Nearly a dozen deaths have occurred along this stretch of Brea Canyon Road over the past 20 years. It is dark at night and somewhat winding. Many people claim to see “phantom hitchhikers” and other strange phenomena here while driving the area at night.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- Brea Canyon Road
Diamond Bar, CA
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 33.949717657022575, -117.86785411764868
- Nearest Towns:
- Rowland Heights, CA (2.8 mi.)
Brea, CA (2.9 mi.)
La Habra, CA (4.7 mi.)
La Habra Heights, CA (4.8 mi.)
South San Jose Hills, CA (4.8 mi.)
Walnut, CA (4.9 mi.)
Yorba Linda, CA (5.3 mi.)
Placentia, CA (5.4 mi.)
Diamond Bar, CA (6.4 mi.)
Fullerton, CA (6.4 mi.)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
It’s not haunted. There is a lot of car accidents there cause its pitch black with only the highway lights visible. The hitch hiking thing maybe from all the gifts and memorials on the side of the road. I’ve driven on it countless times while attending CSUF, coming from Chino Hills. I’ve driven there on dust and late at night to either have a quiet drive or the freeway is some how congested.
When its too congested for me to use the freeway I used this or the other dark and windy road, Carbon Canyon. Now, that road is a long, spooky drive at night. The only thing scary though are newbies driving through that as well. Some people think they can drive 50 mph all there way, but there are several sharp curves there that make even driving 10-20 mph too much for them to stay on the road.
My name is Cindy KAHN. This road is so haunted for me my stories are hard to believe but honestly true.
My first paranormal experience on this road was July 18, 1981. I was in labor all night and was having my baby delivered at Brea Birthing Center. My Dr was Natural Childbirth Dr Marchbanks. I got to the center and no one was there. I could not even stand up my labor was so far along.
The Dr showed up a few minutes after us.
I told him I could not stand. I crawled down the hallway to the birthing room. They threw the covers off the bed. I crawled up there and the Dr said let’s have a look. Next thing he said is oh my she is coming now. A couple pushes and my perfect beautiful baby girl was here. We had a bath in a jacuzzi and 2 hours later I was on my way home. As we drove through the canyon on our way home a creepy voice or thought came through my mind that said I could throw this baby out the window and no one would even know I had her.
Needless to say this scared me caused I loved my baby so and would never harm her.
My next frightening canyon experience was 14 years later. My son had gotten a fast new car he was 18 years old. He was coming home from work on the 57 frwy. He was speeding and all of a sudden the traffic was stopped to avoid the stopped cars he went to the right hit the dirt went up the hill and rolled the car. He was working with my husband but they each were driving their own car. My husband came up on the accident scene and his heart sank. Some how by the grace of god my son and nephew were not hurt bad but scared to say the least. This accident was parallel to Brea Canyon and very close to where I had the experience with my baby.
19 years after the 1981 incident, July 29, 2000 my other son’s 23rd Birthday. He was in a fatal car crash on Brea Canyon road. There were some very odd, strange, and scary things that happened that night. My daughter in law can verify all these things.
There are many more odd things that are unexplainable that happened that night.
Our life will never be the same but we know our son is waiting for us in Heaven with arms wide open and we shall be together on the day that it is our time.
Cindy hello it’s your sons friend Krow. I used to hang out at the house. Nelson will always live in our hearts! He had so many friends who loved him. He was good to us all. It was a shame what happened but he gave us eternal inspiration and the best of memories. I hope you guys are all well.
A very long haired gentleman I met while at Cal State Fullerton died in Brea Canyon between 1969 and 1970. Rumor had it that he was driving a large amount of very strong alcohol used to make Hashish oil and also some of the drug as well, and that he was too loaded to be driving–particularly with the alcohol vapors from the poorly sealed bottles.. I never knew where the exact site was, but i can confirm the death and the circumstances as related in the paper and also from people at school. If such a ghost is seen, it may have been him!
I was up in the san gabriel mountains in june 2014. My first time on a hike and my friend took my thru the mountains that had no real trail, but it was a trail fr the fire fighters that thy made when thyd do hikes, n i swear i heard a mans voice ill nvr frgt it, i felt like i was being watched. I just wanted to gt out of there. A sense of fear came over me of not wanting to go up further i just wanted to leave. My friend also told me when thyd go on their hikes they actually found a body of a dead woman.
Isolated stretches of road like Brea Canyon are favorite places to dump the bodies of murder victims. (Too far from the desert.) Ortega Highway between San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinore is probably the main illegal dump site in the county — from hazmat to murder victims.
