Newhall Pass

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Newhall Pass
Elevation	750+ ft. / 229+ m
Location	California, United States
Range	Santa Susana Mountains/San Gabriel Mountains
Coordinates	34°20′43″N, 118°30′26″W
Traversed by	Interstate 5

Newhall Pass is a mountain pass in Los Angeles County, California, USA. Historically called San Fernando Pass and Fremont 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.

The pass was discovered in 1769 by Gaspar de Portolà. It was initially named for General John C. Frémont, who was thought to have passed through it in 1847 on his way to sign the Treaty of Cahuenga, but he actually went slightly east of the pass on the El Camino Viejo.^[1] The steep pass was made easier for stagecoach traffic with a 30-foot (9.1 m) deep cut made by Phineas Banning in 1854 as part of a road he built to provide service to Fort Tejon.

Beale's Cut in 1872

[edit] Beale's Cut

In 1863, the cut was deepened to 90 feet (27.4 m) 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. Newhall Pass remains a main traffic route, as the Newhall Pass interchange of Interstate 5 (Golden State Freeway and 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 the San Fernando Tunnel. The Sierra Highway crossing was once the Newhall Tunnel, built by Los Angeles County in 1910 to replace the cut.

Newhall Tunnel ca. 1920

Beale's Cut remains, though partly collapsed. Sometime in the late 20th century it suffered a partial collapse, and now is about 30 feet (9.1 m) 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 SR 14. It lies between Sierra Highway and the new freeway, about a quarter mile to the northeast of a stone marker.

Newhall Pass is named after businessman Henry Newhall, whose land holdings formed the basis of the city of Santa Clarita.