“Bungee America has been operating from the bridge, hidden in the mountains north of Los Angeles and accessible only by a 5-mile hike, for the past 31 years.”
The following written content by Sanna Boman
“Five, four, three, two, one—BUNGEE!”
The words disappear into an echo above me as I plunge headfirst off a bridge toward the rushing river below. The bungee cords attached to my body harness stretch and contract, tossing me around the canyon before I regain control of my senses and movements.
It’s a magnificent feeling to be suspended mid-air. The momentary terror that precedes the actual jump is soon replaced by something more akin to gratitude—for being alive, certainly, but also for the ability to experience something so disruptive from everyday life.
I’m hoisted back up onto the jumping platform—and then I immediately do it all over again.
Bridge to Nowhere
How did I end up on this bridge in the middle of Angeles National Forest, a 5-mile hike from the nearest road? It started with getting hooked on bungee jumping during a trip to Costa Rica a few years ago. As soon as I got back to California, I started researching local bungee jumping options. As it turned out, the only government-certified bungee jumping center in California—and anywhere within a 1,000-mile radius of Los Angeles—is Bungee America.
Founded by legendary bungee jumper Ron Jones in 1989, Bungee America coordinates jumps off the scenic Bridge to Nowhere every weekend, all year round. The bridge was built in the 1930s as part of an attempt to connect the San Gabriel Valley to Wrightwood just north of it. But before the new road was even finished, it was washed out during the Los Angeles flood of 1938.
The massive flood killed more than 100 people and destroyed buildings, roads, and bridges all over the county, but the Bridge to Nowhere was left standing. The 120-foot-tall bridge sits in a deep gorge of the valley known as the Narrows, so high above the river that the flood didn’t reach it. Read more from Roadtrippers.
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