The California Department of Highways began building the old Ridge Route in 1914. The road was meant to unite Southern and Northern California and keep the two sections of the state together, instead of the warring factions dividing it into two states.

It was considered an engineering miracle in the day. Indeed, it opened up a pathway from Los Angeles to the agricultural Central Valley and beyond.

This road has since been abandoned, having been rendered obsolete by U.S. Highway 99 and then Interstate 5. In fact, it is currently gated and locked by the Angeles National Forest, and except for utility vehicles and National Forest vehicles, it is rarely used. No other motorized vehicles are allowed on the road.

You can walk and bike ride on the road, however.

I was lucky enough to backpack this road recently with three other brave souls. We hiked from Templin Highway to Highway 138. What an amazing adventure. We also continued beyond Highway 138 to investigate Gorman Post Road. At Gorman, we turned around and headed home.

We hiked roughly 18 miles, and we discovered rock and concrete monuments on the roadside. Each monument described a place or business establishment that was once located on that spot. When the road opened in 1915, businesses sprang up all along the road to accommodate the needs of the drivers who traveled the road.

The first monument we saw described all of the subsequent monuments we were likely to see along the route and showed us a map of our entire trip. The actual site was the View Service Station said to “cater to the cantankerous and water starved vintage autos and trucks.” We knew immediately that we were in for a wonderful adventure.

On the first day, we hiked 8.5 miles. Of course, it all seemed to be uphill. We stopped to view the sparse ruins at the National Forest Inn. The National Forest Inn was built on government owned land by a Mr. Courtemanche. It was built of neatly trimmed white clapboard buildings. There was also a garage available for those cantankerous vehicles. The steps are the only surviving evidence of the National Forest Inn. It is a shame that not more of the inn was left standing.

The next stop was Swede’s Cut. This rather large pass through the mountainside was made by steam-powered shovels. A 110-foot road cut like this would be easy with the technology that we have today, but in 1914-1915, it was a major challenge.

Swede’s Cut has also been known as “Big Cut,” “Culebra Excavation” and “Castaic Cut.” Today the road in this area is littered with fallen rock, many of the rocks large enough to take out your oil pan, and certainly many rocks just waiting to flatten a tire or two.

After Swede’s Cut, we arrived at Reservoir Summit. This was our destination for the evening. We set up our tents off the road in a lovely area with pines near the ruins of the old, empty reservoir.

On this site was originally a high-class restaurant, a garage and service station, rest rooms, lots of parking and more. The restaurant offered delicious, home-cooked meals, pastries, candy and tobacco. They even had a tow truck in case you broke down on the way to Reservoir Summit. At one time, this busy area had a lookout tower and a forest service guard station, as well.

After spending a windy night up on the hill that was once Reservoir Summit, we headed north on the road toward our next destination, the Tumble Inn.

Our first stop was Kelly’s Halfway Inn. This location touts that you are halfway to where ever you are going. It is 62 miles from Los Angeles and 64 miles from Bakersfield. So, if you’re headed to either of these cities, it is indeed nearly halfway. This site was open 24 hours a day and was a favorite stop for truck drivers. It had a restaurant and several cabins. It also had a Richfield gas station.

There is nothing at all left on this site. Only the monument with a photo of the long-gone Kelly’s Halfway Inn reminds us of the busy inn that was once on this spot.

A short 4.5 miles later, we arrived at Tumble Inn hotel and restaurant. We adventured around the area after setting up our tents, and our hike leader, Chris, found dozens of rusty items laying in the sandy soil. Old nails, screws, washers and such were strewn everywhere. He collected them all to present to us his infamous “Rust Show” later in the day, complete with inventive stories. It’s always great to travel with people who make every minute fun.

The Tumble Inn offered double rooms for $2 in 1928. They also offered meals, gas, free camping space, water and rest rooms. This inn and the garage were constructed of rounded river rock. There was also a retaining wall of the same rock. Before the inn was built, this area was used as a road camp for the workers building the road.

The stone arch remains standing, although it may have been reconstructed. There are also steps leading up to the arch, one of which is inscribed “Tumble Inn.” Above the arch are bits a pieces of broken foundation. The front retaining wall is also intact.

The road itself became very interesting on Day 3. First we arrived at Granite Gate. This is a huge rock monolith on the west side of the road. It is impressive. After this we noticed animal prints all over the road. We recognized puma, bobcat, skunk and coyote prints embedded in the cement. We also saw a couple of boot prints left behind by workers and a Model A tire track.

Farther north on the road, we found two horseshoe prints and later discovered that these prints marked an area called Horseshoe Bend. How inventive the road workers were to leave such marks for us to enjoy 100 years later.

Shortly beyond Horseshoe Bend, we arrived at Liebre Summit, which is the highest point on the road at 4,233 feet. Hidden behind the monument in some chaparral, we discovered a grave. It was most probably ashes sprinkled here from someone (David, according to the headstone) who loved visiting Liebre Summit. It truly is a lovely area. Liebre Mountain is the home of the largest stand of black oaks in the state.

Liebre State Highway Maintenance Camp was once the site of another highway work camp. Nothing stands on the site now except the monument. It once houses workers in wooden barracks on both sides of the highway.

Sandberg’s Summit Hotel was our last stop on foot before we reached our vehicle, farther down the hill toward 138. Sandberg’s Summit Hotel was built in 1914 and opened for customers as soon as the road opened in 1915. It was originally a one-story structure but became a larger, three-story log hotel surrounded by oaks and pine trees.

The hotel had a lovely, large dining room, several cabins behind the hotel, a garage, and a large fireplace. Sandberg’s was the finest hotel along the route. It is reputed that a sign was displayed that said, “No Truck Drivers or Dogs Allowed.”

The hotel burned down in 1961 when a new owner was burning trash, and an errant ember landed on the wood shingle roof. The old wooden hotel was reduced to ashes in just a few minutes. Thus was the end of a dream along the old Ridge Route and the end of our backpacking trip.

For three days we lived in history. It truly was a great adventure.

SEE historic Ridge Route photos & read more [here].

Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel is executive director of the Community Hiking Club and president of the Santa Clara River Watershed Conservancy. If you’d like to be part of the solution, join the Community Hiking Club’s Stewardship Committee. Contact Dianne through communityhikingclub.org or at zuliebear@aol.com.