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Tehachapi Pass ( Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") is a mountain pass crossing the Tehachapi Mountains in
The railroad landmark known as the Tehachapi Loop is about west of the summit.
Kern County, California
Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield.
Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county ...
. Traditionally, the pass marks the northeast end of the Tehachapis and the south end of the Sierra Nevada range.
The route is a principal connector between the San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...
and the Mojave Desert. The Native American Kitanemuk people used the pass as a trade route before the American settlement of the region in the 19th century. The main line of the former Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was ...
opened though the pass in 1876; the tracks are now owned by the Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
and shared with BNSF Railway. U.S. Route 466 was built in the 1930s, and the road is now State Route 58
The following highways are numbered 58:
International
* European route E58
Australia
* Riverina Highway
Canada
* Alberta Highway 58
* Highway 58 (Ontario)
* Saskatchewan Highway 58
Finland
* Finnish national road 58
India
* National Highw ...
. The Pass is also the route of the planned California High-Speed Rail line.
The Tehachapi Mountains are also crossed by Tejon Pass at the southwest end of the range.
Nomenclature
The precise meaning of the name Tehachapi Pass is often a source of confusion. Technically (i.e., as noted on USGS topographic maps), the name refers to the narrowest part of the canyon on the eastern approach to the summit (as at San Gorgonio Pass), where the elevation is about . The actual high point is just east of the town of Tehachapi, at an elevation (on the railroad next to Tehachapi Boulevard) of . The highway sign refers to this location as Tehachapi Summit. However, the term Tehachapi Pass is routinely used to refer to both this location and the approaches on either side.Features
The area east and south of the pass is home to the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm, one of California's larger wind farms. The pass is also a proposed route for the California High-Speed Rail line between Palmdale and Bakersfield.
The railroad landmark known as the Tehachapi Loop is about west of the summit.
See also
* Tehachapi Renewable Transmission ProjectReferences
{{Authority control Tehachapi Mountains Historic trails and roads in California Landforms of Kern County, California Mountain passes of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Rail mountain passes of the United States Transportation in Kern County, California Pass Mojave Desert San Joaquin Valley