It’s all bunch of BS lol
In the summer of 2013, a mans body was found in a random trash bin abandoned on Brea Canyon rd. I remember driving pass that trash can several times during that time, I thought it was slightly odd but innocuous enough to not really pay attention to it. It’s creepy knowing that there was a body there the whole time.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/06/22/santa-ana-man-46-identified-as-body-found-in-brea-trash-can/
Yup! My husband drove by the trash bin several times as well and never thought to stop. He was freaked out when he found out there was a body in there.
I was driving through Brea Canyon Road and a pair of red eyes flashed very quickly at me but I was driving so fast I will never know what it was!
It’s not haunted, at least to the driver passing through. It’s a fairly short road from Diamond Bar to Brea (or vice versa). Sure it’s dark at night and it has some curves, but I have driven Brea Canyon Road for over twenty years in all sorts of light and weather. I’ve driven past about a dozen car accidents (into the hills, off the ravines, into other cars, etc.). I’ve had a police officer stop me right as I got to Canyon Country Road into Brea, telling me I had to turn around because there was a man with a gun in the area. I drove by the trash can with the body in it numerous times that week. My barber at the time (Felix) was found shot in the back of his head in his Jeep on this road. With all of these experiences I know of and have driven through, I have not once seen anything paranormal on Brea Canyon Road; trust me, I have driven it A LOT. Now Carbon Canyon Road, that is a different story for a different time.
From 1976 to 1980, I drove Brea Canyon around once a week, heading to Saturday Night D&D games at Cal State Fullerton. Heaviest time was 1977-78 when I lived in the dorms at Cal Poly Pomona on the other end of the canyon.
The only weirdness I experienced was that my Mustang’s fan belt would start squeaking as I drove through. This happened only in Brea Canyon. My dorm roomie also had his VW break down a couple times in the canyon. The strangeness was that both of these only happened in the canyon.
This happened today Aug 31, 2017
I was driving to work taking the usual way to get there by going north on brea Canyon. As I passed the entry to get on the 57 south I noticed something outside on the side walking. I saw what I think still not sure was a ghost covered in bed sheets that were messy or a woman with a large night gown. That place has to be haunted. It was always cold in the morning and at night.
Thus happened about 2 hours ago, and I found this page looking for explanations or like experiences. Driving north on the 57 in slow lane just past the tonner canyon exit (dark, clear weather, about 50mph, another car about 4 lengths behind) a humanoid figure rushed toward the a-pillar of my car. I could make out an arm outstretched over the passenger side of the car. I seriously thought I was about to hit a person. My 11-year old in front passenger seat just about jumps in my lap. I swerve within my lane. Something taps the side of the car near the mirror. Then gone. He saw it. I saw it. No reacti on from cars behind us.
Mark…9-27-2017 I was driving from Diamond Bar to Brea via Brea Canyon Rd. I have lived in Diamond Bar and have probably driven Brea Canyon Rd. over 100 times or more in my 27 years living in Diamond Bar. It’s a short cut to the Brea Mall and the city of Brea. Tonight around 9:45 I was driving the canyon with my radio on and just relaxing paying close attention the windy road..the road was empty as I was driving I immediately noticed to my right a person (or at least it looked like a person) slowly walking towards embankment I was so amazed and told myself “what the hell?” the figure was looking down towards the ground , it was wearing what looked to be green long pants and the hair was very long covering the whole face. Strange part about it was the person or whatever was walking very slow. I wasn’t able to keep my eye on it as I had to focus on the next curve coming up. It gave me chills. I thought for a few minutes , who would be walking on a dangerous curvy road which is extremely dark at 9:45 at night? I heard stories about the canyon being haunted over the years but never believed them. In my 27 years of driving the canyon at night, during the day, morning, rain, sunny weather..etc.. I have never seen anything strange until tonight. I heard stories about apparitions of people on horses in the canyon at night, again never believed those stories and shrugged it off as rumors but tonight was too real, I don’t know what I saw but it was for sure something strange that I never in my life have encountered.
My friends were exploring the abandoned factory off of Brea Canyon Road. We started exploring the ground and nothing weird was happening until one of us felt drawn to the little hut next to the factory (that’s still working). While standing there, my super skeptic friend came up behind me and looked around with his flashlight. Then out of now where fell into me and started to stumble. We sat him down and asked what happened. He said “I felt like something walked right through me and now I feel like one throwing to throw up and dizzy.” After some time of him trying to get over feeling sick we kept walking. After passing through the running factory I looked up and saw a face looking through a window! I looked away yellled F*** and looked back but it was gone. That got me good! My friend’s energetic personality changed completely after he had the experience in the hut. He was drained all night and his body felt numb . He also had a hard time leaving the grounds because he would stand there at just stare at the hut. Weird night for sure.
