Ellis Wayside Rest

The Ellis Wayside Rest

Located near Descanso, there is a cutoff section of the Old Highway 80. The road is still visible though nature is slowly reclaiming it, in sections of it landslides and vegetation are covering it. The road is still in good shape, but as one progresses down the road it slowly becomes buried due to erosion of the surrounding land.

A ways down you come to a pile of stones, There is some noticeable graffiti and what appears to be a man made depression within one of the rocks. You have stumbled upon what remains of the Ellis Wayside Rest. This was a stop for the road weary traveler, since the 1930's one could stop and rest here. The man made depression, if you look closely, has a small hole drilled into it. This was were the depression was fed by springs up the hill, The springs were discovered by Charles Ellis about the turn of the century. One could get water to drink or to fill one Radiator.

This old 1930's section of Hwy 80 is located at the end of Wildwood Glen Lane, there is a locked gate and a parking spot .

Charles Ellis is the man The Ellis Wayside Rest was name for. He settled in the area in the 1860's and was a station master at Coyote Wells.

The Ellis Wayside Rest is located down the old Hwy 80 section pass the gate. This is a water cistern tucked up into the rocks, it fed a water catchment down below in a large boulder.

Hatch that leads down into the cistern.

Inscription on top of the water cistern seem to say 4/25/48 possibly 40

The water feed for the small depression, is a cistern behind the boulder. Like a lot of areas we visit the ever present graffiti.

The first day I went there was a storm, Here the road is over run with the local vegetation and soil that has eroded from the hillside.

The Storm is blowing in

Descanso Well #4, a road leading down the hill to one of the areas watersources.

Here's a down hill section being undermined and covered by natural erosion, as you head westward on this section the road tends to get more covered and finally disappears beneath the soil.

I apologize for not give out directions to most of my trips, trails change and I do not have the time to keep the site always updated. My hikes also span from the easy to the extreme, a lot of places do not even have trails, as well as extreme conditions. Some sites need to be protected as they are fragile and historically sensitive. So if you decide to hike some of these areas, do your research and know your limits, have the proper provisions .Every year many hikers die from not understanding these Simple Rules. San Diego County and surrounding areas are diverse in climate and terrain. Remember if you do decide to Hike do your research, carry the essentials and do so at your own risk. An alternative is to join one of the many hiking groups such as meetup or on facebook ,as well as other social sites. Not only is there safety in numbers but a pooling of knowledge.