Exploring California’s Highway 39 – Closed For Over 40 Years
California State Route 39 as it heads into the mountains north of Azusa has been called California’s Forbidden Highway or California’s Forgotten Highway, as the last four and a half miles of it have been closed since 1978, preventing it from connecting with State Route 2. Because of the closure and dead end, the road sees very little traffic, despite being only miles from the second largest city in the United States.
In this video, we drive up the road through the Angeles National Forest (the same road part of Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was filmed on) and check out what there is to see along the way. We then explore the section of road that has been closed for over 40 years, a road that was once considered one of the most scenic in California.
For another look at Highway 39, check out this video on the road by Roaming Benji: https://youtu.be/ziGTM_ekGwo
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40 Comments
It's gorgeous. ❤
=WHY U DONT USE 2WD ELECTRIC SCOOTER,THO???COULDVE DRIVE TO DAMAGED PLACES,THO………LIKE YOU'RE IN GREAT SHAPE AND CAR ALSO DOES ALLOW TO CARRY ESCOOTER THAT LARGE IN A TRUNK,AS WELL AS MONEY TO AFFORD
………………………..REALLY DISAPPOINTED ABOUT YOU SHOWED JUST NOTHING
Between 1979 and 1980 six of my friends and I used to ride our bikes up highway 39 from Azusa toward the Morris Damn. Off to the left in a turn out during a sudden rain storm, we were forced to seek shelter. In the overgrown brush we discovered two small waterfalls we named "Salamander Falls" due to the amount of salamanders that lived in that area. We made a small fire, melted our shoes and hung out in near a culvert under the road. It was a summer of adventure I'll never forget. I've often wondered whatever happened to highway 39.
7:20 “If they did the repairs. I’m sure the traffic on this road would greatly increase”….. what if they open a road that has been closed for 40 years?!‽ YA THINK? 😂 sorry I couldn’t resist
8:25 I can see a head with a face.
I fished once at Crystal Lake and got a soda from their store. Its kind of a cool little stop. I like being up in the pines that close to Los Angeles.
HIGHWAY. ( 39 ) IS BETTER / ALSO KNOWRN AD BEACH BLVD 😅😅😊😊😊
❤
39 is the spot. We used to canyon carve through Azuza canyon back in the days.
“You don’t want to drive across water like this at Highway speeds “, then slow TF down you city bum. Enjoy your trust fund
the original crystal lake is in Big Bear
is that an albino redwood at 5:01
a dirt bike would traverse that road nicely
I used to roll that hiway north, to go fish the east fork san gabriel river…massive carp and large/small mouth bass, only during flood season…the res dries up in summer and the city boys bring mud trucks up and drive thru the mud…i never did understand the excitement of trashing a truck in the mud….
surfacing's still better than 880
Morris dam still generates power thru a pipe connected to the dam called the Azusa conduit and it also supplies water.
The Navy tested aircraft delivered type torpedoes at the site not missiles.
Ya growing up in cali was a blast! dont miss it though, to expensive!! Back in the day you could write checks for everything, not anymore!!
I grew up in Anaheim off of Highway 39 (Beach Blvd) and always wondered why I never drove all the way down it. I guess this is why
Such an intriguing and mesmerizing video here; You're the best!!
Im jealous you got to see those Chaparral Yuccas blossoming!
Thank you for this adventure….i like some other viewers are disabled and are unable to go experience these places, so I appreciate your sharing ❤
Thanks , never knew, it looked so good , on 39
Neat!
Born and raised here, have done much camping at Crystal Lake, did you visit the lake? If not, you really should, it’s never been fuller in 30+ years!
The closed section of 39 is a wonderful route, and I wish they’d open it…it does make a great hiking/bike trail, yet bicyclists do make the trip up to. Crystal Lake, all the time and share the road with cars. I’m sure the traffic would be minimal if they reopened it.
You should also take a trip to the East Fork road and take Glendora Mountain road, that’s beautiful too!
USN originally tested torpedos, up there. It was the testing in the canyon that discovered the flaws the submarine crews experienced with a 50% failure rate early in WWII. Too much history to list.
Keep up the fun explores!
So cool
Thanks 😊
Could someone be ticketed if they drove on that road?
I wish you have a bike so you dont walk
9:20 Yucca Tree, shame we take out the native plants in our cities coming down the canyon
Hi Steve and Thanks for this video and many others. In 1974 I rode my Kawasaki 900 Z1 up that road and over to Hwy 2. It was a great ride, one of many back in the day when the population was smaller. Laguna Canyon road (SR 133), Carbon Canyon road (SR 142), PCH (US 1)) up to Santa Barbara, Palos Verde Drive (North, East and West), Hwy 74 from San Juan Capistrano to Lake Elsinore, and Hwy 76 to Lake Henshaw where just a few of the roads that were fun to ride with very scenic views. Thanks for bringing back ALL of those memories.
Great video. I rode my bike up there. Hard climb but worth every sweat of it. Beautiful scenery
Maybe do this again, but take an ATV with you or something so you can get further down the road
Downhill Danny owns gmr
good work catching those guard rails yeah those arent over 5 years old – there's probably one of those secret govt bunker cities up in there somwhere – wouldnt surprise me a bit if anybody messed around up in there too much in "the wrong kind of ways" if ya know what I mean; that they'd have choppers start flying over to check em out and maybe sending in a state ranger or something to sniff em out and see what they're doing on an abandoned highway
maybe not a GOVERNMENT bunker but bet your ass SOMEBODY put those guard rails in because it's BEING USED FOR SOMETHING by SOMEBODY
Across the street from the store was a camp ground we camp their in the 1970s
The mountain is to unstable land slides closet the road be nice if they open it back up
Bro I take this road sometimes just for a drive and then head back home I like the views
I was born and raised at the foot of those San Gabriel mountains beginning in 1954. In the 1960s I began Cruising these roads on my motorcycle, which also gave me access to all the fire roads, which were not paved, but led to amazing creeks and waterfalls as well as Ontario, California’s founders the Chaffey Brothers, original electro-magnetic power plants and ruins are fun to explore!
I was born in 1972 and believe it or not I lived in a house on the San Gabriel Dam. My Dad worked for LA County flood control. I was a "Dam Kid". We moved to Laguna Nigel when I was in kindergarten when my dad went to work for Bechtel at San Onofree.
Check out Azusa Street revival documentary