San Diego's Abandoned Murphy Canyon Road 

All through the 1950s we drove that road at least once a week from SDSC to La Jolla Shores area . . . I remember it very well - I don't think there were any business along the road . . . perhaps someone used this old road to dump construction waste. This is a GREAT video . . . thanks!!!!

I remember that curved stub of a road north of CA 52 off of Kearney Villa Road. It likely was part of Murphy Canyon Road, but prior to 1982 and the rerouting of I-15 through Mira Mar, it was used (temporally) as part of I-15. Back then coming northbound from San Diego, I-15 as a four lane freeway reduced to a 2 lane road, taking that curve to Kearney Villa Road. Continuing northbound, a right turn was required there onto Kearney Villa Road to return to the northbound I-15 (163) freeway (formally U.S. 395). The current Kearney Villa Road used to be the I-15 (U.S. 395) freeway prior to 1982 and had 8 lanes crammed onto the older narrow roadway which had originally been built as a 4 lane freeway. The freeway continued straight through Mira Mar and had an interchange at Pomerado Road until the rerouting of I-15 forced the (old) freeway to curve to the northwest to bypass the new I-15 routing and new interchange ending now at a traffic light at Pomerado Road. As a side note, prior to 1947 U.S. 395 used to follow Murphy Canyon Road all the way out of San Diego heading north until the opening of the freeway (now CA 163), and U.S. 395 was rerouted off Murphy Canyon Road and onto the new freeway. I remember U.S. 395 still being signed in that are until around 1973 or 1974.

Sorry you did not include that all this land was once owned by the Daley family and that where Walmart sits now was the site of the Daley Corporation empire. This was the sight where asphalt and aggregate soils were produced which were used in paving much of San Diego County. The 15 and 8 interchange just down the road was built by Daley, the I-15 above that area was built by Daley.

I grew up there in the 50's,60's,good video.

I love how you have found old maps to compare them to todays routes to find these roads. It's so intriguing and it's amazing how we change routes for the many reasons you can dream up. Thanks for sharing your curiosity.

Grew up in Tierrasanta and never thought about where this path went. Going to hike it soon!

Thanks for keeping the music low. I actually like hearing the sounds that you're hearing. Enjoyed the walk with you as you move the camera to view the surroundings just like I'd be moving my head. This doesn't happen too often with other youtubers. :D

Amazing overgrowth. I graduated from San Diego State in the 1960's so drove that road many times. I don't remember any businesses. The old buildings at Camp Elliott were still standing then.

Holy shinto... I grew up RIGHT there just a couple of miles away in SM.. Never knew Murphy Canyon Road had an abandoned section. So cool!!

I remember the Daley Corp compound at the now Walmart. I worked for them and RE Hazard back in the day. What a privilege and great days that was. Both families were very big in San Diego County. Both companies built many of the highways and roads that the residents use today. It was good to be part of such a endeavor and big piece of San Diego history. All good people and good memories.

I'm wondering why they don't repurpose these abandoned roads and use them as bicycle/walking trails

This reminds me... I'd like to see some shots of the abandoned roads near Balboa Park/SR-163.

That area you show at 10:01 may have originally been Murphy Canyon Road, but until the 1980's this was a weird "termination" ("END FREEWAY") of I-15 north of I-8 (and south of I-8 was still SR-15). That faint outline is most likely from the old section of I-15. You had to go onto Kearny Villa Rd there to then go north to the SR-163 onramp right where it turned into I-15 and finally get back on the freeway there. The bypass to the east (making I-15 a continuous freeway and merging with SR-163) wasn't completed until the mid-80's. Growing up in Mira Mesa... If you wanted to go to the (then Jack Murphy) stadium, you had to drive south on I-15, stay on the freeway when it became SR-163, exit onto Kearny Villa Road and then go south, then finally turn left at a left-turn lane from Kearny Villa Rd (at the "faint outline") back onto I-15 south... to then continue on to the stadium.

I work with the navy and have seen so many documents and maps with this road....nice to see it in person and now I’m going to explore!

I lived in Santee, in the late 70,s , mission gorge road and father juniper serra , this video reminds me of that pass near the old mission dam, thankyou for your video's

Glad you mentioned the danger of being alone and going on the side trails. Seemed so inviting.

