A winding mountain road lined with pine forests and pastoral valleys, Ortega Highway connects South Orange County to Lake Elsinore. By day, it’s a vital artery for commuters and a favorite weekend route for thrill-seeking motorcyclists. But after dark, it takes on a more sinister role—a secluded dumping ground for those with something to hide. Steep cliffs and dense brush have made it the backdrop for countless mysteries, the kind of place where secrets are buried and never meant to be found.
The 44-mile Ortega Highway is a winding, two-lane road that cuts through the Cleveland National Forest, linking Riverside and Orange counties—and it carries a deadly reputation.
I searched for waterfalls in Orange County, and a few options popped up—but one stood out: Chiquito Falls near Lake Elsinore. To reach it, I’d have to take the infamous Ortega Highway, also known as Highway 74. With its stunning vistas, treacherous curves, and eerie reputation, I didn’t need much more convincing. I was headed to Chiquito Falls.
Winding through the Santa Ana Mountains and a wilderness park, the highway remains largely undeveloped, with a few shops and cabins scattered along it.
Nighttime drivers along the highway have reported eerie sightings of a clown standing by the roadside. As vehicles approach, he vanishes like a mirage—always just out of reach. Though he’s never been known to cause harm, his presence alone is enough to send chills down the spine. I know it would rattle me if I ever saw him… but no such encounter this time.
Highway 74 is steeped in dark history. Driving its 44 miles feels unsettling after learning what’s unfolded there over the years. From busted-open safes and pieces of incriminating evidence to more bodies than anyone dares to tally, the road holds more secrets than most would imagine.
In the late 1980s, serial killer Randy Kraft stopped at the El Cariso Mountain Restaurant, where he ordered an avocado sandwich and a Coke. He complimented the cook, left a $2 tip, and quietly walked out—leaving behind an unsettling footnote in the highway’s dark lore.
On May 13, 1989, newspapers across the country featured the face of Randy Kraft, just one day after his conviction for the torture and murder of 16 young men. His first suspected victim was Wayne Joseph Dukette, a 30-year-old bartender from Long Beach, whose body was discovered in 1971 at the bottom of a ravine off the Ortega Highway.
In 1977, Patrick Kearney—infamously known as the “Trash Bag Killer”—left a grim mark on Ortega Highway when he disposed of one of his earliest victims there, sealing the body in an industrial-sized plastic bag and dumping it along the roadside. Kearney had been terrorizing Southern California throughout the 1970s.
At milepost 16.50 on Ortega Highway, 14-year-old Glen Norman Barker of Huntington Beach was found in 1980—one of the many victims of William Bonin, the notorious “Freeway Killer.” After molesting and strangling the teenager, Bonin left his body along this desolate stretch of road. Between 1979 and 1980, Bonin is believed to have dumped at least four of his 21 known victims along the Ortega Highway.
Unlucky call box 74-88 gained a dark reputation when Kenneth Stahl and Carolyn Oppy-Stahl were found shot to death in their car there in 1999. Just two years later, a CHP officer was assaulted by a pair of motorcyclists at the same spot.
At milepost 14, is where two men disposed of their headless, handless mother in 2003.
A local medium who offers psychic readings online studied under a yogi in Peru to learn how to communicate with spirits. She later discovered she possessed the gift to connect with the spirit world. In an interview about Ortega Highway, she shared some chilling insights.
“You think that clown on the side of the road is bad – and you’re right; he’s evil, and would kill if he could. But the thing that climbs up that pole every night and looks down on the people who drive by…it’s like a skeleton, only it’s not. It’s more like a moving carcass, but made up of some things that just don’t exist in this world. That one…I do believe that thing would do a great deal more than just kill you. I think it would take your soul.”
I’m sad to say I didn’t see anything unusual during my drive on the highway, but I did see some seriously amazing views of Lake Elsinore and the snow-capped mountains.
Wander Woman 