Historic Highway 395's Heller's Bend and the Heller's Bend Preserve 

I lived in the Fallbrook area from the mid 70s til 2017. Spent 30 plus years with the local fire department, went to a number of accidents on Hellers Bend and Mission, some very serious. Always thought the road was named after old time property owners. Thanks for the great video.

There are numerous abandoned roads highways, and railroads here in the Seattle and Puget Sound area, as well as all over the Washington and the Pacific Northwest. Some have been turned into hiking trails, some are now obscure roadways, some are just remnants, and some are Forest Service roads. I’ve been on quite a few of them. There are many more to explore. It’s fun to get glimpses into and discover remnants of the past.

Hey Steve, I just wanted to thank you for all the effort you put into these informative videos. I'm so glad I found your channel. Since Huell Howser's "California Gold" is over there is no new content. You explore all the places I would go and you are very thorough. I enjoy all the old history you cover. Thank you again.

The other thing to consider is that this area was sparsely populated in the 1930s, and therefore very dark at night compared to highways today. Local lore is funny, with things like a road being named after a Grocery store sign. One of the worst twisty roads I've driven is the section of the 89A between Prescott Valley and Jerome, Arizona; more 5MPH hairpins than I've seen anywhere else. I know you've taken us to spots in Arizona and Colorado, but don't recall if you've done Jerome. A very interesting place. But back to Heller's Bend! I'm always so happy to see a former farm, rock quarry, or other business location 're-wilded' to provide habitat for the critters and birds, and relaxing space for people. With all of the extra rain this year, it's lovely to see so much green in those long views. :)

Your videos are to me fascinating. I normally don't care for travel vids, but your are at a slower, personal, and inforative rate. Tank you so much for your work that I wait for the next.

greetings from Kelowna,B.C. Canada! :)) i've traveled the 395 from the 6 miles in British Columbia,all the way to Death Valley several times. it is such a wonderful drive!...particularly when you consider its history and how it has done so much to bring all of us American and Canadian brothers and sisters together!this is a wonderful road that has cemented the relationship between our two great nations over nearly 100 years. on my next trip south, I will endeavour to explore the last remaining pieces I have yet to see and I will undoubtedly continue to make wonderful friends and aquaintentances throughout your wonderful country. I greatly enjoy your videos and I wish you and your family continued good health and prosperity. please take good care!

This is one of the most relaxing channels on YT. Makes me want to get out and explore. Thank you

My hometown! I've lived in Fallbroo nearly all my life, and I've never even heard of Heller's Bend! Thank you for making this video, it's always fun to learn new things about your own backyard.

I really appreciate your channel! My parents are older, so I cannot travel far from Redlands, CA, so your videos give me a hope of finding lovely day trips with serene hikes, exploring our history. Many thanks!

Thanks for your uploads, I am from San Diego and watch your vids when I get homesick.

I appreciate your knowledge of history. Thanks for your research.

As always, appreciate the research you do, Steve. As a four-year resident of Escondido back before 15 existed, I remember 395 as the dividing line between the East and West sides of town, but I only knew it when it ran behind Escondido High School and had no idea it was once a good part of 78...apparently the portion between Esco and Vista...had no idea. As I remember, the highway turned from a divided four-lane to a three-laner with the middle lane being a "suicide lane" shortly after it passed by our high school (also attended three months of San Pascual HS when it first opened before moving down to Mission Bay HS in PB [in case anyone should be keeping track]). Ya got me on "395" and then threw in an old map to boot. Damn fine day. Thanks, always appreciate the trips in nostalgia your episodes provide me.

Thank you! You and I share the same interest. A thought back to the people thats been here before us. Hej från Sverige

your 90% videos are amazing .i means you might be 100% but upon my choice you fall 90% and love it all . thanks steve for being there to feed my soul .❤

I ride my bike on that road 350 days per year. Nice to learn more about it. Thank you…

These are fantastic and informative videos. Remember California Gold? These are better! I’ve lived in San Diego county most of my life, but I’m learning about places I haven’t heard of before! Especially enjoying everything about ‘abandoned’ roads. I love the idea of now walking on narrow roads that once had model As and Ts on them and other classic cars.

Nice video! Interesting and informative. Love the nature preserve, and the bench is well placed, a great place for a drink of cool water and a tasty piece of fruit. If I lived in the area, I'd be really happy to go there, walk the trail, sit on the bench, and ponder. Thanks for the take-a-along. You're the best SD RU-vid channel!

Interesting content! Reminds me of my dad telling me how Azusa got it's name. He said there used to be a store there that advertised "everything from A-Z in the USA" on the side of the building. And when a town grew up around it, AZUSA got it's name. I've tried asking various groups, but none have been able to tell me if my dad was correct or just made it up. I would love to know for sure!

