Home > El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real in California is historically the road built to connect Catholic missions in California during the Spanish colonial era.The following is a legal definition of El Camino Real according to the California Streets and Highways Code:
"State highway routes embracing portions of Routes 280, 82, 238, 101, 5, 72, 12, 37, 121, 87, 162, 185, 92, and 123 and connecting city streets and county roads thereto, and extending in a continuous route from Sonoma southerly to the international border and near the route historically known as El Camino Real shall be known and designated as 'El Camino Real.'" [CS&HC Sec. 635(b)]
Many streets throughout California today bear the name of this famous road, often with little factual relation to the original. Those that do follow portions of the path of the original highway are often marked with distinctive bells as a historical marker. However, in many cases, bells that were once placed have disappeared because of vandalism or theft. The original highway runs from Sonoma to what is now Presidio Park in San Diego.
Harbor Boulevard in Orange County, Whittier Boulevard/ Route 72, Sunset Boulevard, the Cahuenga Pass, and Ventura Boulevard form part of El Camino Real in Southern California.
Navigation on the San Francisco Peninsula is usually done relative to El Camino Real, which is signed as Route 82. It defines logical north and south in the area, even though it is not really north-south in many places. Visitors to the area are often confounded by the street numbers on El Camino Real, which reset (often to 100) when each new city is entered (roughly every two or three miles). El Camino Real runs past Santa Clara University and Stanford University
See also
Famous California streets
Historic U.S. trails and roads
California history
