1915 or 1920's car while driving through it. It must have been an ordeal back then. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
Great job, I actually watched the whole video while following along with my phone's map app!
One little thing I would suggest is the part you walked with the camera on the closed section, (the jingle jangle part), still photos taken every 100 feet or so with a 2-3 second dissolve between photo i think would be less jangle and show a clearer image. Other than that, I really enjoyed the video!
Hi Bob! That's great that you followed along on the map app. Great idea. Also, regarding your idea about the Dead Man's Curve section, I totally agree with you. When I made that video back in 2015, I couldn't at that time think of another way to do it, and I kind of wanted to just at least show it. But your idea is great, and when I just redid the videos (both north and south), I used the photo dissolving technique for the section of U.S. Route 99 Alternate going northbound (LA to Bako) for the section of that highway in which no cars are allowed anymore. However, I didn't include Dead Man's Curve in that one, other than a reference to it in the bottom third written narration. I have to buy a drone soon to cover these types of things. Thank you for thinking about how to improve the videos that I do. I'm always thinking about it too. And thank you for watching. I really appreciate it, Bob. BTW, here are the links to the newer videos I just did. LA to Bakersfield: th-cam.com/video/izxILkyeqZM/w-d-xo.html And Bakersfield to LA: th-cam.com/video/b4FubkVk1JY/w-d-xo.html
According to my Dad , Grandmother drove my Dad and his 3 siblings from E Los Angeles to Selma, Ca back in '31 on a model A at night... Grandma had guts.
It's amazing what people went through in the old days. There are people I have met who literally lived the John Steinbeck "Grapes Of Wrath" dust bowl story, having left Oklahoma to come to the worker camps in the fields of the Central Valley. The history is still all around us. Thanks Roland. -Fred : )
That ridge road is amazing, I can't imagine how much work and engineering it took.
I see why it's often gated.
Wouldn't be great if that were declared a Historic site and it was restored as a scenic byway??
I wish.
I totally agree. And yes, if you search on TH-cam, you will see some videos that describe the work that it took using... Fresno Scrapers or something of that name, to grade the old Ridge Route. It must have just been grueling. Thank you for watching Frederick! -Fred : )
I didn't realize Bakersfield had old sections of the 99 just like Fresno. It's called Golden State Blvd here. Old 99 also goes straight through the heart of Madera and is now named Gateway Dr. I'm old enough to remember the giant orange stands that dotted the 99 from Merced to Bakersfield.
Hi Karl, yes, I was just reading about those giant orange stands in one of my books about U.S. 99. What I have found is that a lot of the old U.S. 99 that was circumvented became "Golden.. something," like "Golden State Blvd," or, "Golden State Hwy." It seems pretty uniformly done. But there are exceptions through some of the smaller bits that were bi-passed. Sometime I want to video some of the areas north such as the areas you are describing. I have so many routes on my list that I get a little overwhelmed. LOL. Thank you for watching, Karl. -Fred : )
I live on 5844 Cedar Street in Ferndale, WA., MY street dead ends at I-5
My street is concrete because it's old route 99.
Just before the street, you go on Portal Way which goes under I-5 and 99 returns as portal way.
In Bellingham area are some stretches of99 still being used but not scenic like the stretch you traveled.
I too love old original roads, paved or not!
Thank you for sharing this route.
Rik Spector
Hi Frederick! I just checked out your street on Google Maps, and yes, I can see clearly the concrete slab that was used to make the U.S. 99. Also, I can see how Cedar Street continued to the north as the smaller Portal Way, but was dissected by I-5. That is so cool that you live among all of that history. Funny because my wife and I went through Ferndale, and Bellingham before that, on our way to Maple Falls. We also went to Birch Bay State Park, which was beautiful. But at that time (this was about five years ago) I wasn't in the mind yet of finding the traces of U.S. 99. I wish I had been looking for it back then. Here is our trip that year on one of my other channels. The area around Birch Bay starts at about the 24:00 mark of the video. th-cam.com/video/2drwo1F9RwM/w-d-xo.html -Fred : )
Thank you from Bakersfield CA btw my mom and dad (rip both)used to point at the old route when we were driving to LA
Hi Joey Witt, yes, my dad was the same way all the time. He's say, "We should really drive it one of these days." He had done so years ago, but we never did together. Too bad. But now I have many times, and it's really cool. My condolences for the loss of both of your parents, Joey. Mine are gone too. But it's nice to have those memories. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred
Wow! Im amazed this still exists! Seems like one good rainstorm away from being lost to history!
