The Ridge Route area has been hit by very heavy rainfall over the past few days. Over the last three days alone (as of 1400 on 2/5/2024), per Los Angeles County rain gauges, Sandberg has had 3.74 inches of precipitation and the Castaic Powerplant has had 5.39 inches of precipitation. Other reports estimate up to 7-10 inches in the area. Most of this fell from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon. We are expecting heavy damage along the roadway with multiple slides at this time. The hardest hit area is between Reservoir Summit and the National Forest Inn site.
At this time, we do have not been able to inspect the roadway due to the ongoing storm. We anticipate being able to go up there as soon as the 10th or 11th. So far, the weather looks to improve toward the 17th, which is our first planned CUTRR event this year. If the weather is good for that weekend, we will need all the help we can get. Further updates will be posted as soon as we can.
On December 16th, 5 volunteers gathered near the Old Ridge Route with the goal of protecting an at-risk section of the 100+ year old road.
LA County Fire Station 77 was the first stop to fill up sandbags – as many that could fit in the bed of the pick-up truck. Volunteers came equipped with shovels and bags, ready to go! Introductions were shared and stories of how they discovered the road exchanged as they shoveled sand. The group consisted of two RRPO board members, a history major, a special effects artist and a fire photographer. All different walks of life gathered to help save this old road.
Volunteers fill sandbags. Photo by Hugh “Jamie” Crawford
The caravan left the station headed towards the Old Ridge Route, passing little hints of the road’s history – a lost stretch of the road, the Kinsey Mansion, a sign erected by the Santa Clarita Antique Car Club in 1976, eventually coming up to the main attractions, Sandberg’s Summit Hotel and then The Tumble Inn.
Volunteers at the Tumble Inn. 360 degree photo by Ian Pauly. From left to right, Hugh “Jamie” Crawford, Sydney Croasmun, Austin Gebhardt, Brad Jorgensen, Ian Pauly.
There was a pause at the Tumble Inn for the honorary photo – The arch is has become an iconic photo spot for visitors of the road. Hugh “Jamie” Crawford, RRPO board member and retired teacher, talked about the history of the Inn and it’s own restoration. It really is a symbol of the road, both past and present. With the original retaining walls and foundations, the arch once fell but was rebuilt by the organization in the early 2000s. The name “Tumble Inn” etched into the top step, a silent reminder of the past.
Through the gates they traveled, to the illusive Old Ridge Route. A stretch hidden above the I-5, unbeknown to most travelers below. Driving through twists and turns with spanning views of the Angeles National Forest. The section in question was just south of Kelly’s, a long lost inn, repair station and lunch counter. A standard set up for the road. Coming around the bend, you can see the same incredible view travelers once saw from the window of a Ford Model T.
Volunteer, Brad Jorgensen, inspecting the large rut. Photo by Hugh “Jamie” Crawford
The last few years of rain have eaten away at the hillside where an old water runoff chute barely hangs on. Volunteer, Brad Jorgensen climbed down to look for artifacts and inspect the damage. In the large rut lay a chunk of curbing, original to the road. A rare find!
Work began shortly. One person in the truck handing bags down, the rest laying the bags out forming a barrier for water. Volunteer, Austin Gebhardt, advised on placement and filling methods. About halfway through a shift was made to use sand cleared off the road to fill additional bags. Managing to kill two birds with one stone.
Volunteer, Austin Gebhardt, carries sandbags. Hugh “Jamie” Crawford (upper center) and volunteer, Ian Pauly (upper right) place sandbags. Photo by Sydney Croasmun
By the day’s end, the volunteer group had filled and placed around 60 sandbags, creating a diversion from the damaged runoff chute. Volunteer, Ian Pauly, brought up a drone and documented the current condition of the rut. The photos taken by Pauly will be created into a 3D model to reference and track the erosion of the hillside. This information is invaluable to the organization.
Volunteer, Ian Pauly, uses his drone to document the current condition of the rut. Photo by Sydney Croasmun
With their efforts, the at risk section now has protection against the upcoming four day rainstorm. What started as an idea during a board meeting quickly became reality when volunteers jumped in with just a few days notice.
