Ridgewood Summit is a low mountain pass in

Mendocino County, California Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists wholly ...

, traversed by

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal R ...

at an altitude of . It crosses the

Mendocino Range The Mendocino Range is one of several coastal mountain ranges which compose the Pacific Coast Range. This massive range of coastal mountains was formed during a period of coastal orogeny, millions of years ago. The Mendocino Range is a component o ...

, connecting Ukiah and the watershed of the Russian River, on the south of the pass, to Willits and the watershed of the Eel River on the north. It is the highest pass on

U.S. Route 101 in California U.S. Route 101 (US 101) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway, stretching from Los Angeles, California to Tumwater, Washington. The California portion of US 101 is one of the last remaining and longest U.S. Routes s ...

. Greenough Ridge and Irene Peak rise to the west of the pass. The spur of the Mendocino Range to the east of the pass is called the Laughlin Range.

Ridgewood Ranch Ridgewood Ranch is a large ranch situated south of Willits, California, in rural Mendocino County. It is probably best known for being the final resting place of the racehorse Seabiscuit. History Situated in a low mountain valley below Ridgew ...

, the last resting place of racehorse

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse ...

, lies immediately to the south of the pass, in the Walker Valley. A large rock near the pass is called Black Bart Rock. However, although Black Bart twice robbed stagecoaches on the road from Willits to Ukiah, in October 1878 and again in June 1882, he did so from a smaller rock near Forsythe Creek, to the south of the pass on its descent to Ukiah, rather than on the pass itself. The rock he used has since been blasted away. Another bandit, John Schneider, held up another stagecoach in the pass in 1896; it was called "robber's pass" as a consequence of these frequent robberies.

References

Mountain passes of California Geography of Mendocino County, California Transportation in Mendocino County, California U.S. Route 101 {{California-road-stub