I live about 10 miles from Fallbrook. Rattlesnakes are everywhere in our foothills. I am always cautious where I walk, as I don’t want to surprise a snake, as they will attack! I am thoroughly enjoying your videos. Very fascinating.

.Thank you for the Heller bend explanation about hy 395 I only remember the hy 395 from about 1975 to the present. The hy 395 seemed the worse from Escondido and Temecula. From Temecula it went up to Riverside. I remember the hy 395 going through the center of Escondido and Temecula. the jy 395 passed next to the Laurence Welk village. I remember seeing Laurence Welk on TV on Saturday nights. I could not watch it for more than a few seconds. We used to drive hy 395 from San Diego after work on a Friday all the way up to the June lake area above Bishop, CA. The drive could easily take over 7 hours. Beyond the Cajon pass hy 395 was a 2 lane road all the way to beyond Bishop. Even in the late 1970s the hy 395 was much slower until the I-15 was built. I could not believe any road was as spectacular as the hy 395 up beyond the Ridgecrest area. The Sierras to the west are wonderful. The hy 395 was established during WW2 as an alternate route to travel up and down the Pacific ocean coast just in case Japan invaded and occupied the Pacific coast of the USA.

"Suicide Alley" is what I heard San Diego North County 395 referred to back before the 15 went in. Even without Heller's Bend, lots of 395 was a 2-way freeway-speed non-divided highway with lots of curves around the hills and canyons.

Thanks Steve . We used to Hunt a Property that had a Billboard for Hainsworth's Egg Farm . That Hunt was always called the Chicken Sign . The Egg Farm was 3 miles away and closed Decades ago . All the Hunters are gone too except 2 .

Nice walk, rewarded with a bench, Thanks for taking us with you.

truth stranger than fiction!!🤣lovin it!! Hope you guys have been well.

Great stuff! San Diego is so rich in history. I don't remember 395 going through Fallbrook, but I do remember the family's 8-10 hour drive to Las Vegas, oh and that intersection of Murphy Canyon Road and 395 that used to be just a stop sign and now is the 15/163 merge. There was also a section of Old Hwy 80 east of Alpine called Dead Man's curve for obvious reasons.

Didn't know there was an older "Old Highway 395). Got to San Diego in late 70's, so drove the "New Hwy 395" from Escondido to Riverside border where it turned into I-15 freeway. Still a two lane hwy with lots of curves. In mid 80's Hwy 395 got bypassed with completion of I-15 from Escondido to Riverside border.

I used to hike that area a lot, I also liked to hike the Santa Rosa Plateau a lot. There's a road that goes from Temecula into Fallbrook that when ever I15 was jammed up because of an accident we would just go up and over the hill, it does involve some dirt but it's a real road. Another kind of crazy road you take when going from Fallbrook to the Santa Rosa Plateau coming in from Volcano rd. side, super steep narrow paved road but really sketchy. I owned a house in Murrieta and worked in Oceanside so I took every possible route at least a few times, Rice canyon is a fun road but there is a curve marked 10mph and it is serious about that.

Your opening statement of "one of the most dangerous sections of 395" brought up some childhood memories. The trouble with those memories is it wasn't about 395, but about California Highway 71. Prior to 1973, CA-71 didn't end on the west-side of Corona, but went through Corona, down Temescal Canyon through Alberhill and Elsinore to Temecula where it ended at US-395. (The family home was on Main Street in Corona during the mid-sixties, which was CA-71.) South of Corona, there was a curve that every local knew as "Deadman's Curve". Seems like the Daily Independent never missed a Monday edition that didn't have a front-page article about a wreck, usually with fatalities, at Deadman's Curve. The curve was about 4 miles north of Alberhill. When traveling southbound, you would go under a railroad line through a narrow underpass, immediately afterward was a rather sharp, blind right curve going around a tall hill, that also had a downgrade. Most of the crashes were drivers taking the curve at too high of a speed, causing them to drift into the oncoming traffic. Bad situation! Remedied in 1972 when the 5-mile section of what was to be I-15 was completed through Temescal Canyon, bypassing the section of CA-71 containing the curve. And there appears (via Google Earth) to be major improvements to the roadway. The railroad is gone, along with the concrete bridge abutments. The roadway appears to have been widened, the gradient seems to have been lessened, and the curvature looks to have been reduced. Coupled with a reduction of the "Highway speed" limit, I'm sure there are no more "Two Die at Deadman's" headlines.

My father lived in fall brook, and had a small avocado farm. We always enjoyed visiting him because he would take us to all the old time places and roads. RIP dad.

Really enjoyed that road in the 60's and 70's on my motorcycle.