Planned by board members Sydney Croasmun and Hugh “Jamie” Crawford, locked in just two days before the work date. Croasmun put out a call for volunteers while Crawford coordinated with the fire station to organize the sand pick up. From San Diego, Ridge Route Preservation Organization president, Michael Ballard, rushed to grant access to the road in time. Within just a few short days, this project went from idea to reality thanks to a great team and wonderful volunteers!
The final product – Sandbags lining the 1915 Old Ridge Route. Photo by Sydney Croasmun
The Ridge Route Preservation Organization is very thankful and grateful for our volunteers! If you’re interested in volunteering, please jump on our email list below. If you would like to help but are unable to volunteer, please consider donating. Thank you so much!
We are looking for volunteers to help fill and distribute sandbags to an at-risk section of the Old Ridge Route. Recommended tools are a shovel and gloves. The plan is to lay sandbags to redirect the water to the nearest drainage chute.
The location is just south of Kelly’s on the closed off section. Water has washed out part of the berm and is getting dangerously close to the road. The sandbags will help redirect the water and protect the foundation of the road.
As of Thursday morning, the forecast shows rain on 12/20-12/22 and again on the 25th and 26th.
Keep in mind, we are in a remote area without access to a restroom. Please bring water as well!
Please RSVP by emailing scroasmun@ridgeroute.org
Meeting place is the dirt lot next to the Carls Jr in Gorman – 49669 Gorman Post Rd, Gorman, CA 93243
Some good news for the road. It looks like we will be getting approval for our pothole repair project from the USFS in the very near future. As winter is approaching, we intend to do this project when weather permits, likely early next year. We are also working with the USFS on gate repair and landslide mitigation. The latter, regarding the landslide on the south end of the roadway, will take a while but we will prevail as we have in the past. More updates will be posted soon, so make sure to subscribe to our site if you haven’t already. We need your support to keep these projects going!
On another note, we will be needing a new RRPO Board Secretary. Our current secretary, Richard Schwartz, is retiring from his position and has served the RRPO well during his tenure. If you’d like to apply for this position, please contact us and we can talk. We can use your help!
Last weekend, we took a trip over the Ridge Route to assess damage caused by Tropical Storm Hilary. According to the LA County Department of Public Works, Sandberg and Castaic received a little over 4 inches of rain during the storm. Most of this fell in a day, which is a lot for that area. We were concerned additional damage may have occurred to the road. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found.
The storm itself caused little damage to the roadway with few exceptions. Most of the damage was localized to three locations, the Spring 2023 landslide at the south end, Swede’s Cut, and near the Liebre Maintenance Camp site. With the exception of one site, all the work that had been done at our CUTRR events was successful. The drains we cleared remained clear and worked well. We wish to thank all that have helped us with our events. We couldn’t do it without you all. We need to continue this work as well as other restoration work as time permits. Dates for upcoming events will be announced soon.
Landslide from Spring 2023. This has moved a bit more since May 2023.
Swede’s Cut in August 2023. This was cleared earlier this year but the recent storm caused more debris to collect. Still passable but narrow.
North of Reservoir Summit, the roadway degrades in quality a few times. The most notable is about 0.5 miles north of Reservoir Summit where a large amount of debris has washed down from the slope above. The drains are mostly intact with some partly blocked. Two larger mudslides partly block the roadway as well, adding to the debris problem by blocking drainage. We are working on a solution for this, which will likely be using a blade to clear the road.
Just north of Reservoir Summit, looking south.
One of the larger debris cones partially blocking the roadway. These are from earlier this year and were augmented by the tropical storm.
The northern end of the roadway from the Tumble Inn to Sandbergs is still open to traffic after the storm. However, it is not recommended for standard autos or lower clearance vehicles at this time due to the increased amount of debris on the roadway. One location in particular, shown in the photo below, makes it nearly impassible for such vehicles.
Debris crossing the roadway near Liebre Maintenance Camp. This was the site of one of our CUTRR events in October 2021. Our work did help for a while but an ever-increasing amount of sediment has once again blocked the roadway. The drain, which we cleared at that time, has remained in good shape.
Heading north toward Sandbergs, a few locations where the pavement was breaking up were noted. We are working with the USFS to get these repaired, even on a temporary basis, in the very near future.
At Horseshoe Bend, a large pothole is forming which we intend to repair as soon as possible.
Concrete and asphalt breaking up near Liebre Summit. This is one of the worst sites we plan to repair. The winter storms and the tropical storm have made this section a lot worse.
