State Scenic Highway 8 8
State Scenic Highway 8 is a scenic drive in California. Within California it covers roughly 140 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along State Scenic Highway 8 with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
State Scenic Highway 8 follows Interstate 8 for roughly 70 miles from Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in San Diego to SR 98 near Ocotillo. It's eligible for California's scenic highway program but not officially designated by Caltrans. The drive's signature stretch is the Mountain Springs grade through In-Ko-Pah Gorge, where the freeway splits into two separate canyons, Devils Canyon for westbound traffic and In-Ko-Pah Gorge eastbound, dropping 3,000 feet in just 11 miles. Winds through the gorge are notorious: the California Highway Patrol once clocked gusts near 100 mph, strong enough to close the freeway outright. At the bottom, the mountains end abruptly and the Colorado Desert begins, one of the sharpest landscape transitions on any California highway, before the road continues past Ocotillo and Coyote Wells toward the Imperial Valley.
- ~70 miles, San Diego to Ocotillo
- In-Ko-Pah Gorge / Mountain Springs grade
- 3,000-ft descent in 11 miles
- winds up to ~100 mph recorded
- eligible, not officially designated
Plan a drive on State Scenic Highway 8 →
About this drive
This is a scenic drive — a road worth taking for the views and the journey itself rather than the quickest line between two points.
Where to Stay along State Scenic Highway 8
5 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of State Scenic Highway 8.
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