Hi Steve! I've seen old maps of 395 numbered as CA-7. Wikipedia says the 395 numbering came in the 1930s. California numbered state highways in 1934. As always, love your content, style and presentation.

That's kinda wild that that's considered "Curvy". US 129 from Tenn to NC is truly "curvy", 318 curves in 11 miles. The Tail of the Dragon is A LOT of fun to drive!

I grew up here. Been up that trail. Used hellers to bypass mission when it was slow. Thanks for doing Fallbrook. The nature conservancy has many more hikes to go on you should check them all out.

My grandparents owned an avocado farm in Fallbrook back in the sixties and seventies until they retired. I have fond memories of it. The farm no longer exists and now there are houses where the grove used to be.

What an interesting story! Great Views too!

I live in La Jolla and a long time ago in North County (Oceanside) so it’s really fun and interesting learn about these San Diego and Imperial Valley unheralded places. Thank you for all your posts.

As someone who has grown up and still lives in Fallbrook I want to thank you for visiting. Fallbrook is a very old town that dates back to the 1870's many historic buildings that were built in the 1880's.

Cool channel, always learn something new and interesting presented in a clear and precise manner. Great job.

Thanks for including the creek crossing. Reminded me instantly of one we had to cross when I was a kid on the way to my grandparent's place in De Luz.

Very enjoyable stroll with a history lesson thrown in. Excellent tour guide.

Thank you for another fun video! I love all of your videos and look forward to each of them - keep them up!

Again, great content. Always looking forward to Wednesday.

Great channel man. I like how you go to average and unheard of sites and roadways. Your the new Huell Howser.

Steve once again I'm binging on an exciting Saturday nite, 👀 watching your exciting 😀 escapades!

Thanks Steve for another Great Story from your adventures. I live in Bonsall and come here for a Quiet walk often.😇🪱

LOL. We get asked about rattlesnakes all the time as well - wondering why Glenn is wearing shorts or aren't we afraid. Outside of a little baby on our front porch once YEARS ago, never seen one in the wild either. 😅 Love these types of videos with fact vs fiction. A grocery store! I've heard stranger names but that's one I've not heard.

thanks Steve, greetings from sunny Ireland!

Talking about seeing rattlesnakes I had the same experience as you have had, seldom saw them. That is until I hunted them for a laboratory that made antivenin in the early 1970s. Three of us would go to the Alabama Hills just off US 395 (runs quite a way from San Diego up to Washington) near Lone Pine California. When you know where to look they're all over the place. People camping there were shocked to see us catch 30-40 rattlers in a weekend during early Spring. Once the weather warms up they spread out and are harder to find. We met an old desert rat or prospector who never gave up the lifestyle and he asked us kindly to not hunt rattlers past Spring as he made a good chuck of change catching and selling them. So we agreed and let him have at it. $5 was a good chunk of change back then and we had jobs, but his job was eking a living out of the desert, but he had some gold dust too and showed us where to find some cool red and black obsidian. If bitten by a rattlesnake, for you or most likely your dog, it is important to identify the species because the venom is not all the same. Take a picture, capture or if worse comes to worse cut its head off. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake account for many of the bites along with the Western Diamondback, but we could tell a WD by its aggressive nature. Where the other species would scamper away a WD would attack. Run and hide my ass, full grown ones will stand their ground and will rear up like a cobra except faster. Carrying a hiking staff is a good idea in case you run into one who is in a bad mood, it can keep it off you.

When i was a child I lived in Wasilla Alaska, near a junction called Big Lake road, and on that road there was a Y called Fisher’s Y. named after the family that owned a local store and fuel delivery service at the Y. reminds me of how something innocuous can mystify future generations.

You always find the coolest places and make great videos. I really enjoy the historical aspects of your videos. 👍

Lived in Fallbrook back in '93. Good memories.

For those not local, the long mountain at 7:10 is Palomar Mountain, home to what once was the world's largest optical telescope, at 200". It's since been surpassed, but is still there, still used, and you can walk in and see it in person.

Wow Steve ! Another great hike into some interesting history. I had customers for a pest control job in Bonsall and Fallbrook through the 80s. You felt far away from the congestion of humans through those curvy roads ! The open farm land feel and views were like a throwback in time....Thanks for this vid !

I believe that old avacodo grove was owned by the late duke snider, a professional baseball player of fifties and sixties

That was a good little hike. Interesting watching your videos. I live in New Zealand. You would be a great tour guide, you'd take visitors to places thats not a tourist trap. Be surprised how many tourists are interested in the places you look into and show.

That is actually really nice little trail. You get a paved walkway while going a really beautifully reforested grove.

Thanks for sharing, Steve. Nice view. See you next week. Stay safe in your travels.

Lovely area to visit. Thanks for sharing and for the historical details. Venture on!

