# California State Route 166

State Route 166 (SR 166) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It connects the Central Coast to the southern San Joaquin Valley, running from State Route 1 in Guadalupe and through Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County to State Route 99 in Mettler in Kern County.

## Route description

Route 166 starts off in Guadalupe in northwestern Santa Barbara County and heads east towards Santa Maria, the largest city on its eastern journey. It then joins with U.S. Route 101 for the last few miles in Santa Barbara County before crossing the Santa Maria River and splitting off in San Luis Obispo County. For the next 75 miles (121 km), SR 166 crosses the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo county line a total of five times. This stretch follows the Cuyama River through a canyon separating the Sierra Madre Mountains from mountains in San Luis Obispo County, and then opens out into the Cuyama Valley, passing cattle ranches, going through the Russell Ranch Oil Field, and passing Aliso Canyon Road, the turnoff to the South Cuyama Oil Field. On the north during this stretch is the mile-high Caliente Range, which contains Caliente Mountain, the highest peak in San Luis Obispo County.
After going through the towns of New Cuyama and Cuyama, the highway meets SR 33 north of Ventucopa. SR 33 and SR 166 merge until reaching Maricopa, where SR 166 heads due east for its last 20 miles (32 km), intersecting with I-5 about 9 miles (14 km) north of the Grapevine. SR 166 ends at SR 99 in Mettler, and it is the last exit for both I-5 and SR 99 southbound before they merge near Wheeler Ridge.
In Kern County, Highway 166 is known as the Maricopa Highway. West of Maricopa, where it skirts Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, it is called the Cuyama Highway. In the cities of Santa Maria and Guadalupe, it is known as Main Street.
SR 166 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, but is not part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. The route is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation. From US 101 to SR 33, SR 166 is known as the "CHP Officers Irvine and Stovall Memorial Highway". In February 1998, a large storm swelled the Cuyama River and caused it to wash out a section of the highway. Officers Britt Irvine and Rick Stovall were responding to an early morning call about a truck accident when their CHP cruiser drove off the washed out section.

## History

Before 1964, the portion of SR 166 merged with SR 33 was part of US 399.

## Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
| Santa Barbara SB 0.00-90.99 | Guadalupe | 0.00 | | West Main Street | Continuation beyond SR 1 |
| Santa Barbara SB 0.00-90.99 | Guadalupe | 0.00 | | SR 1 (Guadalupe Street) | West end of SR 166 |
| Santa Barbara SB 0.00-90.99 | Santa Maria | 7.87 | | SR 135 (Broadway, US 101 Bus.) | |
| Santa Barbara SB 0.00-90.99 | Santa Maria | 8.9388.60 | | US 101 south / Main Street | Interchange; west end of US 101 overlap; US 101 north exit 171 |
| West end of freeway on US 101 |||
| Santa Barbara SB 0.00-90.99 | Santa Maria | 89.69 | 172 | Donovan Road | |
| Santa Barbara SB 0.00-90.99 | Santa Maria | 90.75 | 173 | SR 135 south (Broadway, US 101 Bus. south) – Santa Maria | |
| San Luis Obispo SLO 0.00-22.89 | ​ | 0.8113.51 | East end of freeway on US 101 | East end of freeway on US 101 | East end of freeway on US 101 |
| San Luis Obispo SLO 0.00-22.89 | ​ | 0.8113.51 | | US 101 north / Cuyama Lane | Interchange; east end of US 101 overlap; US 101 south exit 175 |
| Santa Barbara SB 22.89-R34.99 | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions |
| San Luis Obispo SLO R34.99-R51.09 | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions |
| Santa Barbara SB R51.09-R70.14 | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions |
| San Luis Obispo SLO R70.14-4.95 | ​ | 74.722.80 | | SR 33 south – Ojai, Ventura | West end of SR 33 overlap; former US 399 south |
| Kern KER 0.00-24.62 | Maricopa | R11.560.01 | | SR 33 north (California Street) to I-5 north – Central District, Taft | East end of SR 33 overlap; former US 399 north |
| Kern KER 0.00-24.62 | ​ | 14.86 | | Old River Road – Old River | |
| Kern KER 0.00-24.62 | ​ | 22.80 | | I-5 (West Side Freeway) | Interchange; I-5 exit 225 |
| Kern KER 0.00-24.62 | Mettler | 24.62 | | Mettler Frontage Road West – Mettler | |
| Kern KER 0.00-24.62 | Mettler | 24.62 | | SR 99 – Los Angeles, Bakersfield | Interchange; east end of SR 166; former US 99; SR 99 exit 3 |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus ||||||
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along US 101 rather than SR 166.
* 1 2 3 4 Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along SR 33 rather than SR 166.