Hi LivFrehley, yes, the rainstorms have certainly tried to watch it away over the years. It's why some of the original hair pin curves have been smoothed out with asphalt. But it's all still able to be driven. That fact amazes me too, given how little maintenance has been given to it, and given how incredibly old it is for a road in the southwest. That's kind of why I wanted to document driving it. Luckily, a bunch of other people have done the same kind of thing with videos, so at least we all have it for posterity. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
Fascinating. My father used to tell me what it was like to travel to LA in the Old Ridge Route. We live in Fresno. It took two days to travel to LA. The first day was Fresno to Bakersfield. The second day was Bakersfield to LA through the RIdge Route. With the car fuel systems at the time, going up hill would stall the car because the gasoline could not travel thropugh the carburator. He said the road was littered with stalled cars in any typical trip through the grapevine.
Hi Jim, wow, that's so great that you have stories in your family of traveling through the Ridge Route. I can imagine that a two day trip would be the way it had to work because it was exhaustive driving, not your current point the wheel and listen to your podcast. There were so many turns and altitude changes along the way. And I've heard too about the littered cars, including those that went over the side and weren't hauled up for a time. Thank you for watching! -Fred : )
@@rapidtopography1334 It was major travel back then. The Ridge Route is outside my generation of course but travel through the RR is probably similar to Californa Route 152, the highway going through the San Luis Reservoir, before they widened the highway into two separate directions. In the old days it was a simple two lane highway and if you gt behnd a truck, forget about it. I'm sure the same was true of the RR.
I'm sure you're right about that. I have taken SR 152 many times, and when it was narrower, it probably felt a lot like the old Ridge Route. We actually just took the 152 back about a month ago returning from Campbell, CA.
@@rapidtopography1334 Ido not go back far enough to havr goner through the Old Ridge Route, but I have used 152 many times. Beautiful road, but you can hardly appreciate the scenary the turns are so brutal.
Well done. This would be a great day trip with a nice meal at the end - maybe just an In n Out stop.
There was definitely an In N Out or two partaken in during the production of this video. Lol. While driving the route one of the times I was just up there, I saw a woman parked and doing yoga on an exercise mat at one of the vista overlooks. It's so quiet up there, it's very zen. Thank you for watching, ktpinnacle. -Fred
yah nice video great ride thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video! I discovered the portion between 138 and Templin by accident one night, aimlessly exploring in my truck. It was an odd experience, driving out in the darkness with a full moon, but no sign of civilization. I wondered where I'd end up.
You cut the section near the north gate, which is unfortunate because on the final descent prior to the ascent to the gate you can see impressions in the concrete left by the original vehicles used to grade and cement the road in 1914. Bicycle width tires from Model T Fords, and slightly wider truck tires pulling the mixers. No horseshoe tracks that I'm aware of, though they had plenty of mules then pulling equipment up the hill. The concrete road was asphalted in 1918, I think. ( Wiki says concreted in 1915, and reinforced in 1919. )
All those patches and construction cones are new - at least they weren't there in the spring when I went out to the Tumble Inn with my son in the spring. That means the state is still keeping up the road. You'll find on both the Templin side and the 138 side that homeowners have placed false "private road" signs. With the state still maintaining the road, those claims cannot be true.
Thanks for the video!
Hi Matthew, thank you for the tip about the impressions made into the concrete. I will check that out the next time that I'm up there. Also, you watched my 2015 video of the Ridge Route, which is the first one that I did. Just this year, I redid the route, both northbound and southbound this time, in 4K just to keep it updated. That's cool that you just wandered onto one of the most historical routes (in my opinion) in California one night. Really funny how that happened for you.
Here are the two updated versions, just in case sometime you want to see them as of this past July & August, when I shot them (2022).
Northbound
th-cam.com/video/izxILkyeqZM/w-d-xo.html
Southbound
th-cam.com/video/b4FubkVk1JY/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for watching the original video as you did. -Fred : )
I love it. You must have done a lot of research, using old maps, to find these stretches.
Thank you @Barley150. Yes, I did read quite a bit about the history of the Ridge Route. It's one of those things that is fun to find out about and doesn't feel like it's really research. Lol. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
Now we know why it took weeks to cross...Have driven & hitch-hiked on 99 before I-5 came in.
Thanx for the virtual ride...One of the few CA roads I'll never do...
Slept under the 99/California Ave bridge 1 nite...'til the !#$%! trucks woke me up !
Sounds like you've lived California close up. Very cool. Thank you for watching the video, Fred Nesbitt Jr. I really appreciate it. -Fred
What a treasure. Bike rides, etc. I'd pay a toll to ride this.
No toll needed, @efilms3192. Just hop on the road and get riding! -Fred : )
Thank you 😊
You bet, Julio. Thank you for watching it. I'm glad you liked it. -Fred
great soundtrack pick!
Thank you, I so love music too. Music and motion creates a sort of extended world for me, and I think for a lot of other people too. Thank you, YahshuaLovesMe! -Fred
I used to go old route 99 all the time and enjoy the trip it's a little easier and less traffic! To be it was a much more relaxing ride!
