Low Pass is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Lane County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States, on the

Long Tom River The Long Tom River is a tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains an area at the south end of the Willamette Valley between Eugene and Corvallis. It rises in the Central Oregon Coast Range in western ...

, east of Blachly and west of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. The settlement is centered on a small pullout on

Oregon Route 36 Oregon Route 36 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the city of Mapleton in the Oregon Coast Range, and the city of Junction City in the Willamette Valley. OR 36 traverses the Mapleton–Junction City Highway No. 229 of th ...

with a gas station/convenience store and a diner that serves as an unofficial community center for rural residents. The settlement is named for its location on a slight rise approaching the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

of the Coast Range mountains, in contrast to the nearby

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

High Pass. Much of the land west of Low Pass consists of

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

owned by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

. The community has also been known as "Long Tom Station" after the nearby river; the name "Low Pass" was made official by a

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

decision of 1985.

References

Unincorporated communities in Lane County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{LaneCountyOR-geo-stub