Welcome to the
Southern California Rocks and Roads Website!
Our Mission and Vision:
This website strives to provide the most thorough information available about the highways, geology, history, wineries, bicycling, kayaking, government, and railroads throughout the Southern California region to help further the education and empowerment of the public.
Area of Coverage:
This site will cover the counties of Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Ventura. There is limited coverage in Mono County and Nevada, entirely along the path of US Highway 6.
The Site:
Southern California is a great place to study geology, perhaps one of the best in the world. From the world famous San Andreas Fault to the sea caves in San Diego, a very interesting geological tale can be told. These pages will help to uncover some of those tales and show how the geology helped shape this region into one of the most populated areas in the world.
It also has a diverse transportation history. From early streetcars to the first freeways, this area has it all. Roads such as the Ridge Route and the Arroyo Seco Parkway reflect an earlier ideal in highway design. Modern freeways, such as the new Foothill Freeway and the tollways in Orange County show the ways our roads are changing even today. This site will cover many aspects of both of those subjects and more.
Railroading in Southern California is also covered, mostly focusing on the history of the former electric railways in the Los Angeles and San Diego regions. These railroads helped shape the cities we live in today and remnants of those lines still survive today.
The site also covers bicycling in the San Diego and Santa Clarita areas. Kayaking, another interest of mine, is also covered with a focus on the San Diego region.
Site History:
The website was originally put online as the Santa Clarita Valley Resources Page in December 1995. The site originally just had some basic information on US 99, the geology, and some of the history of the Santa Clarita area. Through time, the scope of the site grew to cover far more. In 2000, I bought my first domain – scvresources.com. In 2006, I purchased the sdrocksnroads.com domain to add information about my new home in San Diego, California. In 2008, the Santa Clarita Valley Resources Page became the Los Angeles Rocks and Roads Page. In 2014, I combined my Los Angeles Rocks and Roads Page with my San Diego Rocks and Roads Page to create a new site under a new domain – socalregion.com. This new combined site will allow easier access for all of Southern California. This website will also function as a travel and informational blog, covering highways, geology, travel, and much more around Southern California.
Copyright Statement:
All images, original text, and works on all pages of this website are protected against unauthorized reproduction or electronic transmission by copyright law and international agreement. Any usage of these images, original text, or works by any person or entity must be preceded by express written consent from their author, Michael Ballard.
Any images from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) are copyrighted by Caltrans. Permission for use must be obtained through them.
Advertisements:
This site is not intended, nor ever intended, to make money. Any advertisements are solely intended to help defray hosting costs. Any and all monies gained from those go directly to hosting costs.
Sources Used
Website Technical Support provided by:
- Nathan Beste