Santa Ana Canyon ( es, Cañón de Santa Ana), or the Santa Ana Narrows, is the water gap where the

Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, before cutting throug ...

passes between the

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside ...

and the Chino Hills, near the intersection of Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It receives particularly strong Santa Ana winds in comparison to surrounding areas, hence the name. Originally, U.S. Route 91 ran through the canyon; however, it has long since been re-signed or upgraded along the entirety of its former

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

the state A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "sta ...

. California State Route 91 is its primary successor.

History

An "Indian trail" was present in the area that would become named Santa Ana Canyon. This trail was used by Benjamin Wilson, who used it to reach what he would name

Big Bear Valley Big Bear Valley is a valley in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The valley, in the San Bernardino Mountains, includes Big Bear Lake, Big Bear City, Fawnskin, Holcomb Valley, Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which ...

in 1845. The trail became known among fur trappers, hunters, and prospectors to reach the valley. It was used widely during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

in the San Bernadino Mountains, which began in the spring of 1860. This trail served as the primary means of passage to the Big Bear area up until the Santa Ana flood of 1916, when most of it was destroyed.

2008 fire

The Freeway Complex Fire of November 2008 raged through Santa Ana Canyon. It ultimately destroyed hundreds of homes in the area and forced multiple road and school closures. In addition, thousands of residents in the canyon were under mandatory evacuation orders at one point or another and could not reenter their neighborhoods. This was the largest

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

in Santa Ana Canyon since 1969, when fewer people lived there, making the Freeway Complex Fire much more dangerous.

2017 fire

On October 9, 2017, the Canyon Fire 2 broke out near the interchange for California State Route 91 and California State Route 241 on the border of the City of Anaheim. The Canyon Fire 2 was the second fire in the same area in a matter of weeks, the first fire was designated the Canyon Fire. Canyon Fire 2 was driven by fast moving winds and low humidity. By noon on the day the fire began, it had burned . By 2:30, fueled by high winds and low humidity, it had burned and was 0 percent contained. Canyon Fire 2 lead to the evacuation of 16,570 residents of Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Orange, North Tustin, Orange Park Acres and Tustin and the destruction of 25 homes located in Anaheim Hills and Orange.

Recreation

The

Santa Ana River bicycle path The Santa Ana River Trail is a multi-use trail complex that runs alongside the Santa Ana River in southern California. The trail stretches from the Pacific Ocean at Huntington Beach along the Santa Ana River to the Orange–Riverside county line ...

runs through the canyon. This recreational path was constructed on the bank of the river and abuts the length of Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim. The bike trail, as it is referred to by locals, roughly parallels SR 91 in certain areas, extending all the way to Pacific Coast Highway (SR 1) on the Pacific coast. Across SR 1 lies Santa Ana River County Beach, which shares a border with

Huntington State Beach Huntington State Beach is a protected beach in Southern California, located in the City of Huntington Beach in Orange County. It extends from Newport Beach (Santa Ana River) north to Beach Boulevard, where the Huntington City Beach begins. ...

Highways

It is the namesake of Santa Ana Canyon Road, which is a thoroughfare that parallels the Riverside Freeway (SR 91) from the Anaheim- Orange line to Gypsum Canyon Road in Yorba Linda. La Palma Avenue is a much longer arterial road than Santa Ana Canyon Road, stretching from Torrance to Yorba Linda uninterrupted. The arterial begins at Vermont Avenue in Torrance as Del Amo Boulevard and continues through Carson,

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...

, Lakewood and Cerritos. At Coyote Creek, Del Amo Boulevard leaves

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

and enters Orange County as La Palma Avenue in the city of La Palma. The arterial continues through Buena Park, Anaheim and to Yorba Linda where La Palma terminates after its intersection with Gypsum Canyon Road.

Traffic

The Eastern Transportation Corridor (SR 241 toll road) itself ends at State Route 91 as well. As a result of the confluence of these three routes at State Route 91 in Santa Ana Canyon, there is often a bottleneck of eastbound traffic during evening rush hour that begins there and continues across the county line and into Corona. Worsening the bottleneck further is the southern terminus of Corona Expressway (SR 71) just beyond that. However, there ar
numerous projects
in the planning stages that are aimed at alleviating traffic through the canyon and into Corona and Riverside. Among them are lane additions and interchange improvements, some of which will not be completed until 2030. One proposal is to entirely bypass the canyon by drilling through the Santa Ana Mountains to provide an east-west connection from SR 241 directly to Interstate 15. Another possible option could be to extend Green River Road to connect to La Palma Avenue, though this likely will never happen.

91 Express Lanes

As seen o
their official site
the 91 Express Lanes pass through the Santa Ana Canyon. Their goal was to relieve some of the traffic that SR 91 carries daily; previously, they ended at Green River Road, without continuing further into Corona. As of March 20, 2017, an 8-mile extension of the 91 Express Lanes was completed that terminates after passing I-15 when headed eastbound. The 91 Express Lanes is a four-lane, 18-mile toll road built in the median of the Riverside Freeway (State Route 91) between Interstate 15 (I-15) and California State Route 55 (SR 55). A connecting ramp from SR 91 eastbound to I-15 southbound, as well as the parallel I-15 northbound to SR 91 westbound connecting ramp, opened March 20, 2017. When the 91 Express Lanes opened in 1995 between SR 55 and Green River Road, the facility boasted several firsts — the first privately financed toll road in the U.S. in more than 50 years, the world's first fully automated toll facility, and the first application of value pricing in America. 91 Express Lanes customers pay tolls from pre-paid accounts, using a FasTrak transponder — a pocket-sized radio transmission device mounted to the inside of their vehicle's windshield. This electronic toll collection technology eliminates the need to stop and pay tolls at traditional tollbooths, thus ensuring the free flow of traffic on the 91 Express Lanes. The 91 Express Lanes was born from the need for congestion relief on the 91 Freeway when no public funds were available to solve this critical transportation problem. The concept was unique — the private sector would take the risk and the State would get congestion relief at no cost to taxpayers. On a wider scale, the 91 Express Lanes has contributed to major advances in the toll industry worldwide. The facility has been featured in the national and international media. Since the project opened in 1995, transportation officials from 21 U.S. states and 23 countries have visited the 91 Express Lanes to study its advanced systems and operations.

Railroad

The BNSF Southern Transcon runs through the canyon. Passenger trains in service through the canyon are the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flags ...

'' as well as Metrolink's

91/Perris Valley Line The 91/Perris Valley Line, formerly known as the 91 Line, is a commuter rail route operated by Metrolink that runs from Los Angeles to Perris in Southern California, paralleling State Route 91 between Riverside and Santa Fe Springs. Operating ...

and Inland Empire–Orange County Line.

References

* {{Coord, 33, 51, 25, N, 117, 49, 06, W, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Valleys of California Santa Ana River Santa Ana Mountains Landforms of Orange County, California Landforms of Riverside County, California Landforms of San Bernardino County, California Water gaps of the United States