Sierra Highway | |
|---|---|
| El Camino Sierra | |
 Sierra Highway highlighted in red | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 424 mi (682 km) |
| Existed | 1910–present |
| Component highways |
|
| Major junctions | |
| South end | San Fernando Road inLos Angeles |
| Major intersections | |
| North end |   US 50 /SR 89 in South Lake Tahoe[1] |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Counties | Los Angeles,Kern,Inyo,Mono,Alpine,El Dorado |
| Highway system | |
Sierra Highway orEl Camino Sierra is a historic route inCalifornia,United States, that connectsLos Angeles with theEastern Sierra andLake Tahoe. The trail formed in the 19th century before it was rebuilt as highways in the early 20th century. It follows parts of modernState Route 14,U.S. Route 395 andState Route 89. Two portions of this road are currently explicitly signed as Sierra Highway. The first is an old alignment of SR 14 (formerU.S. Route 6) from Los Angeles toMojave. This road is also signed with the unusual designation ofState Route 14U through the city ofSanta Clarita, and unsigned with the same 14U designation in the city ofLos Angeles. The second part signed as Sierra Highway is a portion of US 395 inBishop.
Traversing the extremes of California, from theMojave Desert to theSierra Nevada, El Camino Sierra has been advertised to the world as a highway to showcase the natural beauty of California as far back as 1910. Though most of the original Sierra Highway was rebuilt or bypassed in the early 1970s with modern highways, the road is still well known. The portion through theSan Gabriel Mountains is noted as the primary filming location for the filmDuel.
 State Route 14U | |
|---|---|
| Location | Los Angeles[2]–Santa Clarita |
| Existed | 1971–present |
El Camino Sierra connectsLos Angeles withLake Tahoe along the eastern edge of California, serving the counties ofLos Angeles,Kern,Inyo,Mono,Alpine andEl Dorado. The highway exists as a roadway now called Sierra Highway from Los Angeles toMojave. North of Mojave, El Camino Sierra is better known by the numbered designations in current use. While traversing the state, the highway crosses severalmountain passes. The highway crests theSan Gabriel Mountains viaSoledad Pass. While in theSierra Nevada the highway crossesSherwin Summit,Deadman Summit,Conway Summit,Devil's Gate Pass,Monitor Pass andLuther Pass.[3]
Sierra Highway begins at Tunnel Station within the northernmost limits of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects withSan Fernando Road. This junction was historically the intersection ofU.S. Route 99 andU.S. Route 6. It is located adjacent to the intersection of the replacement freeways, theNewhall Pass interchange ofInterstate 5 andState Route 14.[3][4] The highway then enters an unincorporated area ofLos Angeles County before becoming one of the main thoroughfares of theCity of Santa Clarita.[5]
From Los Angeles and through Santa Clarita, Route 14 was moved to theAntelope Valley Freeway alignment in 1971; however, the process to decommission the old alignment of Route 14 is not complete. As a result, the segment within Los Angeles and a portion within Santa Clarita carry the designation of State Route 14U, the U signifying "un-relinquished".[2][5] Formal specifications for Route 14U are not published onCaltrans logs, but the route's existence is acknowledged in both Caltrans' bridge inventory logs and its postmile query tool.[6][2][7] According to the City of Santa Clarita, Caltrans maintains Sierra Highway (14U) within the city from about 500 feet (0.15 km) north of Newhall Avenue to Whispering Leaves Drive. The remaining part of Sierra Highway through the City of Santa Clarita is maintained by the city and not part of the 14U designation. In 2018 Caltrans funded a new pedestrian overpass as one item on a list of requested improvements by the city before they accept relinquishment of the road from the state.[8]
Sierra Highway, modern Route 14, and a main line of theUnion Pacific Railroad all cross theSan Gabriel Mountains, cresting the mountains atSoledad Pass (elevation 3,179 feet (969 m)). The three transportation arteries use different paths up the mountains, separating at Santa Clarita and converging nearActon. Sierra Highway uses Mint Canyon, the railroad usesSoledad Canyon and the modern Route 14 is a hybrid route using the ridges and side canyons between the two older routes.[3] These canyons are formed by theSanta Clara River and its tributaries.
Upon exiting the mountains, Sierra Highway enters theAntelope Valley and serves as one of the main streets ofPalmdale,Lancaster, andRosamond. The highway runs parallel to the modern Route 14 and the railroad, becoming afrontage road. Just shy ofMojave the freeway portion of Route 14 ends, while the frontage road becomes a dirt path and eventually terminates. From this point, the canonical route of Sierra Highway joins State Route 14, passing through downtown Mojave.
