100 years of US routes: 1926-2026

Endpoints of
US Route 299

1934-1963

East: Alturas, CA
West: Arcata, CA

View a map showing this route.

Alturas

The east end of US 299 was in Alturas, at its junction with US 395:

c. 1961, USGS

This photo was taken looking east on today's CA hwy. 299:

Elbert, Jul. 2004

That is where US 299 ended (although today CA 299 is overlapped ahead with US 395 for a few miles before branching off on its own again). If a driver were to continue ahead, they might notice a street sign like this one...

Elbert, Jun. 2005

...which is interesting because -- although that is CA 299 -- US 299 never went east of the junction with US 395.

Heading north on US 395, this perspective shows where US 299 historically began to the left:

Elbert, Jun. 2005

Heading the opposite direction, there was no signage alerting drivers to the fact that US 395 traffic must turn left...

Elbert, Jun. 2005

...but for travelers who miss the turn, hopefully they will clue in when they see the confirming marker posted just ahead:

Elbert, Jul. 2004

Arcata

The west end of US 299 was at its junction with US 101 at Arcata. Today's routes have a freeway-to-freeway interchange, but that was not built until about 1955. Prior to that, US 299 connected to US 101 just to the south of the current interchange:

USGS

US 299 ran along what is now a dead-end road called West End Court. This interactive image is looking along the westernmost stretch of historic US 299, just before its original junction with US 101, which was located just beyond the tree straight ahead:

In about 1955, US 299 was changed to its current alignment. These photos were taken heading west at the interchange of what is now CA 299 and US 101, and they show where US 299 ended after this interchange was opened to traffic: