Foothill Boulevard is a major street in the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of Los Angeles, as well as an

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

in the

and

of San Bernardino, stretching well over in length, with some notable breaks along the route. Like its name implies, Foothill Boulevard runs across the foothills of the San Gabriel and

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

Mountains. For much of its length, Foothill Boulevard is the historic Route 66, so many diners and other establishments along the road have been refurbished in a 1950s style, or otherwise trade on the

Route 66 association Route 66 Association is the generic name of the non-profit associations established for preservation, restoration and promotion of the historic U.S. Route 66. They exist in all eight Route 66 states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas ...

Route description

Foothill Boulevard starts off in

Newhall Pass Newhall Pass is a low mountain pass in Los Angeles County, California. Historically called Fremont Pass and San Fernando Pass, with Beale's Cut, it separates the Santa Susana Mountains from the San Gabriel Mountains. Although the pass was visi ...

in the

Sylmar Sylmar is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and the northernmost neighborhood within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Historically known for its profusion of sylvan olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past t ...

district of the city of Los Angeles at

Sierra Highway Sierra Highway or El Camino Sierra is a historic route in California, United States, that connects Los Angeles with the Eastern Sierra and Lake Tahoe. The trail formed in the 19th century before it was rebuilt as highways in the early 20th centu ...

near the southern terminus of SR 14 (Antelope Valley Freeway). Foothill Boulevard is a two-lane road through Newhall Pass, paralleling the

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

truck lanes until its intersection with

Balboa Boulevard Balboa Boulevard is a major north–south street in the city of Los Angeles, and it cuts through many communities and is one of the main thoroughfares in the San Fernando Valley. Name Balboa Boulevard was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, ...

, where it becomes a four-lane road for the remainder of its length. At the

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

/ I-210 interchange, Foothill Boulevard heads southeast along the

Foothill Freeway The Foothill Freeway is a freeway in the Greater Los Angeles in the U.S. state of California, running from the Sylmar district of Los Angeles east to Redlands. The western segment is signed as Interstate 210 (I-210) from its western end ...

, bypassing the city of

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

, entering

Lake View Terrace Lake View Terrace is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California.

south of the I-210/ California State Route 118, SR 118 interchange. SR 118 formerly ran along Foothill Boulevard from the 210/118 interchange until

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

. In 1974, the current alignment of Interstate 210 was completed, and the only remaining portion of the Foothill Boulevard Freeway was the unsigned freeway over the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena. Foothill Boulevard leaves the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

, passing through the Sunland and Tujunga neighborhoods in the northwestern

Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California, lying between the San Gabriel Mountains on the northeast and the Verdugo Mountains and San Rafael Hills on the southwest. It opens into the San Fernando Valley at ...

. It then enters the Crescenta Highlands neighborhood of Glendale and serves as a main street in the north Glendale area. Then it enters the unincorporated area of

La Crescenta-Montrose La Crescenta-Montrose () is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The community is bordered by Glendale to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge to the east, and Angeles National Forest to the north. Acc ...

(known just as "La Crescenta" to locals), and it serves as the main street through the valley. Upon crossing the Verdugo Wash, it enters the city of

La Cañada Flintridge LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

and the northern terminus of the

Glendale Freeway State Route 2 (SR 2) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It connects the Los Angeles Basin with the San Gabriel Mountains and the Victor Valley in the Mojave Desert. The highway's southwestern end is at the intersection of C ...

. Further east is the southern terminus of the

Angeles Crest Highway The Angeles Crest Highway is a two-lane highway over the San Gabriel Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California. It runs through the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Angeles National Forest. With the exception of a section in ...

( SR 2). Note that although the Glendale Freeway and Angeles Crest Highway both end at Foothill Boulevard, Foothill itself does not intersect State Route 2, as SR 2's alignment heads east on Interstate 210. This portion of Foothill Boulevard is operated by Glendale Transit line 3 and

Metro Local The Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Metro Bus operates in the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and th ...

lines 90 and 690. The western segment of Foothill Boulevard ends at Oak Grove Drive in

, where it heads southeast across the unsigned freeway alignment, with an interchange at Yucca Lane. To reach the second portion of Foothill Boulevard, one must head east on Oak Grove, where it becomes Woodbury Road, head south on Fair Oaks Avenue, and head east on Walnut Street, passing through

Old Town Pasadena Old Pasadena, often referred to as Old Town Pasadena or simply Old Town, is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States, and had a latter-day revitalization after a period of decay. Old Pasadena began as t ...

