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.

[simmadpaul]

I'm from the UK and due to my health I spend a lot of time having to lie down in a darkened room. Your videos allow me to go on adventures to places I'll never get to visit. Many thanks

[conanbeagle]

Hello I'm from this area and have driven on this closed off road. I was camping in Crystal lake when a fire broke out somewhere near the HOV area before East Fork so no one could get back down highway 39. We were being smoked out so they had no choice but to open the closed road for the first time in like 50 years I think they said. We went like 3 cars at a time slowly. It was amazing it was so up high the view was beautiful and there were boulders the size of ambulances you had to swerve around on the road and a huge section of the road was missing.. one lane had fallen in a rock slide so it was nerve racking driving on the side that was still holding up. We made it through and it connected to Los Angeles Crest Highway 2, near snow crest. Definitely glad I got to experience that. Oh and I'll never forget a young woman who drove up to my car to ask what was going on in a panic. She said she was from Virginia on vacation.. I told her casually to follow the road that they were going to open. She was the first one to go on the road. 😅

[johnbrennan]

I grew up in Arcadia during the 50s and 60s. My Dad would take us up to Crystal lake on several lazy Saturdays. This section of Hwy 39 allowed us to make the loop up from Azusa and down The Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 2) through Altadena and home to Arcadia. When I started driving I drove this stretch of 39 many times. Thanks for the memories!

[Freshbrood]

California is gorgeous. What beautiful country.

[biglug]

Hey Steve, just for your info I work for the company that rebuilt all of the rockslide damage to the road back in the mid-2000s after 9/11 Homeland security mandated that the road must be open for emergency egress from the LA county in case of an emergency situation a company I work for at the time we spent nearly a year installing poured-in-place pile to shore up the slides that have closed the roads many years prior

[boboneill]

I lived in Glendora for 28 years and worked for Verizon, so spent a lot of time up Hwy 39 providing service to the new tracts they built right before getting into the mountainous areas, also service to the residents at the dam and the Crystal lake campground, especially after fires. I loved going up there, you’re instantly out of the city with beautiful views! Thanks for the memories!

[leighdee]

I rode my motorcycle through a snowstorm on that road in 1977. Epic. Great video

[nickbro_mero]

I'm one of the few lucky people to have been able to drive on this road myself. I'm 24, and at the time of January 1st, 2019, the gates on both ends had been opened, and that same boulder that he walked by has been there all these years! So many cars were driving up and down this road enjoying the beautiful scenery of the New Years Day, and there was even snow on the road too, making it more memorable! Sadly, it was closed again the day after as some workers who had been using the road to get over to Highway 2 had left the gates open for the long weekend, but it was an experience like no other!

[jakebunker]

I grew up in Northern California and videos like this make me so homesick for the time I spent with my parents back in the 80’s when life was so much easier. Those who didn’t have a childhood in California just don’t understand the love appeal it had.

[TheWombat]

As an Australian who has only visited the USA once, I have to say that watching that drive up to Crystal Lake makes me want to start planning another trip.

[Turbobuttes]

In a suprise to absolutely no one besides those unaware of just how much wear and tear traffic generates, roads do hold up for 50 years or more if you don't have heavy vehicles barreling down them a million times a year. Highway 39 definitely does look like it would quickly become one of my favorite bicycle climbs if I lived in the area.

[polystictus]