North of Mojave the alignments of State Routes 14 and89, andU.S. Route 395 have not significantly changed since first paved, and are called El Camino Sierra. Significant portions have been upgraded to adivided highway; however, most of the upgrades used the same alignment as the old two lane road. The highway cuts acrossRed Rock Canyon State Park to follow a series of valleys along the crest of theSierra Nevada. While traversing theOwens Valley, the Sierra Highway passesMount Whitney, the highest point in thecontiguous United States, 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the highway.[3] As of 2009, the only other signed section of Sierra Highway is a portion of U.S. 395 past the separation with U.S. 6 inBishop.[9]
U.S. 395 was rebuilt on a new alignment on the ascent toSherwin Summit and aroundCrowley Lake. Unlike the highway relocation in southern California, the old alignments have been renamed, now called Lower Rock Creek Road, Old Sherwin Grade, and Crowley Creek Road; not Sierra Highway.[3] From here toLake Tahoe, the highway crosses mountainous terrain inside the Sierra Nevada, giving the highway its name. While in the Sierra Nevada, the road passes by attractions such asMammoth Mountain,Yosemite National Park andMono Lake. El Camino Sierra separates from U.S. 395, just prior to theNevada state line atTopaz Lake, following SR 89. This is the only portion of the route not used year-round, as Caltrans closes Route 89 overMonitor Pass during winter months.[10] Motorists destined for Lake Tahoe during the winter closures can continue along US 395 intoNevada, and return to California viaNevada State Route 88 orNevada State Route 207.[3]
The first recorded journey along what would become El Camino Sierra was byJedediah Smith in 1826. The trail was in common use byprospectors passing through the area because of theCalifornia Gold Rush andComstock Lode.[11] While still mostly a dirt road, several people began promoting El Camino Sierra as a scenic route. In 1910, theLos Angeles Times announced that GovernorGillet had announced funding to construct a new road to connectEl Camino Real withYosemite National Park. When finished, a new "wonderful circuit" route would be complete and El Camino Sierra would become "one of the most beautiful scenic routes in the world."[12] In 1912, theSouthern Pacific Railroad published an article called "Two Mules and a Motorist" in which the author's trip down El Camino Sierra was detailed, promoting the trail as a scenic side trip, via pack mules, from its rail lines.[13] In 1915, the California Teachers Association distributed a promotional book to the annual convention of theNational Education Association. This book contained an article that sung the praises of this "soon-to-be-world-famous highway" called El Camino Sierra. While noting that it was still mostly an unimproved trail, the article assured the readers that county and state officials were working frantically to upgrade the route and, with the aid ofconvict labor, this would soon be a "boulevard the entire distance from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe." The article concluded by stating El Camino Sierra was "a highway with a hundred by-ways, each by-way with a hundred wonders". The article also implored the state legislature to extend El Camino Sierra toTruckee,Quincy andSusanville using a route similar to modernState Route 89,SR 70 returning toUS 395.[1]
By 1918, El Camino Sierra had been included in theBlue Book, an early road atlas of the United States.[14] TheLos Angeles Times declared El Camino Sierra complete on February 19, 1931, announcing that the portion from Mojave toOwens Valley was now paved, and would be dedicated the following Sunday.[15]
During the 1930s, twoU.S. highways, both formed in 1926, were extended into California using El Camino Sierra. The southern terminus of U.S. 395 was extended fromSpokane, Washington toSan Diego, using El Camino Sierra from near what is nowTopaz Lake toInyokern, by 1935. By 1937,U.S. Route 6 was extended fromColorado, mostly along theMidland Trail, toLong Beach using El Camino Sierra south of Bishop.[16] As part of the1964 state highway renumbering US 6 was truncated at Bishop, and the route from the separation with US 395 to I-5 was renumbered SR 14.[17]