What abandoned factory? You must mean the abandoned Union 76 oil field buildings near Brea.
yes. that building
Back in the early 1960s we used to drive Brea Canyon Road to where the oil wells are located. There, thousands of tarantulas covered the road. It didn’t seem creepy at the time. We captured in jars and brought them home to keep as pets. The road is today the same as it was a half century ago. Until the 57 freeway was installed, it was the only passage through the area for centuries dating back to the early Spanish explorers and ranch owners.
I heard about the body in the trash can from a couple years ago. I’ve been driving the canyon since I was 18, now I’m 50. I drive through Brea Canyon at least twice a day. I’ve never heard of anything paranormal. Now, I’ve seen so many traffic accidents in which people speed around the curves, and crash into the ditches causing them to die. People never slow down. My dad & I rescued a woman & her baby one Saturday morning during a light rain, as she sped around the last curve, her Cadillac went off the roadway in front of us, flying into the ditch. People drive the canyon like it’s the Indy 500. One guy earlier in the spring claimed that he swerved to avoid hitting a large raccoon, and crashed his new Ferrari off the roadway into a ditch. We all laughed- another damn speeder. As of late, Brea Canyon Road between DB Blvd. & Tonner Canyon is used my street racers late at night. You can see & hear them in their loud cars as they scream past you late at night.
Hi my name is Julio I drove many times Brea canyon road by mid night and yes very dark and scary.
I have been driving on Brea Canyon Road to and back from work for 7 years day and night never ever have I felt or hear or seen anything paranormal.. I do see all the memorial on the side of the road and do realize there are a lot of accidents here and often wondered if it would be haunted, all I can say is I hope I never do see anything because 57 really sucks bad with traffic I would not want to be taking it at all !
The Beast of Brea Canyon and other mysterious tales:
At one time Brea Canyon and Carbon Canyon were narrow, poorly maintained dark passageways through the hills. The number of fatal accidents that occurred in these canyons is in the thousands. Both canyons would post little white crosses along the sides whenever someone was killed until the crosses became deadly distractions and were mostly removed. Ghost sightings are common in the canyons and are often dismissed as wandering, homeless people. Old timers may remember The Glowing Tree Ghost in Carbon Canyon as well as the Pig Man and The Green Mist and what became of the Hooded Cult that many saw performing rituals there? Do any old Unocal workers remember the Beast of Brea Canyon that ripped apart an aluminum shed in the hills to get at food inside? Lately, a tall, hairy creature with glowing red eyes has been seen in Brea Canyon. Could it be that Beast? The old, abandoned Tower Records building has stayed empty for so long… except for the Shadow People seen there..and speaking of Shadow People, Brea’s Best Burgers is said to have some. A well known ghost hunter from Los Angeles went there recently to inquire about them.
Brea, California is situated between Brea Canyon Creek and Carbon Canyon Creek. Both of these creeks were once rivers. I’m adding this info for the fans of paranormal TV shows that are familiar with portals.
I’m just gonna assume that you got even crazier during lockdown. You gotta lay off the acid, bruh. Entertaining post, though.
The only thing haunting this road is hubris.
Just because you don’t know doesn’t give you a right to act like a jerk.
I knew a man who was a bouncer at the Crazy Horse Saloon in Tustin who died on Brea Canyon Road in a car accident. He was commuting from the Crazy Horse to his home in Diamond Bar when witnesses said he swerved while heading North bound on the 57 Fwy as if he was trying to avoid hitting something. The car flew off the Fwy bouncing from the on ramp to the 57 between Tonner Canyon and S. Diamond Bar Blvd. causing the car to flip several times which ejected him from the vehicle. His body got caught up in the wreckage as the car was flipping over and came to a stop on Brea Canyon Road where he perished. None of the witnesses saw anything on the Fwy that night that would cause a driver to react as if avoiding a collision as he took that night. It makes one wonder if he saw something paranormal in his path that caused him to react this way. He left behind a young wife and family. Maybe there is something to the unexplained stories and deaths on Brea Canyon Road.
I’ve been driving on this road since 2003 during all hours of the night. I’ve never seen anything but have seen all the memorial crosses and markers on the side of the road throughout my life.
2 months ago I was driving northbound on this road and off in the far distance I was a person standing extremely close to the road. I looked back to see if there was anyone driving behind me and there was. The car behind me was about a 100 ft back
I then looked forward again and the figure was still standing there. I was hoping the person would move away from the road since I did have my head lights on and I was getting closer to them. The person did not move the entire time and the closer I got the creepier I felt. As soon as I got close enough to where my headlights were right on them I noticed that I could not see any details. The person was all in black. It looked as if they were wearing a black hoodie, black pants, black shoes and a black backpack. I could need see any details at all. No skin, no eyes, no teeth, nothing.
