Ridge Route
| Ridge Route | |
|---|---|
Ridge Route highlighted in red
|
|
| Route information | |
| Length: | 44 mi (71 km) |
| Existed: | 1915 – 1970 |
| Component highways: |
 US 99 after 1926 |
| Major junctions | |
| South end: |
 US 99 / SR 126 in Castaic Junction
|
 SR 138 in Gorman
|
|
| North end: |
US 99 in Grapevine
|
| Highway system | |
|
Ridge Route, Old
|
|
| Nearest city | Castaic, California |
| Built | 1915 |
| Architect | W. Lewis Clark and J.B. Woodson |
| NRHP Reference # | 97001113 |
| Added to NRHP | September 25, 1997 |
The Ridge Route, officially the Castaic-Tejon Route, was a two-lane highway between Los Angeles and Kern counties, California. Opened in 1915 and paved with 15-ft concrete between 1917 and 1921, the road was the first paved highway directly linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Joaquin Valley over the Tejon Pass and the rugged Sierra Pelona Mountains ridge south of Gorman. Much of the old road runs through the Angeles National Forest, and passes by many historical landmarks, including the National Forest Inn, Reservoir Summit, Kelly's Half Way Inn, Tumble Inn, and Sandberg's Summit Hotel. North of the forest, the Ridge Route passed through Deadman's Curve before ending at Grapevine.
Most of the road was bypassed in 1933–34 by the three-lane Ridge Route Alternate, then U.S. Route 99 (US 99), to handle increased traffic and remove many curves. The four-lane US 99 was completed in 1953 and replaced by a freeway, Interstate 5 (I-5) around 1968. The portion of the road within the Angeles National Forest was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, following the efforts of Harrison Scott. Much of the road has been closed by the U.S. Forest Service; other remnants of the road are used by local traffic.
The Ridge Route was officially the Castaic-Tejon Route. The official limits of the Ridge Route, as built in the 1910s, were SR 126 at Castaic Junction and the bottom of the grade at Grapevine. Until 1930-31 the road from San Fernando to Castaic Junction ran through the Newhall Tunnel at San Fernando Pass and along San Fernando Road, Magic Mountain Parkway (both part of SR 126 until the early 2000s) and Feedmill Road to a former bridge over the Santa Clara River. A 1930 bypass of the tunnel and Newhall through Weldon Canyon is now part of The Old Road.
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