Soledad Pass

Soledad Pass
Elevation 3,209 ft (978 m)[1]
Traversed by SR 14, Sierra Hwy, CR N3, UPRR
Location Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Range Sierra Pelona Mountains
Coordinates 34°30′24″N 118°06′44″W / 34.50667°N 118.11222°WCoordinates: 34°30′24″N 118°06′44″W / 34.50667°N 118.11222°W
Topo map USGS Palmdale

Soledad Pass, elevation 3,209 ft (978 m),[1] is a mountain pass in northern Los Angeles County, California. It constitutes the gap between the Sierra Pelona Mountains to the northwest and the San Gabriel Mountains to the southeast, and it provides a route between the Santa Clara River watershed and the Antelope Valley (Mojave Desert). Because this is the lowest crossing of the Great Basin Divide between the Sierra Nevada and the San Bernardino Mountains, it is traversed by one railroad line (a former main line of the Southern Pacific, now part of Union Pacific) and three highways: the Antelope Valley Freeway (State Route 14), the older Sierra Highway (formerly U.S. 6), and the Angeles Forest Highway (County Route N3). The importance of the railroad line for freight traffic diminished with the completion of the Palmdale Cutoff over Cajon Pass in the 1960s, but the route is now used for the Antelope Valley Line of the Metrolink commuter rail system. The Vincent Grade/Acton station lies essentially at the summit of Soledad Pass.

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