They ought to consider re - opening this road for tourism The Tumble Inn was cool, fading into memory today.
Not sure who “they” might be, that would re-open this road, but
I like the idea of being able to travel the old roads, whenever possible.
Out west, we have a big advantage of open space, that often left
roadbuilders leaving long stretches of old road intact and there for
the occasional local or nostalgic fruitloop to drive.
Any time I have a road trip in the plans, I spend hours on Google
maps and doing research on where the early roads ran. You can get
pretty good at spotting them, if you learn how to think like they
did in 1890-1920. Today, it is all about fastest route between points.
Back then it was just about a road between what are now long gone
settlements, crossroad junctions, water stops, etc. Highway builders
have a bad habit of plopping their new road right on top of the old one,
destroying the old one in the process. But often enough, they bypass
sections, leaving neat old scenery and road for the crazy backroads
lover to discover. These are exceptionally fun roads to drive in a 1920’s
vehicle.
This short section of the old “Appleway” still defies urban sprawl just
east of Spokane. Bipassed in the 1940’s and again in the late 60’s when
the freeway was built, this is a tiny fragment of old US10, which was built
through this section upon the old military wagon road, surveyed and built
by Capt. Mullan in 1858. In the next few years, I suspect it too will get
widened, big shoulders, and all the sidewalks and landscape trappings of
the blighted, everything-looks-the-same “improvements” that developers
think is a good thing.
I know the guy who wrote the book on the Ridge Route, Harrison Scott. There is so much government crap going on, I wonder if they will ever open it up again. The real problem is, there is no sign at the entrance, so you drive for 15 miles, and you come to a dead end. No fun!
The world caters to the vinyl-sided, KIA-driving mall drone. There is
no money to be made in restoration or preservation of old and cool, so
it gets ignored and neglected. Dump a wad of McMansions up there,
clustered around a golf course and the road would not only be reopened,
it would be turned in another freeway for commuters.
I’m just like Raoul above. I love to travel the old roads if they still exist, but it’s even better if there is a sign that says you can still drive it. There is an old bridge on Route 101 just north of Santa Barbara at El Capitan state park. It is really neat, but they have it closed off. Is it because it is unsafe, or they just don’t want anyone using it? I’d love to get a photo of my car on it.