Though during the 1970s most of Sierra Highway was bypassed by freeways and expressways, the old two-lane road remained a famous roadway. In 1971,Steven Spielberg made his first feature-length film,Duel, along Sierra Highway, nearActon. The film is about an unseen truck driver who stalks and attempts to kill an innocent motorist trapped in the truck's game. It prominently shows the desert portions of Sierra Highway.[18] WithDuel's status, both restorations of the truck used in the movie, as well as replicas exist. The owner of one such truck has driven it along Sierra Highway for nostalgia, enjoying the terrified looks received from passing motorists who recognize it.[19] Other movies have since been filmed in the vicinity, including scenes inThe Terminator.[20]
| County | Location | mi[21] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Los Angeles | 0.0 | 0.0 | San Fernando Road, The Old Road | South end of Sierra Highway; formerUS 99 | ||
| 0.1 | 0.16 |     I-5 north (Golden State Freeway) /SR 14 north (Antelope Valley Freeway) /Foothill Boulevard –Sacramento,Palmdale | Interchange; south end of unsigned SR 14U; entrance from I-5 north is accessible from San Fernando Road; entrance from SR 14 is accessible from The Old Road; no exit or entrance from I-5 south | ||||
| 0.2 | 0.32 | North end of unsigned SR 14U atLos Angeles–unincorporated area line | |||||
| Santa Clarita | 2.5 | 4.0 | Newhall Avenue –Newhall,Saugus,Valencia | FormerSR 126 west; formerlySan Fernando Road; south end of SR 14U | |||
| 3.6 | 5.8 | Placerita Canyon Road –Palmdale | |||||
| 5.0 | 8.0 | Golden Valley Road | |||||
| 6.3 | 10.1 |   Via Princessa toSR 14 south (Antelope Valley Freeway) –Los Angeles | North end of SR 14U; exit from SR 14 north connects directly to Sierra Highway | ||||
| 7.3 | 11.7 | Soledad Canyon Road | |||||
| 8.1 | 13.0 | Skyline Ranch Road | |||||
| | 10.3 | 16.6 | Sand Canyon Road | ||||
| | 10.6 | 17.1 | Vasquez Canyon Road | ||||
| Agua Dulce | 18.8 | 30.3 | Agua Dulce Canyon Road | ||||
| | 24.9 | 40.1 | SR 14 (Antelope Valley Freeway) / Ward Road, to Escondido Canyon Road –Palmdale,Los Angeles | Interchange; SR 14 exit 22 | |||
| Acton | 26.7 | 43.0 | Crown Valley Road –Acton | ||||
| 28.9 | 46.5 | Santiago Road | |||||
| 30.4 | 48.9 | SR 14 (Antelope Valley Freeway) /Soledad Canyon Road –Palmdale,Los Angeles | Interchange; SR 14 exit 27 | ||||
| | 32.5 | 52.3 |   SR 14 (Antelope Valley Freeway) /CR N3 (Angeles Forest Highway) toSR 2 (Angeles Crest Highway) –Palmdale,Los Angeles,Pasadena,La Cañada Flintridge | Interchange; SR 14 exit 30 | |||
| | 33.7 | 54.2 | Pearblossom Highway –Littlerock,Victorville | ||||
| Palmdale | 36.4 | 58.6 | Avenue S | ||||
| 37.9 | 61.0 |  SR 138 (Palmdale Boulevard) –Victorville,San Bernardino,Los Angeles | |||||
| 39.5 | 63.6 | Rancho Vista Boulevard (Avenue P) | ServesLA/Palmdale Regional Airport | ||||
| 41.6 | 66.9 | R. Lee Ermey Avenue (Avenue N) | |||||
| 42.6 | 68.6 | Columbia Way (Avenue M) | |||||
| Lancaster | 43.6 | 70.2 | Avenue L | Interchange | |||
| 44.6 | 71.8 | Avenue K | |||||
| 45.6 | 73.4 |  CR N5 (Avenue J) | |||||
| 46.6 | 75.0 | Avenue I | |||||
| 47.7 | 76.8 | Avenue H | Interchange; southbound entrance only; other access is via Avenue G-12 and 7th Street West | ||||
| 48.7 | 78.4 | Avenue G | ServesGeneral William J. Fox Airfield | ||||
| | 49.7 | 80.0 | Avenue F | ||||
| | 51.8 | 83.4 |  Avenue D toSR 14 (Antelope Valley Freeway) /SR 138 west –Gorman | ||||
| Kern | Rosamond | 57.8 | 93.0 | Rosamond Boulevard –Rosamond,Edwards AFB | |||
| | 64.1 | 103.2 | Backus Road | ||||
| | 67.3 | 108.3 | SR 14 south / Silver Queen Road –Los Angeles | Interchange; south end of SR 14 overlap; SR 14 exit 64 | |||
| SeeSR 14 (KER R12.15–64.56) | |||||||
| Kern | | Northern terminus ofSR 14  US 395 south –San Bernardino | Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance; north end of SR 14 overlap; south end of US 395 overlap | ||||
| SeeUS 395 (KER R29.64–MNO 116.96) | |||||||
| Mono | | Southern terminus ofSR 89 US 395 north –Carson City | North end of US 395 overlap; south end of SR 89 overlap | ||||
| SeeSR 89 (MNO 0.00–ED 8.55) | |||||||
| El Dorado | |  US 50 west –Placerville US 50 east /SR 89 north –South Lake Tahoe | Roundabout; north end of Sierra Highway; north end of SR 89 overlap | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)