Southern California Highways
Welcome to the Historical Highways page! This site will help you explore some of the historic roadways throughout Southern California. The links below, as well as the menu, will lead you throughout the region’s highway network. Enjoy the ride!
Southern California contains an extraordinary variety of highways, ranging from modern Interstate freeways to historic U.S. highways, mountain roads, desert routes, bridges, tunnels, and abandoned alignments. These pages document their history, development, and surviving features.
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Explore Southern California Highways
Explore the highways, historic roads, structures, and scenic routes of Southern California.
HIGHWAY GUIDE
Pictorial Guide to Southern California Highways
Explore State Routes, U.S. Routes, Interstate highways, county routes, freeway systems, and special highway features.
HISTORIC RoaDWAYS
Historic Roads
Discover surviving highway alignments, abandoned pavement, bypassed roads, bridges, and other remnants of Southern California’s transportation history.
ROADWAY FEATURES
Roadway Tunnels
Explore highway tunnels and other roadway tunnels throughout Southern California.
SCENIC ROUTES
Scenic Drives of Southern California
Discover mountain highways, canyon roads, desert routes, and other scenic drives throughout the region.
Historic Highway Tours
Travel former U.S. highways, state highways, and historic alignments across Southern California.
HISTORIC U.S. HIGHWAY
Virtual Tour of US 99
Explore historic US 99 from Figueroa Street in Los Angeles north through Southern California and into the San Joaquin Valley to Tulare.
HISTORIC U.S. HIGHWAY
Virtual Tour of US 6
Follow historic US 6 from Newhall Pass east through Eastern California, Nevada, and Utah.
1915–1933
The Ridge Route
Explore the historic Ridge Route between Castaic and Gorman through the mountains of northern Los Angeles County.
HISTORIC U.S. HIGHWAY
Virtual Tour of US 466
Follow former US 466 across California from Morro Bay east toward Barstow.
HISTORIC STATE HIGHWAY
SR 118 and Foothill Boulevard
Explore the historic Foothill Blvd corridor between Newhall Pass and Pasadena.
HISTORIC STATE HIGHWAY
Old Highway 126
Explore the former highway alignments between Santa Clarita and Ventura.
HISTORIC U.S. HIGHWAY
US 80 in California
Explore surviving alignments and roadway history associated with historic US 80 in San Diego and Imperial Counties.
HISTORIC U.S. HIGHWAY
US 101 in San Diego County
Explore the historic US 101 corridor through coastal San Diego County.
HISTORIC U.S. HIGHWAY
US 395 in San Diego County
Explore former US 395 and surviving highway alignments through San Diego County.
KERN COUNTY
State Route 178
Explore the history of Highway 178 and the Kern River Canyon corridor.
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Special Sections
Explore maps, freeway information, mountain passes, roadway features, and other specialized highway topics.
FREEWAYS
Unsigned Freeways
Explore county freeways and other unmarked freeway routes throughout Southern California.
MAPS
Historic Road Maps
View historic highway and roadway maps covering Southern California.
MOUNTAIN ROUTES
Southern California Passes
Explore important highway passes and mountain crossings throughout Southern California.
ROAD KNOWLEDGE
RoadTalk
Explore highway history, signage, roadway features, route changes, and practical road knowledge.
Historic Structures
Historic Bridges
Discover historic highway bridges and notable roadway structures throughout Southern California.
roadway structures
Roadway Tunnels
Explore the roadway tunnels of Southern California from Downtown Los Angeles to the Mountains.
Finding Old Highways
Learn how to identify the remnants of historic highways through old roadway alignments, concrete paving, bridges, and survey monuments still found throughout Southern California.
FINDING OLD HIGHWAYS
Part 1 — State Highways
Learn how to identify historic state highway routes, abandoned alignments, and other clues left behind by earlier highways.
FINDING OLD HIGHWAYS
Part 2 — Concrete Paving
Discover how early concrete pavement, construction methods, and surviving roadway surfaces can help identify former highway alignments.
FINDING OLD HIGHWAYS
Part 3 — Bridges
Learn how historic bridges, culverts, and other roadway structures can reveal the locations of former highway routes.
HIGHWAY SURVEYING
What is a C-Monument?
Learn about the concrete survey monuments once placed along California highways and how they can help identify historic roadway locations.
Current Highway Information
Check current roadway conditions, mountain travel information, toll roads, and express-lane information before traveling.
ROAD CONDITIONS
Current Road Conditions
Check closures, weather-related restrictions, traffic conditions, and other current road information with a special section on The Grapevine.
TOLL & EXPRESS LANES
FasTrak Information
Find FasTrak agencies and information about Southern California toll roads and express lanes.
Additional Resources
Reference material, documents, and additional communities for learning more about Southern California highways and historic roads.
REFERENCE
Southern California Highway Resources
Transportation agencies, highway information, reference material, and useful roadway links.
DOCUMENTS
Site Documents
View historic documents and other reference material available through SoCalRegion.com.
ROAD TRAVEL COMMUNITY
American Road Magazine Forum
Discussions and information covering historic highways, road trips, and road travel.
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Images from Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) on this site are used with permission. Do not use without proper permission or attribution to this site and Caltrans.
Copyright 1997 – 2026 by Michael F Ballard
