Pinchot Pass is a high

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 ...

in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

of California, in the United States. It lies within far eastern

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populo ...

, inside

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and ren ...

and the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness. Pinchot Pass sits at an elevation of 12,090 feet (3,685 m), running roughly from east to west, situated between 12,874-foot Crater Mountain to the southwest and 13,179-foot Mount Wynne directly to the east. The pass separates a lakes basin that includes Marjorie Lake to the north, and the Woods Creek drainage (a major tributary of the

South Fork Kings River The South Fork Kings River is a tributary of the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada of Fresno County, California. The river forms part of Kings Canyon, the namesake of Kings Canyon National Park and one of the deepest canyons in North America wi ...

) to the south. The seasonally-staffed Bench Lake ranger station is just over 2 miles to the north of the pass, near the trail turnoff from the John Muir Trail to Taboose Pass. The pass is traversed by the

John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...

and the

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

, which are coincident (sharing the same route) between Crabtree Meadows and

Tuolumne Meadows Tuolumne Meadows () is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term ''Tuolumn ...

. It is one of the six high mountain passes above 11,000 feet on the John Muir Trail, along with Donohue Pass,

Muir Pass Muir Pass is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada of California, United States, in Kings Canyon National Park. It is named for John Muir. The pass is near the midway point of the John Muir Trail and around mile 841 of the Pacific Crest Trail. ...

Mather Pass Mather Pass is a high mountain pass in the U.S. state of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. It lies within far eastern Fresno County, inside Kings Canyon National Park and the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness. The pass lies at an elevat ...

, Glen Pass, and

Forester Pass Forester Pass is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada. Located on the Kings-Kern Divide and on the boundary between Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park, Forester Pass connects the drainages of Bubbs Creek (a tributary of the S ...

; it is south of Mather Pass and north of Glen Pass.

Naming

Pinchot Pass was named for

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsyl ...

, fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry from 1898 to 1905 and first head of the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

(USFS) from 1905 to 1910. It and the nearby Mount Pinchot were named by Joseph Nisbet LeConte, a noted

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

, photographer, and

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

of the Sierra Nevada, in 1903.

Gallery of nearby peaks

Image:Mt. Pinchot, from Pinchot Pass.jpg, Mount Pinchot, viewed from north of Pinchot Pass Image:Crater Mountain near Pinchot Pass.jpg, Crater Mountain, viewed from south of Pinchot Pass Image:"Pinchot Pass, Mt. Wynne, Kings River Canyon (Proposed as a national park)," California, 1936., ca. 1936 - NARA - 519926.jpg, Mount Wynne, viewed from south of Pinchot Pass, by

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

References

Kings Canyon National Park Landforms of Fresno County, California Mountain passes on the John Muir Trail {{US-trail-stub

Naming

Gallery of nearby peaks

See also

References