James Dean's crash site

Crash Site Location in Shandon, California

This is the location where James Dean died in a car accident.

The crash site is situated on California State Route 46, near Shandon, California.

On September 30th, 1955, the 24-year-old was fatally injured at this intersection after his Porsche 550 Spyder collided with another vehicle.

Dean suffered multiple internal injuries and a broken neck.

Following the accident, the actor was rushed to a hospital in the nearby town of Paso Robles, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

That Friday afternoon, Dean was speeding west along Route 466 towards Paso Robles, where he was planning to stop for dinner. After stopping for food, Dean intended to drive to Salinas, California.

That weekend, the city was hosting a series of racing events, one of which he was scheduled to take part in.

However, as he was approaching this intersection, a motorist driving in the opposite direction attempted to cut across his lane and turn left. When the other car crossed into Dean's path, the "Rebel Without a Cause" star quickly realized that he was in imminent danger.

Although he attempted to dodge the vehicle, the speed at which he was driving left him with little time to react. As a result, the two vehicles collided head-on, and Dean's Porsche Spyder was sent tumbling across the road until it finally landed beside a fence at the side of the interstate.

In the blink of an eye, one of Hollywood's most promising young actors was dead.

James Dean crash site location

The address and the GPS coordinates for this location are as follows:

Address

California State Route 46, Shandon, California, CA 93461, USA

Map

To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below:

Google Maps

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the junction are:

35.734568, -120.284735

Directions

The site is about 80 miles southwest of Fresno, California. It is situated at the intersection of California State Route 46 and State Route 41, roughly one mile north of the Jack Ranch Cafe.

Photos

Photos of the junction and other related images.

Crash

This "reconstruction image" illustrates what Dean would have seen just moments before his fatal crash.

At the time, he was driving towards this intersection when an oncoming black 1950 Ford Tudor moved into his lane to turn left (in the direction of the red arrow).

Police reports state that Dean was driving at around 55 mph (88 km/h) at the time of the impact.

As a result, it is unlikely that he had enough time to react.

Map of Dean's crash site

This is an aerial map of the site where James Dean crashed.

Over the years, this intersection has seen a significant number of changes. For example, two of the connecting roads did not exist in 1955.

Furthermore, the fan memorial site was pushed back at some point. This was most likely for safety reasons, as the actual crash site is on a piece of land that is enclosed between two state highways.

On that fateful afternoon in 1955, Dean was driving westbound along US Route 466. These days, US Route 466 no longer exists. In 1964, it was removed from the highway system and incorporated into California State Route 46.

The site where the car landed

This is a Google Street View image of the general area where the actor's car landed. The original fence no longer exists.

The inset photograph in the top left-hand corner shows that the Porsche 550 Spyder was mangled beyond repair. Witnesses said that the car smashed into the ground multiple times as it "cartwheeled" across the highway.

Note that extreme caution should be taken if you are attempting to access this site, as previous visitors have reported that it can be difficult to reach, especially during heavy traffic.