Southern California Regional Rocks and Roads

Mt Baldy Road

Built: 1949 and 1954
Location: On Mount Baldy Road approximately two miles north of the Mt Baldy Road and Mountain Avenue intersection

1967 USGS map showing the tunnels and surrounding area. Tunnels are between Cat Canyon and the Powerplant.

Two tunnels were needed along this roadway to bypass a rather treacherous and flood prone section of roadway along the canyon bottom.

Shoemaker Canyon Road

Built: 1961 and 1964
Location: On an abandoned portion of Shoemaker Canyon Road a couple miles north of East Fork Road.

Partly graded roadway and tunnel along the "Road to Nowhere". — Partly graded roadway and tunnel along the “Road to Nowhere”.

USGS map with Shoemaker Canyon Road showing as “under construction”.

Construction on these tunnels was never completed due to budget cuts and environmental concerns regarding the roadway itself. The project was finally cancelled in 1976. These tunnels would have been the first two of, most likely, many more along a roadway that was planned to connect with State 2 (Angeles Crest Highway) and serve as an additional route north from the San Gabriel Valley.

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Road Building in San Gabriel Canyon

Angeles Crest Highway (SR-2)

Bridge Number: 53-0184 (#1) and 53-0978 (#2)
Completed: 1950
Location: Approximately one mile west of the State 39 (San Gabriel Canyon Road) junction – PM 62.82 and 62.97 on State 2

USGS map showing the tunnels on Angeles Crest Highway in relation to Islip Saddle (Jct State 39)

Angeles Crest Tunnels - West Tunnel - Constructed 1941 — Angeles Crest Tunnels – West portal Tunnel #1 -Started in 1941. Completed 1950.

Construction of this pair of tunnels was begun in late 1940 but was delayed due to WWII. They were finally completed in 1950. The tunnels provide a much easier path for the highway through two large rocky ridges instead of a rockslide-prone route around.

Angeles Forest Highway (County N3)

Built: 1941
Location: Near Hidden Springs Picnic Area on Angeles Forest Highway

Tunnel just north of the Mill Creek bridge. Built in 1941.

This tunnel follows a rather spectacular concrete arch bridge that was built at the same time. It also marks a change in direction for Angeles Forest Highway as it transitions from a cliffside roadway to following the canyon bottom for a few miles.

Soledad Canyon Road

Built: 1938 and modified in 1953
Location: Approximately one mile west of Agua Dulce Canyon Road

Soledad Canyon Tunnel and the Pole Canyon Fault.

This tunnel has been used as a movie location a few times, most notably “It’s a Mad Mad Mad World” in 1963 and “Duel” in 1971. A fault line, known as the Pole Canyon Fault, is visible above the west face of the tunnel as the boundary between the lighter rock (left) and the darker (right).