CA Road Tripping: Cruise Musical Roads, See Optical Illusions Out Your Car Window

CALIFORNIA — A select group of California roadways are becoming sensations of sight and sound thanks to a mix of art and science.

This summer, while road-tripping across California, we're focusing on two roadside oddities: musical roads and optical illusions. But it's the math and science of properly spaced rumble strips that actually make music for drivers who keep to the correct speed limit. And it's kinetic murals, with a succession of images that create a movie-like experience as you drive past.

As you plan your Summer Road Trips, here are five unique man-made places worth an "out of your way" stop across Southern California.

1. A Road Trip Hit That Became A Miss

They may not look like much to the naked eye, but at 55 miles per hour, these little grooves in the road turn groovy.

Musical roads, built as part of public art, are both a roadside attraction and a traffic-behavior experiment: carefully spaced rumble strips turn tires into musical notes, giving cities a shareable landmark while encouraging drivers to travel at the speed needed to hear the song correctly.

The musical roads began, as many well-funded things will, with the creativity of an advertising campaign.

Mark Hemstreet, Executive Director of Destination Lancaster, described the project. "The grooves are spaced so that a series of pitches play when a car drives over them at around 55 mph. It was designed to replicate the finale of 'William Tell Overture.'"

Honda designed and developed the original musical road in the Lancaster desert, which uses a little bit of math, a little bit of art, and even more speed control to create musical stanzas you can hear from inside your car.

Honda's commercial, featuring the Lancaster road, gave that stretch of musical road national attention.

The Musical Road then gained international attention on social media.

"Due to noise complaints from local residents living along the original road, the city was forced to repave the old road and cut the music short," he said, which admittedly changed the draw. "Eager to keep the Lone Ranger spirit alive, the City relocated the road to a more secluded area and brought the attraction back."

According to Reddit users, the road remake had some hiccups.

"Someone misread the drawings or instructions and built the strips at the wrong frequency. The instructions were talking about the center-to-center distance between the strips, but people building it understood it as the internal distance between the strips (or vice-versa). The result was something that sounded like a soundtrack to a demonic ritual instead of the W.T. Overture."

Whether the relocation hit the mark remains to be seen. (Check it out in the video below comparing two musical roads.)

2. This Singing Roadway Brings National Pride

The "Marine Corps Hymn" also earned a spot in California's musical roadways.

Located in nearby Palmdale, and dubbed the R. Lee Ermey Musical Road, on R. Lee Ermey Avenue, this was the second musical roadway constructed in California.

This plays music in honor of R. Lee “Gunny” Ermey, a decorated Marine and actor in movies and on television, according to Atlas Obscura. "Gunny is the only Marine to have been brought out of retirement and promoted, according to his biography. In 2002, the Marine Corps promoted Ermey to E-7 Gunnery Sergeant, the rank he portrayed in the movie Full Metal Jacket."

In 2018, the city of Palmdale created a permanent tribute to Gunny by renaming Avenue N as R. Lee Ermey Avenue. He and his family lived nearby for 24 years. The narrow strip of intermittent grooves near the right shoulder, at 45 miles per hour, will play about 30 seconds of the "Marines' Hymn."

According to YouTuber Steve from Sidetracked, the Palmdale Marine Corps Hymn musical road was the winner of the two high desert musical roads.

"I think this would have done R. Lee Ermey proud," said Steve in his video below.

Rumor has it that a third musical roadway is being planned in California along historic Route 66 near Barstow. This will give road-trippers another reason to keep an ear to the ground on California highways.

But sound isn't the only sensory delight the road has to offer travelers in California. Optical illusions are a new trend taking off.

3. Optical Illusions On Indio Bridge

There are places across California where, when driving by, it might seem like your eyes are playing tricks on you.

Take a look at the Fred Waring Bridge in Indio, at Madison Avenue, where the artwork seems to turn into a moving picture as you cruise by. The artwork, which creates a flipbook-style optical illusion when you drive by at the speed limit, has both impressed and worried residents, according to a KESQ report.

The City of Indio says the mural was "designed and installed with great care and consideration. This installation is no more visually prominent than many of the billboards, murals, and public art pieces that line our streets and highways throughout the Coachella Valley. Like those, it serves to enhance the visual landscape without impeding safe driving practices."

The art, the same on both sides, begins with a horse and rider and evolves into a winged pegasus, then a hawk in flight as you drive by.

A city spokesperson added that any distraction is not the bridge artist's fault, as the installation was designed to bring character and color.

"I enjoy it. I like the colors, and how it moves like a 40s, 30s, motion picture," Henry Barringer told reporters. "That way, no one can graffiti on it."

4. Kinetic Art As Really Cool Album Advertising

Another Indio kinetic mural celebrated the release of Kacey Musgraves's album "Middle of Nowhere" ahead of her surprise Coachella Music and Arts Festival performance this year.

Drivers on Varner Road can see the "flip book" style movie reel that has generated much conversation for drivers along that stretch of Indio roadway.

This one features a running longhorn steer that collides with a falling star, before it launches into Musgraves's album promotion.

See the mesmerizing video below for yourself.

5. Public Art Goes Underground In Orange County:

Mission Viejo has turned an underground tunnel into a work of art, colliding with science.

You'll have to get out of the car to see this one.

Welcome to the Oso Creek Trail at Jeronimo Road and Arbolitos, where a tunnel-vibration mural uses the art of color and science to create an optical illusion you'll have to see for yourselves.

As you walk through, toward the sunlight, the colors appear to "vibrate" when placed next to each other, according to a city spokesperson. Community members gathered in 2023 to help paint the bright mural, which has become a favorite photo backdrop and venue for lively community events.

"This space was recently enhanced with a vibrant mural that sets the scene for excitement and will be hosting events that will boast different lighting effects to spotlight the colorful surroundings, covering visitors in an audio and visual experience like no other site in the City," they said.

The city has hosted "subterranean soundscapes" events at the tunnel over the years, bringing fun cultural events to the people.

We know there are more roadside oddities that catch the eye in California.

What are some of your favorites?

Let us know by emailing your Patch editor for a chance to be featured in our next Roadtripping post.