Fremont Pass (California)
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Fremont Pass is a mountain pass in Los Angeles County, California, USA, located at . Historically called Newhall Pass and San Fernando Pass, it separates the Santa Susana Mountains from the San Gabriel Mountains. It links the San Fernando Valley to the Santa Clarita Valley and is a main entry to the Los Angeles area.
It is not to be confused with Fremont Pass (Colorado).
The Pass was discovered in 1769 by Gaspar de Portolà. It was later named for General John C. Frémont, who passed through it in 1847 on his way to sign the Treaty of Cahuenga. The steep pass was made easier for stagecoach traffic with a 30-foot deep cut made by Phineas Banning in 1854 as part of a road he built to provide service to Fort Tejon.
In 1863 the cut was deepened to 90 feet by General Edward Fitzgerald Beale, landowner and surveyor. This slot-like roadway was called Beale's Cut, and it appeared in many silent western movies. Fremont Pass remains a main traffic route, as Interstate 5 (Golden State Freeway and California State Route 14 (Antelope Valley Freeway), as well as Sierra Highway, Foothill Boulevard, and San Fernando Road travel through the pass, and the Southern Pacific Railroad goes through the area via a tunnel. Beale's cut remains, though partly collapsed.
Sometime in the late 20th century it suffered a partial collapse, and now is about 30 feet deep. It is visible from the Sierra Highway about one mile north from the intersection of The Old Road and Sierra Highway, just after the first bridge under the SR 14. It lies between Sierra Highway and the new freeway, about a quarter mile to the northeast of a stone marker.
