Tehachapi Pass

2025-10-26T23:11:19Z

2603:8000:F0F0:7250:F8E2:353E:C4F7:3BFA:

{{Short description|Route in the Transverse Ranges}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name = Tehachapi Pass
| photo = Tehachapi wind farm 1.jpg
| photo_caption = The Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm, as seen from California State Route 58
| map = USA California Southern##California
| map_caption = Location in [[California]]
| map_relief = yes
| elevation_ft = 3771
| elevation_ref = <ref name=topo>{{cite web |title=USGS 7.5 minute topographic map |url=http://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=35.10119&lon=-118.28272&datum=nad27&zoom=4&map=24k&coord=dms&mode=pan&size=l |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] |accessdate=2013-05-31}}</ref>
| traversed = {{jct|state=CA|CA|58}}<br />[[Union Pacific Railroad]] <br />Future [[California High-Speed Rail]] <br /> Future {{jct|state=CA|I|40}} (if converted to Interstate standards)

| location = [[Kern County, California]]
| range = [[Tehachapi Mountains]] / [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]
| coordinates = {{coord|35|06|08|N|118|16|58|W|region:US-CA_type:pass|display=inline,title}}
| topo =
}}

'''Tehachapi Pass'''{{efn|({{langx|xaw|Tihachipia}}, meaning "hard climb")<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-18 |title=Visitor Guide: What does 'Tehachapi' mean? |url=https://www.tehachapinews.com/visitor-guide/visitor-guide-what-does-tehachapi-mean/article_afd99b28-f930-11e6-b7e8-f3dbfe17b5ee.html |website=Tehachapi News |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005130746/https://www.tehachapinews.com/visitor-guide/visitor-guide-what-does-tehachapi-mean/article_afd99b28-f930-11e6-b7e8-f3dbfe17b5ee.html |archive-date= Oct 5, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mathews |first=Joe |date=2016-02-11 |title=Meet the Toughest Mountains in California {{!}} Connecting California |url=https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2016/02/11/meet-the-toughest-mountains-in-california/ideas/connecting-california/ |website=Zócalo Public Square |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005130745/https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2016/02/11/meet-the-toughest-mountains-in-california/ideas/connecting-california/ |archive-date= Oct 5, 2023 }}</ref>}} is a [[mountain pass]] crossing the [[Tehachapi Mountains]] in [[Kern County, California]]. Traditionally, the pass marks the northeast end of the Tehachapis and the south end of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] range.

The route is a principal connector between the [[San Joaquin Valley]] and the [[Mojave Desert]]. The Native American [[Kitanemuk|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]] opened though the pass in 1876;<ref name=ASCE>{{cite web |title=Tehachapi Pass Railroad Line |url=https://www.asce.org/project/tehachapi-pass-railroad-line/ |publisher=[[American Society of Civil Engineers]] |accessdate=22 October 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200921124049/https://www.asce.org/project/tehachapi-pass-railroad-line/ |archive-date= Sep 21, 2020 }}</ref> the tracks are now owned by the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] and shared with [[BNSF Railway]] as the [[Mojave Subdivision]]. [[U.S. Route 466]] was built in the 1930s, and the road is now [[California State Route 58|State Route 58]]. 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.

==Name==
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 {{convert|3771|ft|m|0}}.<ref name=topo/> The actual high point is just east of the town of [[Tehachapi, California|Tehachapi]], at an elevation (on the railroad next to Tehachapi Boulevard) of {{convert|4031|ft|m|0}}.<ref name=topo /> 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==
[[File:Crossing of the Sierra Nevadas, California; 'Tehachapa Pass,' 1,720 miles west of Missouri River. (Boston Public Library).jpg|thumb|350px|The [[Tehachapi Mountains]] and Tehachapi Pass in 1869]]

The mountain pass acts as a [[venturi effect]] to air moving between ocean and desert, increasing wind speed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why Tehachapi Pass? / Pioneers of the Wind / Hike A Mile or Two - Thousand Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=63166 |website=www.hmdb.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019013017/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=63166 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

The area east and south of the pass is home to the [[Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm]], and to the west is [[Alta Wind Energy Center]], some of California's larger [[wind farm]]s.

The railroad landmark known as the [[Tehachapi Loop]] is about {{convert|18|mi|km|0}} west of the summit. The pass is also a proposed route for the [[California High-Speed Rail]] line between [[Palmdale]] and [[Bakersfield]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vartabedian |first1=Ralph |title=Bullet train plan for Tehachapi passage would cost $18.1 billion over 82 miles |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-29/bullet-train-plan-for-tehachapi-mountain-passage-would-cost-18-billion-over-82-miles |accessdate=22 October 2020 |agency=Los Angeles Times |date=29 February 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sierra Nevada}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tehachapi Mountains]]
[[Category:Historic trails and roads in California]]
[[Category:Landforms of Kern County, California]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of the Sierra Nevada (United States)]]
[[Category:Rail mountain passes of the United States]]
[[Category:Transportation in Kern County, California]]
[[Category:Tehachapi, California|Pass]]
[[Category:Mojave Desert]]
[[Category:San Joaquin Valley]]
[[Category:Mountain passes of California]]

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Tehachapi Pass