Very nice video and wonderful property you are on.

Really good stuff and enjoying your uncovering these old way back gems!

DeLuz loop is just down the road. It's in the heart of avocado country, and this road is on the edge. I've been on a lot of roads in California but not the section you are on. Very interesting...

I was introduced to Bressi Ranch while down there in December and this makes me want to return . . . mebe this month! Thanks!

Enjoy your video's very much. Thank you for your dedication and hard work. Cheers.

I just came across your channel, and I absolutely love it. I really enjoy the work you do to dig up all the history

Great history and beautiful back roads ❤

Vista incrível! Paisagem muito bonita! 😊👍🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Hey Steve I just came to your channel. I love how you showed a section of 395 that I'd never heard of

Steve, FYI; from the early days of Heller's groceries and Heller bakery routes, (home delivery) came Homer-Heller Ford. Those who owned a Ford in San Diego County got from H & H. Thanks for the memory rewind. Take care.

I'd never heard of this section of road, so thanks for bringing to light these forgotten pieces of the past. Impressive how much of 395 is still travelable, especially thru SD County. Always look forward to your adventures through time.

I always love your show.

that really is beautiful and the bit with the road name is super cool - thanks for the vid sir

Your videos are some of my favorites, and I forward them to family members all the time. I sort of grew up in Poway (as well as other parts of the country), and loved to explore the area as you do. Thanks for these! (Just a point of clarification: avocado farms are technically called "ranches," and stealing avocadoes is considered "rustling.")

Great vid. Love to watch them. Keep them coming.

Looks like a great bench to sit and read.

As always, great job bringing us another informative video. Beautiful view!

There still plenty of dangerous curvy roads like this was alive and well in California today. Thanks for the tour.

Once again you find a great hidden treasure ☺️

Really enjoy the videos brother. Thx

I grew up in Rainbow on hwy395 , left in 1971, been on all of those roads and hwy's

The good thing about having a steep trail up is that the return trip is all down hill! I've done my share of that along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Thanks Steve for enlightening us on this old road. Interesting that the road was named because of the grocery billboard. Stay safe!

We have just discovered your channel when you drove into the Grand Canyon. We are really enjoying your videos and stories. If you think the Heller's Bend is curvy, you should visit the "Tail of the Dragon" near the Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee/North Carolina. It's 318 turns in 11 miles. We've been there and it's amazing. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for the entertaining and informative video about Heller's Bend. The area looked familiar, as I used to transport Marines out of Fallbrook toward the 15. Is that Mt. Palomar with the snow?

Love the stories! Keep them coming.

Another interesting video about San Diego County. Thanks again Mr. Adventures! I've often wondered about the naming of a road just a few miles away: Sleeping Indian Road. It offers beautiful views of the valuable agriculture in the area.

Awesome video as always.

That was another fun one. Did you ever hear of the sleeping circles near the ironwood hotel on hwy 78 in the AB (can't spell) desert. The Sleeping circles are over 10.000 years old made by early Californians. If you like that sort of thing, it might make a good segment.

You want a fun drive check out: Old/New Priest Grades between Moccasin Dam and Big Oat Flat CA. OR the section of 395 that starts at Sonora Pass down to Bridgeport Ca...I burned my brakes once or twice down that...

Nice mountains in the distance, doesn’t appear to be any snow at the time of filming, wonder if that is still true today ? Thanks for taking us along on the hike.

I used to drive this road to San Diego before the interstate was built (1979). The nickname used to be "Bloody 395." I drove through a flood across the road. The fear of being U/A (unauthorized absence) is a huge motivator. I didn't learn about the extent of the storm until I reached the base on Point Loma. Irony, they weren't expecting me.

That's a great video, thank you. I love your channel.

I watched your video of finding the beginning of the Colorado River. You might want to do the same with the Little Colorado River. It's beginning is a spring on Burro Mountain in the White Mountains of Arizona.

Love you're vids Steve their like old home week.

I find this video interesting. I did not know that there was a historical California Highway 395 that went far south in the state of California. I am very familiar with the section of present day highway 395 in the Owens Valley with its views of the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

0:54 I think it's fortunate that the road is not named after a couple who died at the site.

Another great video!

OW,VERY STEEP..GREAT JOB STEVE,STAY AWESOME..

Green River Cove rd, in Polk County NC. That will stand up against any road in North America for curves and descent. School buses have to back and fill twice to make the turns,

I lived in Fallbrook in 1962 a very pretty place .

Back before the 30s hiways were built the cheapest way possible. That meant just following the landscape from town to town up and down hills and around curves so it created some dangerous areas. Highway 80 coast to coast comes to mind. I lived in a town where hiway 80 came through. It was nicknamed bloody 80.