Audio Tour
Los Angeles to Joshua Tree National Park
131miles
18stops
2h12m
Listen — all 18 stops free
1
The 1781 Founding Site of Los Angeles
Mile 0 — Los Angeles
You're passing the exact spot where Los Angeles began.
0:00
2
World's Busiest Freeway Interchange Ahead
Mile 1 — Los Angeles
You're about to pass through the busiest freeway interchange on Earth.
0:00
3
Route 66 and the Dust Bowl Migration
Mile 3 — Los Angeles
The freeway you're on roughly follows the path of old Route 66, the road that carried over 200,000 Dust Bowl refugees into California during the 1930s.
0:00
4
El Monte and the San Gabriel Valley Floor
Mile 14
You're crossing the San Gabriel Valley, one of the most densely populated inland valleys in California.
0:00
5
Kellogg's Arabian Horse Ranch Became a University
Mile 25 — San Dimas
The cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg, the man behind Corn Flakes, bought over 800 acres here in 1925 not to grow grain but to breed Arabian horses.
0:00
6
Alluvial Fans Built the Inland Empire
Mile 32
The flat ground you're driving across right now isn't a natural plain.
0:00
7
George Chaffey's Irrigation Empire Started Here
Mile 39 — Ontario
The airport visible to the south sits on land that was part of one of the most influential agricultural experiments in Western history.
0:00
8
Bloomington and the Inland Empire's Identity
Mile 51
You're driving through Bloomington, one of the largest unincorporated communities in San Bernardino County. That word — unincorporated — matters here.
0:00
9
Redlands and the Navel Orange Aristocracy
Mile 63 — Redlands
In the 1890s, Redlands was the wealthiest small city per capita in the United States.
0:00
10
The San Timoteo Canyon Passage Zone
Mile 70
You're driving through San Timoteo Canyon, a geological transition zone where the San Bernardino Mountains meet the San Jacinto range.
0:00
11
Badlands Fossils at the Range Boundary
Mile 77 — Beaumont
The eroded terrain visible south of the freeway here is one of the more geologically significant exposures in Southern California.
0:00
12
San Gorgonio Pass Gateway Between Two Worlds
Mile 83
You're driving through one of the most important mountain passes in Southern California.
0:00
13
Tribal Sovereignty Changed American Gaming Law
Mile 88 — Cabazon
That large casino complex you can see near the freeway belongs to the Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians, and its existence traces back to one of the most…
0:00
14
Cabazon Dinosaurs Built to Sell Burgers
Mile 90 — Cabazon
Those massive dinosaurs you can see from the freeway started as one man's roadside marketing scheme.
0:00
15
San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm Pioneer
Mile 92 — Cabazon
The wind turbines surrounding you represent one of the first large-scale wind energy experiments on Earth.
0:00
16
Ancient Lake Beneath the Coachella Valley
Mile 100 — CA
The wash you're crossing marks where you enter the Coachella Valley, which is the northern arm of the Salton Trough, a rift basin that drops to more than two hundred…
0:00
17
Crossing Into the Mojave Desert
Mile 104 — Desert Hot Springs
This exit marks one of the sharpest ecological boundaries you can drive across in California.
0:00
18
Yucca Valley on the High Desert Floor
Mile 117
You're driving through Yucca Valley, one of the Morongo Basin communities that sit at roughly three thousand feet elevation.
0:00
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Listen — all 18 stops free
1
The 1781 Founding Site of Los Angeles
Mile 0 — Los Angeles
You're passing the exact spot where Los Angeles began.
0:00
2
World's Busiest Freeway Interchange Ahead
Mile 1 — Los Angeles
You're about to pass through the busiest freeway interchange on Earth.
0:00
3
Route 66 and the Dust Bowl Migration
Mile 3 — Los Angeles
The freeway you're on roughly follows the path of old Route 66, the road that carried over 200,000 Dust Bowl refugees into California during the 1930s.
0:00
4
El Monte and the San Gabriel Valley Floor
Mile 14
You're crossing the San Gabriel Valley, one of the most densely populated inland valleys in California.
0:00
5
Kellogg's Arabian Horse Ranch Became a University
Mile 25 — San Dimas
The cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg, the man behind Corn Flakes, bought over 800 acres here in 1925 not to grow grain but to breed Arabian horses.
0:00
6
Alluvial Fans Built the Inland Empire
Mile 32
The flat ground you're driving across right now isn't a natural plain.
0:00
7
George Chaffey's Irrigation Empire Started Here
Mile 39 — Ontario
The airport visible to the south sits on land that was part of one of the most influential agricultural experiments in Western history.
0:00
8
Bloomington and the Inland Empire's Identity
Mile 51
You're driving through Bloomington, one of the largest unincorporated communities in San Bernardino County. That word — unincorporated — matters here.
0:00
9
Redlands and the Navel Orange Aristocracy
Mile 63 — Redlands
In the 1890s, Redlands was the wealthiest small city per capita in the United States.
0:00
10
The San Timoteo Canyon Passage Zone
Mile 70
You're driving through San Timoteo Canyon, a geological transition zone where the San Bernardino Mountains meet the San Jacinto range.
0:00
11
Badlands Fossils at the Range Boundary
Mile 77 — Beaumont
The eroded terrain visible south of the freeway here is one of the more geologically significant exposures in Southern California.
0:00
12
San Gorgonio Pass Gateway Between Two Worlds
Mile 83
You're driving through one of the most important mountain passes in Southern California.
0:00
13
Tribal Sovereignty Changed American Gaming Law
Mile 88 — Cabazon
That large casino complex you can see near the freeway belongs to the Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians, and its existence traces back to one of the most…
0:00
14
Cabazon Dinosaurs Built to Sell Burgers
Mile 90 — Cabazon
Those massive dinosaurs you can see from the freeway started as one man's roadside marketing scheme.
0:00
15
San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm Pioneer
Mile 92 — Cabazon
The wind turbines surrounding you represent one of the first large-scale wind energy experiments on Earth.
0:00
16
Ancient Lake Beneath the Coachella Valley
Mile 100 — CA
The wash you're crossing marks where you enter the Coachella Valley, which is the northern arm of the Salton Trough, a rift basin that drops to more than two hundred…
0:00
17
Crossing Into the Mojave Desert
Mile 104 — Desert Hot Springs
This exit marks one of the sharpest ecological boundaries you can drive across in California.
0:00
18
Yucca Valley on the High Desert Floor
Mile 117
You're driving through Yucca Valley, one of the Morongo Basin communities that sit at roughly three thousand feet elevation.
0:00