, where at Greenwood Avenue, Foothill Boulevard branches off. Until the 1960s, there was another segment of Foothill Boulevard that extended north into Altadena along the current route of Altadena Drive. This spur began at the current intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Altadena Drive in the eastern part of Pasadena—at that time, Foothill was named ''East Foothill Boulevard''; Altadena Drive north of Foothill was signed ''North Foothill Boulevard'', while Altadena Drive south of Foothill was signed ''Santa Anita Avenue''. North Foothill Boulevard ran north along the eastern part of Pasadena into the eastern extremity of Altadena, paralleling Eaton Canyon for about . At Mendocino Lane in Altadena, the route became ''East Foothill Boulevard'' again and ran east–west through the central part of Altadena. At the intersection with Fair Oaks Avenue in west Altadena, the road became ''West Foothill Boulevard'' and came to a dead end about west of Lincoln Avenue, a good mile away from the end of the western segment of Foothill in La Cañada Flintridge. It is not clear if the two segments were ever supposed to be connected, as the Arroyo Seco and Jet Propulsion Laboratory intervene; however, the changes in direction and duplicate street names were confusing—not only did North Foothill meet East Foothill, there were two East Foothill Boulevards (one in Pasadena and one in Altadena) and two Santa Anita Avenues (again, one in Pasadena and one in Altadena.) The city of Pasadena and the County of Los Angeles both agreed to change the name of the spur north of Foothill to Altadena Drive; Santa Anita Avenue between Foothill and the southern city limit of Pasadena was also renamed Altadena Drive, though that name change did not occur until the early 1970s. Foothill Boulevard remains parallel to Interstate 210 until entering the Arcadia city limits, where it heads due east and the freeway heads southeast. This section of Foothill Boulevard, which ends at Mountain Avenue in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

, was also a part of US 66 until the late 1930s. Before Huntington Drive was built through Duarte, Foothill Boulevard ran along the current routing of Royal Oaks Drive between Shamrock Avenue in Monrovia just past Highland Avenue in Duarte, meeting the current end of Foothill Boulevard at the San Gabriel River bridge. Most of the old route in eastern Duarte was removed during the housing boom in the 1940s. The third section of Foothill Boulevard is accessed by going south on Mountain and going east on Huntington Drive through the Los Angeles County cities of Monrovia and Duarte. Upon crossing the San Gabriel River into

Irwindale } Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,472 at the 2020 census, 1,422 at the 2010 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702, which i ...

, Huntington turns into Foothill Boulevard. Foothill passes through the city of

Azusa AZUSA refers to a ground-based radar tracking system installed at Cape Canaveral, Florida and the NASA Kennedy Space Center. AZUSA was named after the southern California town Azusa, California where the system was devised in the early 1950s. ...

, where it jogs north at Citrus Avenue. It continues through Glendora and served as

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

to Amelia Avenue for about a decade until

was re-routed on a bigger road further south in the 1930s. In

, east of Cerritos Avenue, Alosta Avenue (the old

) forks southeast (the city of Glendora renamed Alosta Avenue "Route 66"), and at Amelia Avenue, it turns back into Foothill Boulevard. At the interchange with SR 210 near the San Dimas– La Verne city limits, Foothill Boulevard is defined as

State Route 66 The following highways are numbered 66: International * European route E66 Australia * Barkly Highway (Northern Territory) * Riddoch Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 66 * Highway 66 (Ontario) Cuba * Autopista Sancti Spiritus (4-6 ...

, although it is unsigned in Los Angeles County. Foothill Blvd (SR 66) passes through the north end of Pomona and

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...

before entering

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

in the city of

Upland Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

. Foothill passes through residential areas before emerging in

Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California, given in 1839 to the dedicated soldier, smuggler and politician Tiburcio Tapia by Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. The gra ...

, where it intersects

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...

. Foothill Boulevard continues east through the cities of

Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone * Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi ...

(and such landmarks as Bono's Restaurant and Deli),

Rialto The Rialto is a central area of Venice, Italy, in the ''sestiere'' of San Polo. It is, and has been for many centuries, the financial and commercial heart of the city. Rialto is known for its prominent markets as well as for the monumental Ria ...

, and

. Foothill Boulevard ends at the San Bernardino city limits, where it retains its SR 66 signage, but changes into 5th Street and the route passes through

downtown San Bernardino Downtown San Bernardino is a district in the city of San Bernardino, California, in San Bernardino County, United States. It is home to city and county government buildings, and to the city's central business district. The downtown area of San ...

. At the interchange with Interstate 215, the SR 66 designation ends (at

), although old US 66 headed north on Mount Vernon Avenue (along old US 395/ US 91) before exiting the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

over the

Cajon Pass Cajon Pass (; Spanish: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del Cajón'') is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andr ...

. Fifth Street has an interchange with SR 210 in

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

before turning into Greenspot Road, where it ends in the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

. There are US 66 signs within the cities of Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, and San Bernardino. Many other cities along the boulevard have posted "Historic Route 66" signage. California's legislature has relinquished state control of the segment from the Pomona–Claremont line east to the Fontana–Rialto line, and turned it over to local control. SR 66 is part of the

California Freeway and Expressway System The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses both state highways and federal highways in California. It was defined by Article 2 (comme ...

, although it is neither a freeway nor an expressway. SR 66 is part of the National Highway System,
a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

References

External links

{{Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Streets in San Bernardino County, California Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Pasadena, California Streets in the San Fernando Valley Streets in the San Gabriel Valley Boulevards in the United States Crescenta Valley Pomona Valley La Cañada Flintridge, California Lake View Terrace, Los Angeles Sun Valley, Los Angeles Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles U.S. Route 66 in California

Route description

See also

References

External links