This route achieves four 4,000 foot (1219.2 meter) high points at Carpenter Summit, then crossing the Pine Valley Creek Bridge before the Laguna Summit, followed by the Crestwood Summit, then the Tecate Divide, After the Laguna Summit, the road passes a U.S. border patrol interior checkpoint that was constructed in 1995 near Buckman Springs Road turn off just east of the summit. However, this resulted in smugglers driving the wrong way on I-8 at high speeds in order to avoid the checkpoint, causing several crashes, even after concrete barriers were installed. The freeway intersects with SR 79 in the national forest before passing through the La Posta and Campo Indian reservations.