Category Archives: Riverside County

Featured Image – 1/1/2021

US 99 near Garnet, CA. First paved in 1922 with a 16′ slab and widened in 1926 to a full 20′. Asphalt was added in the past few years. Today, it is known as Varner Road and this concrete is exposed from Palm Dr to near I-10 / Mission Creek.

A bit of US 60 and US 99

I went for a ride on my motorcycle today. Just needed to just get out for a bit. Part of my journey took me through Idyllwild, via State 74 and 243. No photos of that section though, as I was too busy having fun on the motorcycle. The “slalom” section, as the locals seem to call it, on 74 heading up to Mountain Center is one of my favorites to ride. 243 was a lot better than on previous rides, owing to a lot less sand on the roadway and new paving from near Lake Fulmor down to Banning. Quite a bit of fun can be had up in the mountains on a motorcycle, even at 55 mph.

It had been a while since I’d gone out that way and needed to check on some things to see if they still remained. I was pleasantly surprised to find the US 60 sign still remaining on I-10 at the split in Beaumont. It is the last one as the rest have long since been replaced. When this one will is still a mystery but I doubt it will last much longer.

Signage at the 10 / 60 split with the US 60 shield partially visible behind the State 60 overlay.

Heading west on I-10, I followed a bit of old US 99 just west of Cherry Valley Blvd near Calimesa, where a section of Roberts Road (original US 99) will be realigned and eventually destroyed, lost to another residential development. Here, there is a beautiful section of 1925 concrete that is still relatively pristine. It was bypassed in 1937 by an new alignment, which is now mostly underneath I-10.

Looking easterly from the end of the paving near I-10. Future “Roberts Road” can be seen in the background on the right-hand side.
1925 date stamp. Happened to be right where I stopped the motorcycle for a photo.
My motorcycle and 99, complete with the 99 license plate.

It was a long ride but a lot of fun. A bit warm in my leathers at times, mostly when stopped at lights. I did find one thing that was a bit surprising in Menifee, after I stopped for fuel. While I commend their efforts, they have incorrectly marked a section of Antelope Road south of Newport Road as “Historic US 395”. It is even painted on the roadway like the US 66 shields in the Mojave Desert. US 395 did pass through here, but along the path of the freeway. The two-lane version of 395 followed the northbound lanes I-215 to about Garbani Rd and then the southbound lanes north of there.

Featured Image – 3/30/2019

Old US 60 / 70 in Chuckwalla Valley between Desert Center and Blythe.

Image of the Week – 2/3/2017

Old alignment of State 79 (right) and the current alignment (left), between Temecula and Winchester in Riverside County.

New Motorcycling Pages

My Southern California Motorcycling pages are finally under construction. The first one, on Riverside County is already up, with more coming in the next few weeks (or so is the plan). Come check them out. We want your opinion and comments!