That's so cool that you did that, Ginger Black. I am of that same ilk. If there is a more serene way to get somewhere, even if more circuitous, I will take it. It brings me back to imagining how the slightly slower world used to be. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
My remembrances of Old U.S. Route 99 are all associated with the road in Northern California's Siskiyou County. I lived in the county seat of Yreka from 1957 through 1960 before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. We made many trips south to the Bay Area during that time traversing the road that twisted through the Sacramento River canyon between Mt. Shasta and Redding. With a single lane each way over most of the route, travel times reached 8 or more hours to complete the trip. Today the trip takes a little over 5 hours.
Hi Shores, I've been through that area of Shasta Lake on Interstate 5 quite a bit. I'd love to have seen it via U.S. 99 like you did. Great remembrances. Thank you. -Fred
cool video
My stepdad use to talk about him and his dad going over the ridge route from Colton to Delano and that it would take them a days journey. I bet doing 30 miles an hour, if that back in 1925.
Yeah, Paul M. It was probably more like an ordeal than a quick zip over the mountains back then. Lol.
I drove the Ridge Route in the early 70s in my VW. My reference back then spoke of turning onto The Ridge Route from what today is the Templin Hwy. I don't recall what it was called back then. But right at that intersection as you turned on the Ridge Route, was a diamond shaped yellow highway sign that said, "Not A Through Street". I can still see that sign in your video. There was a sign just like that somewhere before you reached Hwy 138. But I don't find a trace of it online today. It was located near the site of the Sandberg's Hotel, just north of it as I recall.
I took photos of both signs. The only photos I took that trip. But regardless of what the signs said, I can vouch that the road went all the way through in the 70s, with not so much as an orange cone marking any problems.
This day and age I can understand why property owners in the area of the Ridge Route, don't want strangers poking around. But for the BLM claiming the Ridge Route is too much of a liability, makes me think they are just trying to save some of their budget.
All they have to do is put up signs, saying the route is not maintained, and anyone who drives it accepts any and all risks. Too, make notice that there is no gas or services until you get to Gorman. And rescues can be expensive or may not even be available.
But regardless of what the BLM claims, I feel they should keep the Ridge Route open, as it is a very historical route. A lot of people want to see it. I for one, if I am ever in that area again, would want to drive it again. Regardless of its condition.
If you watch old movies i think a number of car scenes were shot on The Ridge Route. But I haven't identified any sites for sure. Check "Radar Men From The Moon", The "Dick Tracy" movies,, and the "Superman" movies before George Reeves
I totally agree with you, California Sun, that the BLM should simply indicate to drivers that the drive takes on the liability of the unmaintained road. It's too historic not to let people experience it. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments and anecdotes. I really appreciate it. And thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
Back in the early 1970s I used to night hunt up along that ridge route in a '72 Chevy C-10 4WD. Spooky at night, but I would do it again any day.
I'll bet it was quite and serene, as it still is today. You couldn't go wrong with that Chevy either. Thank you for watching! -Fred : )
I started off thinking what a great road bike ride to do , but then mmm maybe trail bike would be better... then ok the quad bike is called for here and all the way back again . lol
Thanks for a great watch, wasn't it relaxing seeing no cars at all and then you see the Rat race going by at 70mph on the freeway .
You would love the roads and the land scape in New Zealand if you ever get the chance to come and see. Cheer from NZ
Hi Jason, you nailed it exactly. It's so serene and desolate with nature up there. And it's so easy to contrast being on the road when you know that Interstate 5 is way down below, busy with chaos. I have always wanted to visit New Zealand. I want to see the fiords. I saw them in Norway, but I want to have the New Zealand experience. Thank you for watching! -Fred
Remember that route like it was yesterday. My dad has brother that lives in Bakersfield. Off hey 99. We have relatives that live in Portervilles. Then on the way to Yosemite!!
Yes, it's nice that certain sections still sit usable of U.S. 99. Not all of it was buried underneath I-5. If you get a chance, read about the Richfield Gasoline Beacon Towers, as part of their "Great White Way" to illumintate in white lights a line up U.S. 99 for pilots. It really only lasted for two years, but remnants of the gas stations and their towers (a few) are still around. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred
Amazing
Thank you, Empty nest mom. I really appreciate it. Fred : )
That was cool...I remember driving some of these old roads when I was a kid. I know progress is good but it is also dead to see some of this abandoned
That's very cool, Kim Leone, that you had the experience of driving them as a kid with your family or friends. I only went on it for the first time about seven years ago, though my dad used to tell me over and over about the Ridge Route when I was younger. Thank you for watching, Kim. -Fred
I drove that way once,but from the.other direction about 5 yes ago.Fun road you can really haul ass in places
Yeah, Eric, there are some straightaways that kind of surprise you, especially towards the southern end of the route. I'm glad that you gave yourself the experience of doing it. Most people have no idea it's even still up there. Thank you for watching! -Fred : )