Abandoned 66

Mariposa Rd, Cajon Pass, CA
Phone:

East < GO > West

If you follow the road past the gas station and old Summit Inn site you can drive a paved bit more of old 66. The pavement ends fairly soon though. The road more or less ends shortly past the "Pavement Ends" sign and soon after becomes what they call a Forest Trail which is NOT old Route 66.

The pavement ends about where the road turn west and was cut off by I-15. There is still a short piece of old 66 between the northbound and southbound lanes of I-15. It is the light colored diagonal line seen above I-15 in this photo. That remnant of old 66 is still in service as a utility service road that intersects with the northbound I-15 right at the summit sign.

Turn around at the end of the pavement and go back to I-40 at exit 138 (Oak Hill Rd.). Then take I-15 to exit 129 where you can get on Cajon Blvd. which is the pre-1974 alignment of Route 66 from there to Devore at the base of the Cajon Pass.

The water tower in this photo carries the name of Oak Hills, a nearby community not on 66, I'm guessing it was put here just because of the elevation.

CAJON PASS
"Cajon Pass (Spanish for box). Highway 66 follows the old Spanish Trail that has been the road to the coast for nearly a century. William Wolfskill blazed the Spanish Trail from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Los Angeles in 1831. The first American to enter California by this trail was Jedediah Smith who entered in 1826 and again in 1827. Smith's expedition did for the Southwest what Lewis and Clark did for the Northwest. Today a freeway follows the old trail in part." Merle Porter

NOTE: This image is from farther down the hill but gives a good idea of the nature of the drive through the Cajon Pass . Because this image shows a divided 4 lane highway with 2 lanes each way I think it's from the 1952 to 1974 version of the road. Today I-15 through the pass has two four lane roadways, one going each way.

Photo(s): 2015, 2019