We used to live in El Cajon and my aunt and uncle lived in Cardiff by the sea. My dad would take Murphy Canyon Road and somehow connect up to Carmel Valley Road and then 101. I remember one dark night following a truck that dropped a bag of cement in front of our car and the cloud of cement dust that went up confused my father we had to stop and let all the dust settle so he could see where he was going. I also remember he had to get out of the car and wipe the windows down because he couldn't see. That road was dark and scary at night. When I first started driving I hit a rabbit on the old Murphy Canyon Road had to pull the car over and cry for a minute.

That section of the road was actually in use until the late 70’s or early 80’s. The section of I-15 was completed around 1982. As a kid we’d take that section of MCR to Kearny Villa and we would pass the entrance to MIramar air station where they had jets on pedestals. If you look on the east side of I-15 at Clairemont Mesa Blvd you can also see the old asphalt road that led to A-1 Auto Wrecking yard that was located where the business park now sits.

Good job! I love learning about the old, forgotten parts of a city.

I lived in San Diego for a couple years in seventies. It still looks beautiful.

I always wondered about that section of Murphy Canyon Road. Thanks for sharing, San Diego Steve!

This brings back a lot of memories since I grew up in Clairmont Mesa.

Thanks for sharing this! I live just up the hill in Tierrasanta and didnt know this was public access. Looks like a great place for an urban hike. Great video!

Great video, I work right above the canyon on Chesapeake Dr and I always wondered what was down there besides the homeless camps. I just found your channel today and I’m looking forward to watching more of your videos.

Neat video. Good music volume. Unfortunately the concrete, bricks, etc....is just construction debris that someone illegally dumped.

very relaxing video thank you!!

It was bypassed in 1983. I'm certain of the year because we discovered the re-routing when I was in labor with my youngest child and we were driving from Escondido to Kaiser Hospital.

Love me some abandoned Road / routes.. makes my day when I see they left the pavement, even short sections.

I'm guessing that the concrete is from demolition and was dumped there to avoid the land fill fee. Thanks for the video. My knees are bad now, so I can't go on hikes like that.

So cool!! Lived 5 minutes from here for 26 years and had no idea! Will have to check it out when I'm back in town

Wow! I go by there often. I sometimes wondered what was down that path... Thanks for sharing! Love your videos!

Excellent video. I'm NOT being critical; however, for everyone's interest, notice all the dry bushes and accumulated dry material as our able historian walked along the road......and the relatively steep hillsides..... This combination is one reason when a fire starts in SD County, putting it out is difficult and tedious....and this is how SoCal fires get out of control. Excellent video.

Great camera work, you held that sucker really steady the whole time! Watching all your videos one by one and really enjoying them.

I'm a new subscriber, so far I have enjoyed your outings. I'm from Northern California and I wish I could find places like you have on your videos. Keep up your great work, thanks.

My family was one of the first families to move into Murphy Canyon Military Housing in 71' Holder way. I use to travel that road. Portofino was being built up and there was a gas station on Tierrasanta Blvd, next to where Jack in the Box. Now its Circle K. Serra was a canyon.

Should see if Miramar will let you do a video on the remains of Camp Elliott left on East side of Miramar... it closed in 1955 Tons of cement pads where buildings used to be

Excellent series of really informative videos, sir! When I was living in San Diego 2003-2007, just on the other side of Santo Road from Serra High School, I became really interested in the history. If you go north on Santo Road past Clairemont Mesa Road, where the road kind of goes downhill then uphill toward the 52, you will be able to access a really obscure trail that drops off to part of what was the old USMC Camp Elliott. It was one of my favorite spots to hike. It would probably be an okay spot for yet another video, one that few people know about. They say there was the danger of unexploded live rounds, but I never encountered any of that. I was very cautious, nevertheless.

love the vid sir, thank you. I've walked some of the remaining bits of the old Sunset Highway up in Washington State but so little is left with all the re-development.

Grew up right on the other side of 52. Know the area well, now living georgia. Ad a matter of fact, i moved into uc before 52 even extisted.

