Cajon Canyon, originally named El Cajon De San Gabriel De Amuscopiabit, ''El Cajon'' in Spanish meaning "the box" in English, is a long
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
ending in a
box canyon
A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to ...
in the northeastern
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...
, within
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...
.
Geography
The steep slopes around the edges of the box canyon section in its upper reaches, making it difficult to enter and leave it, led to its acquiring this name ''Cajon''.
Its mouth lies at an elevation of , in
Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass (; Spanish: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del Cajón'') is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andr ...
near
Cajon Junction. Its head is to the west, at at an elevation of , and less than 1/2 mile south of Mountain Top Junction where the
Angeles Crest Highway
The Angeles Crest Highway is a two-lane highway over the San Gabriel Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California. It runs through the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Angeles National Forest. With the exception of a section in ...
intersects
California State Highway 138.
California State Route 138
State Route 138 (SR 138) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that generally follows the northern foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and the western Mojave Desert. The scenic highway begins in the west at its ...
runs through the length of the valley, between
Interstate 15
Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...
and Angeles Crest Highway.
See also
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References
{{coord, 34, 18, 20, N, 117, 27, 56, W, display=title
Canyons and gorges of California
San Gabriel Mountains
Valleys of San Bernardino County, California
Mormon Road