I was driving about 35 miles an hour as I drove past so I could get a look at them but I could not get a good look at them. The road is pretty dark so as I passed the person standing dangerously close to the road I turned back around but it was so dark that I couldn’t see this person dressed in black. I slowed down so I could see if the person behind me had any reaction to the person like I did. The head lights of the car behind me should have lit of the silhouette of the person but as they drove up to the spot there was nobody there. This car kept driving on and didn’t speed up or slow down so I imagine they did not see said person.
This really freaked me out and it really freaked my girlfriend out when I told her about it. Never seen anything like that before in my life.
I’ve lived in nearby Walnut for most of my life. I used to commute to CSUF for undergrad. I didn’t believe in ghosts at all back then. I thought it was all just a bunch of misunderstanding. One night in summer 2016, I decided to check out a haunting for myself because I wanted to see if ghosts were real. I had looked up hauntings that were near me and saw people talking about this road. What a bunch of BS, I thought. Not only had I driven it countless times commuting to and from CSUF, but I had a friend who lived at the first housing track where the street entered Diamond Bar. He and I had done plenty of late night driving on this road and never had anything close to an encounter. So I decided to drive by solo one night. I had spent the day hanging out with my friend in Carson, and drove back from the 91 to the 57. I left at approximately 1230 am and got back to that stretch of the 57 at around 1:30 am. I had not drank any alcohol, consumed any drugs (prescription or otherwise) which I still do not do to this day (although I do like the occasional beer). Anyway, I decided to test this ghost theory and I got off on the exit from the northbound 57 lane. I began driving down the road. At first, everything was normal (hmm I thought). Suddenly, it started becoming very cold. Anyone who knows me would say that is very unusual as I detest the heat and am planning to the east coast to get away from warm summers and enjoy the fall or winters. There was also a thick fog that surrounded my car and made it hard to see. The night was completely clear my entire drive and this road is extremely twisty. I turned on my defrosters, slowed my speed to under 30 (I think the speed limit on that road is like 40 or something), and kept both hands on the wheel. Yet the fog continued, as did the cold. My defroster was keeping most of the fog out of my sightline, but I could tell my defroster was more ineffective around the edges of the window which were covered in fog. Then, out of nowhere, and I’ll sign this sentence in particular under oath (as I could for this whole experience), the fog started forming around my driver’s side front window forming the shape of skull looking thing. I can only compare it to Marvel’s the Punisher logo, but less elongated. I was terrified and kept driving slowly trying not to freak out. Eventually, the fog went away and I got to Diamond Bar safely. When I got to Diamond Bar, I noticed (from the more light provided by the street) that my rear view mirror had finger markings on it. As if someone had tried to grab it. Not only do I leave my mirror permanently in the same location, but I NEVER let anyone drive that car other than me. Not my family, my friends, no one. I knew that marking wasn’t there before. It was so weird. I told my mom who is deeply religious and she poured holy water all over my dash and had me keep a rosary in my glove box afterwards. About 3 weeks later, when I was driving home from CSUF at around 10 pm, I tried to stop at a red light, but my breaks wouldn’t stop for some reason and I crashed into someone making a turn to enter that part of CSUF where you turn to go to the arboretum. I was going the speed limit and had slammed my break as usual (and again had consumed no alcohol or drugs), but my car skidded into them. I was okay (minus a single cut), but my car was totaled. I have always wondered if it was connected to my experience in Brea.
I came looking to see if anybody has shared a similar experience to what I went through last night, but apparently not. I was heading home from the Cane’s near Puente Hills Mall and taking the longest possible route home 1. because the exit to the 57 south was closed and 2. because I like to do that at night while listening to music. Usually, like I mentioned, I’ll have drives like this with no incident and I’ll just take in whatever’s playing from the Spotify playlist I picked. So, naturally, while driving down Brea Canyon I didn’t even put any thought to how dark it was, as it felt like a nice break from the usual glow of the LED street lamps and face full of headlights I’d usually get on the 57. I also quite enjoy the short ride down that road. On the latter half of the drive a car was in the oncoming lane (I had passed two or three cars at this point) and it’s headlights were quite bright so I glanced at my side mirrors and my rearview out of habit. I noticed that there was somebody in my back seat. Immediately I was alarmed and whipped my head around thinking somebody had been hiding back there this whole time, only to find it completely empty. I made direct eye contact with the man through my rear view mirror so I’m certain it wasn’t just a trick of the light or something. I was unaware that the road was known to be haunted prior to this, and the experience was quite jarring. It wasn’t made any better by that fact I almost swerved into the oncoming car because I was so focused on making sure I wasn’t about to get attacked by somebody hiding in the back seat.