Oddly satisfying watch, thanks!

awesome video and nice content keep up the good work

You mentioned in the middle (5:37) of the video that you were traveling along a route that hadn't been used at all for 60 years. Not true. As a high-schooler at Patrick Henry High in the 1980's I took a bicycling class instead of regular gym classes. The coach knew all sorts of routes around San Diego and would lead us on tours around the county. Part of one of our routes would take us from the San Diego Stadium (later called Jack Murphy Stadium, then Qualcomm, then ???) parking lot, underneath Friars road, and onto Murphy Canyon Road. At that time, the road was fully cleared and paved with asphalt. In fact it was on the San Diego Transportation Department's bicycle route map* as a dedicated bicycle route. We'd ride north past the giant gasoline storage tanks and emerge where Tierrasanta Boulevard crosses over the I-15, then finish out a circuit that took us back to school. We knew we could also stay on Murphy Canyon Road, going underneath Balboa Avenue and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in order to get onto Kearny Villa Road (locals pronounce it with hard western L's, but automatic captioning translates your pronunciation to "via") and follow that all the way past (what was then a _Naval_ Air Station) Miramar up to Carroll Canyon Road. I outgrew bicycle touring (well, okay, I managed to afford a car and stopped commuting everywhere via bicycle) around the late 1980s and it looks like that road stopped being maintained around that time, as well. But it's not 60 years of overgrowth you're showing; at most it's 35 years' worth. The torrential rains that come every few years tends to wash lots of dirt down those hillsides; that would have allowed weeds and brush to spread across those paths relatively quickly if the city stopped maintaining them. *Those same maps listed Old Highway 80 between Descanso and the Sunrise Highway as a bike route, as well. In fact San Diego turned many old routes into bicycles-only routes; you might consider acquiring or accessing bicycling maps from local agencies to add to your research library.

Revisiting this video again!

Great video! I grew up just up the hill from the fuel farm.

Wow, lived here since '65 & never knew about this!

I moved from San Diego in 1992 and rememember the first section of hwy 52 was bullt between I 5 and Interstate 15. It just stopped there. I also remember when Genesee did not go as far as the exit to Mesa College. Also Clairmont drive went around Clairmont Square. I 2 blocks south of the square.

Feels good to learn parts of San Diego now that I’ve lived here since I was born

Thanks for posting this! This "trail"/road shows up on a trail app and I was wondering where it was and what it looked like! I did some google map searches and was a bit confused

Thanks for sharing this video. I used to deliver Domino’s Pizza Out of Tierrasanta. I would usually deliver orders on Murphy Canyon Road at Midnight. I just loved the Mountain View’s next to Ex Charger headquarters where I once delivered.

Thanks for this! Me and my ex used to frequent this trail, we actually ventured off into the bush! Lots of camps and people hiding. I never could figure out what this area was!

Just drove past there this weekend and remembered you made a video here! Fun fact, not too far North aboard Miramar is a road called Zepplin [sic] Ave, so named for the dirigible mooring mast that used to be there. There was a monument there for the 40th Army Division placed after the Great War during its time as Camp Kearny that has an interesting story. You can still see the base of the former monument at the end of the runway.

I was born in the 70's and I remember my dad driving down Murphy Cyn to go to the stadium. I think the road was closed closer to 1980.

Should clean it up and turn into a bike/hike trail. Beautiful scenery too. ❤️

I lived in Murphy Canyon during the '80s, south of Miramar NAS. Lots of industrialization since then.

I used to live in San Diego, off and on from 1973 to about 2000. These old abandoned roads are fascinating.

my parents owned a house near there in Tierrasanta for 30 years. Used to explore all around there growing up as a kid. That area is over run by homeless people now . Particularly Meth heads.

Awesome. From what I’ve seen in maps from the 70’s that portion of Murphy canyon road that connects to Kearny Villa Rd served as the 15 with a gap until it connects with the 163 (former US 395)

163 , 15, were all 395 at one point

In 2003, the Cedar fire came down and burned and cleared the brush here, so when I was evacuated from Tierrasanta, I walked down here. It originally went down and connected back to the 15, before it was a freeway.

On November 23, 2004 the entrance to Murphy Canyon Road on the north side of Clairemont Mesa Blvd was blocked by K-rails, as the narrator noted. There was also a plaque on one of them regarding an "event" in a tunnel on the road on January 1, 1986. A picture of the plaque is posted at www.efgh.com/temp/16208.jpg I wonder whether the narrator saw any remains of the tunnel or event.

I read somewhere that the road was still in use until the early 80's. Another way i can tell that the road was in use until then is the traffic signal that still, apparently operates to this day

Would be a perfectly good bus way along with the bikeway going through -- MTS Route 27 could run this from the transit center on Clairemont Mesa all the way to connect to the Trolley at the new complex being built at the old stadium site.