Having traveled into that area since the late 60's, I appreciate that area. Just behind you in the beginning of the video, that gate is a relatively new one as another is up about 1 more mile that was the closing point at another very wide spot in the road...not sure why they decided to stop people closer to the turn off to Crystal Lake. More than 10 years ago, I did witness, from a distance with binoculars, many trucks going back and forth on that road at the damaged area. I concluded that it was being repaired. Just a few months later, I drove to the junction of the 2 and 39...I walked down the 39 to where I had years before witnessed the big landslide that had closed the road. I found that there was major terracing down from the road to stabilize it. The road was complete and paved but a bit narrow with no yellow line and no guardrails. No only that, a major fire had just erupted further down the canyon that I could see as a narrow plume of smoke. As I walked two trucks filled with firefighters passed by me...further convincing me that the road was completed and done for emergency vehicles only as I later learned. Don't know what the road is like now but I suspect they keep enough big rocks out of the road in do enough maintenance to allow emergency vehicles to pass. For many years, Hwy 2 continuing east from the 2 and 39 junction was closed to through traffic. Now, as you said it is also closed now to the west before the tunnels and this junction. Yet I believe the emergency vehicles can get through. The West Fork, that you mentioned, was a 7 mile paved road to Cogswell Dam that was very popular and spectacular. This canyon was a destination for fly fishermen at one time and was stocked with trout. Unfortunately is suffered to being the origin of the Bob Cat Fire and subsequent major floods and washouts. Something similar happened in 1969 and it took years to recover. It is now closed but you could walk it but someone might yell at you.... 😐

[michaelsanfilippo]

Wow Steve, memories. I'm 65 and a local and I remember driving my old VW Bus up and down that road a few times from 1976-77. Even back then with the road intact, it was always a bit sketchy. The drop-off from the side of the road was crazy. Thanks for this posting.

[lagodifuoco]

Thank you for doing this video. I grew up in Cucamonga (Rancho Cucamonga) from age 10 (1977) and spent every chance up in the Mt. Baldy/Cucamonga Wilderness area. Back in the spring of 2010, my wife and I, with our 4 year old son, camped at Crystal Lake for a week. We had a three room tent and were the only ones in that HUGE campground. They had just reopened a week before because of the big fire in the area four years prior. I saw it online as open, and we headed up. The store was open, and the owners (a sweet older couple) were so excited!!! It was an awesome hidden gem. A few nights had two other campers and a few day users, but most nights, we were alone. It was surreal. The big trees and the isolated ambiance were something else. It is a fond memory of my son's toddler years and his mother in her good time. Would love to go back. We live in the Midwest now so...

[ef_danielsan]

Thank you for making this video. I went up the mountain for the first time yesterday 6/4/23 and it was beautiful. I've driven around the base of the mountain many times, but never drove all the way up. The drive is great and the views even better. The road is around 20 miles long and it takes a little more than 30 minutes from the base to the top, give or take a few. I found this video after my drive and loved the fact you covered the history about the road and what's been done since.

[hkread]

I had the privilege of driving on that closed section from Crystal Lake to La Canada back in 2016. There was a fire in azusa canyon and we were at Crystal Lake. The forestry service unlocked the gate and let us drive through on it unescorted. Beautiful scenery and scary steep cliffs.

[johnnyquick]

So many great memories. I use to go up there all the time when I was a teenager. My little brother and I hiked it back in the late 80s/early 90s. We hiked it almost all the way up to Highway 2, which was open at the time. There is even more of the road closed off now than I remember. You are right about the rock slides. There were sections of the road that were completely washed out, that we had to climb around. I highly recommend hiking it.

[KarlBeeThree]

Back in the late 60's and early 70's when I lived in Azusa my wife and I loved to drive up to Crystal Lake on the weekends. The views from highway 39, as you described, were spectacular. And at the northern end of Azusa where the road starts up into the mountains was a small dairy farm where they had several buffalo you could stop and see. Great video. Thanks. Brought back old memories.

[imlistening]

You’re a great videographer. I enjoy the pace of your shots- for lack of a better term. Your shots are smooth and are long enough to really appreciate what you are pointing out. No choppiness or too-fast pans. Really pleasant!

[Love]

I’m from the UK and in 1988 I came to CA on my own for two weeks. The days before mobile phones or sat nav. I drove that road on my own aiming to get to the other side and I kept seeing the road closed signs, then came across that gate. It was so interesting to see it the same now. I remember there was a big rock slide right by the gate then. I was armed with a 1980s big VHS video camera which I still have the footage for. I will have to get it converted to digital. Thanks for this video, brought back some great memories.