Longtime Tierrasata resident. I've probably ridden these trails back in high school. Make sure to be careful of UXBs!

I know that area, I used to haul sprinkler pipe to a fire protection co right there at Murphy cyn rd. When are you going to do a video on the Old ridge route near Gorman? You can still see lots of it from the freeway

Very good, thank you for showing the details. I'm surprised there aren't encampments out there??? Are there police sweeps?

Don’t know how much of mission trails you have explored but there’s a lot of you little area’s that are less travelled. Was my stomping grounds before moving to PNW. Still get time to visit San Diego to see Family.

Do a vid on Kerney villa road. Its quite interesting how it has changed over the years. Part of modern Kearny villa rd is the old freeway.

I'm from San Diego, i'm trying to leave the area though, maybe one day :P

Hello from Kansas 🇺🇸

I always wondered about that area. Now I know.😂

Glad you made it safely thru given you said homeless were on the side paths.

Side note, I've been up and down the "freeway" section of Kearny Villa Rd, connecting 163 with Miramar/Pomerado Rd. Interesting the post mile markers are still designated 395 along that stretch. I believe this was true along the "old" Pomerado Rd from there to Poway.. Of course that's before it was widened and realigned. That's been many years ago now, so memory's a bit fuzzy.

Don't forget to grab a slice at Long Island Mike's!

Must have been in the mid-early 1960 we used to take Murphy Canyon all the way up to Miramar Base, drive thru the base come out of the base at the west end then drive into what was left of Camp elliott (USMC) quonset huts then down the old 101 to Torrey Pines Beach. I vaguely recall once an F-4 Phantom (US Navy) from Miramar crash landed right off of Murphy Canyon in the vicinity of the intersection of Clairemont Drive (before Tierrasanta was built). Back then people rode dirt bikes and went target shooting in the area where Tierrasanta/Foruna Mountain is now.

There used to be a plaque where the concrete barriers were that said it was closed off after some accident.

I lived in that area for 20 years and I never explored that area, for some reason.

Went to Serra HS right there, and never knew this

Honestly I'm surprised at how clean it is. I thought it would be a huge homeless camp

Been down there plenty of times.

Grew up in Escondido and we drove that road all the time going to 32nd St. the concrete you see is illegal dumping of construction debris .

If I remember correctly, old Murphy Canyon Road was closed off and abandoned as part of a complex land swap that allowed the current i-15 to be built. Although it could have been developed, the envioronmental impact report favored leaving it to return to a natural state.

Nice

Weird owned a house in Murphy Canyon and never new about this road.

You gotta wonder why, in an area where real estate is at a premium, such a prime area would be abandoned. That road is in good enough condition to revive. It's wide enough for a single vehicle and the concrete is intact under the dirt. It's quiet and I could definitely see some rich person putting a house back there.

I lived In Kearny Mesa mid 50s thru late 60s. We spent a lot of time in an auto "junk" yard in Murphy canyon. Hey I'm old and can't remember the name of it---any help?

you should cruise these roads on a bike brother. seemw chill

Wouldn't hurt my feelings if all California looked like this. You're looking at the future.

There were no businesses along Murphy Canyon Road, especially north of Clairemont Mesa Bl.

This makes a great pee stop on my bike rides, though I would warn hikers to keep an eye out for bum encampments. They don't kindly to what they see as intruders.

Glad you didn't find my plants.

Does the thought of a mountain lion attack ever cross your mind? Love these vids, but super freaked that that could happen.

heaven on earth, i hang out at kerney mesa / el cajon airport's, sleep well.

I know exactly where that is and it is only about three to five miles from where I live.

Those guardrails must have been added after it closed I don’t remember seeing that type till later in the 70’s but I could be wrong 🤷🏻‍♂️

Yeah I've turned onto that one day,,,,,,and ? Wow, I was trying to get onto the base,,, but nope gotta go the other way.

Perhaps the piles of concrete are from old power shacks or something similar.

Saw the exit to my house lmao

Actually, it's pronounced "CAR-NEE" , as in Kearny Mesa.

I’m surprised that the road is so clean. Someone must be going in and cleaning it up. With all the homeless encampments, I’m sure they generate a lot of trash that ends up on the “main road.”

Seems like a huge waste of land not to reuse abandoned infrastructure.