Southern California has a lot of mountain ranges. Most form a rather sizable barrier to travel in winter due to their abrupt height increases from the valley floors. Depending on the storm, all can close due to snow. Even Cahuenga Pass on US 101 near Hollywood, at 745 feet, has closed due to snow at times. This page will give a listing of all the passes that major State and County routes pass over and their milepost / postmile where possible. State Highway mileage prefixes, such as R, are not shown for clarity.
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| Road | Pass Name | Elevation (in feet) | County | Postmile / Milepost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Clear Creek Gap | 3660 | Los Angeles | 33.8 |
| 2 | Red Box Gap | 4630 | Los Angeles | 38.38 |
| 2 | Cloudburst Summit | 7018 | Los Angeles | 57.11 |
| 2 | Islip Saddle | 6658 | Los Angeles | 64.08 |
| 2 | Cortelyou Springs | 6761 | Los Angeles | 64.48 |
| 2 | Dawson Saddle | 7901 | Los Angeles | 69.45 |
| 2 | Vincent Gulch Divide | 6585 | Los Angeles | 75 |
| 2 | Blue Ridge Summit | 7386 | Los Angeles | 77.97 |
| 5 | Weldon Summit | 1760 | Los Angeles | 46.57 |
| 5 | Violin Summit | 2575 | Los Angeles | 65 |
| 5 | Whitaker Summit | 2860 | Los Angeles | 67.2 |
| 5 | Tejon Pass | 4144 | Los Angeles | 88.06 |
| 8 | Laguna Summit | 4055 | San Diego | 44.1 |
| 8 | Crestwood Summit | 4181 | San Diego | 60.5 |
| 8 | Tecate Divide | 4140 | San Diego | 63.3 |
| 10 | Chiraco Summit | 1705 | San Bernardino | 86.07 |
| 14 | Newhall Pass | 1750 | Los Angeles | 25.6 |
| 14 | Escondido Summit | 3258 | Los Angeles | 45.2 |
| 14 | Soledad Pass | 3209 | Los Angeles | 54.4 |
| 15 | Cajon Pass Northbound | 4190 | San Bernardino | 27 |
| 15 | Cajon Pass Southbound | 4257 | San Bernardino | 27 |
| 15 | Halloran Summit | 4203 | San Bernardino | 155.57 |
| 15 | Mountain Pass | 4750 | San Bernardino | 170.7 |
| 18 | Arrowhead Highlands Summit | 5174 | San Bernardino | 20.40 |
| 18 | Crest Summit | 5756 | San Bernardino | 24.01 |
| 18 | Lakeview Point | 7112 | San Bernardino | 39.03 |
| 18 | Johnston Grade Summit | 6829 | San Bernardino | 58.9 |
| 33 | North Fork Summit | 3708 | Ventura | 26.94 |
| 33 | Pine Mountain Summit | 5084 | Ventura | 42.66 |
| 38 | Onyx Summit | 8443 | San Bernardino | 39.4 |
| 40 | Mountain Springs Summit | 2770 | San Bernardino | 115 |
| 41 | Cottonwood Pass | 2000 | San Luis Obispo | 49.5 |
| 46 | Polonio Pass | 1750 | San Luis Obispo | 59 |
| 52 | Mission Trails Summit | 821 | San Diego | 10.9 |
| 58 | Tehachapi Summit | 4064 | Kern | 94.1 |
| 74 | Divide Summit | 2665 | Riverside | 7 |
| 74 | Keen Camp Summit | 4917 | Riverside | 61.07 |
| 74 | Santa Rosa Summit | 4977 | Riverside | 73.1 |
| 79 | Sunshine Summit | 3294 | San Diego | 44.09 |
| 95 | Lobecks Pass | 1990 | San Bernardino | 42.3 |
| 101 | Cahuenga Pass | 745 | Los Angeles | 8.93 |
| 101 | Nojoqui Summit | 918 | Santa Barbara | 51.3 |
| 101 | Cuesta Pass | 1549 | San Luis Obispo | 35.04 |
| 118 | Santa Susanna Pass | 1575 | Los Angeles / Ventura | 0.00 / 32.60 |
| 127 | Ibex Pass | 2072 | Inyo | 0 |
| 138 | Mountain Top | 4804 | San Bernardino | 6.86 |
| 154 | San Marcos Pass | 2225 | Santa Barbara | 24.4 |
| 155 | Greenhorn Summit | 6102 | Kern | 52.96 |
| 168 | Westgard Pass | 7271 | Inyo | 30.71 |
| 168 | Gilbert Pass | 6373 | Inyo | 50.21 |
| 178 | Salsberry Pass | 3315 | Inyo | 32 |
| 178 | Walker Pass | 5282 | Kern | 79.77 |
| 180 | Cherry Gap | 6897 | Fresno | 113.82 |
| 190 | Townes Pass | 4956 | Inyo | 68.81 |
| Angeles Forest Highway | Mill Creek Summit | 4910 | Los Angeles | 10.1 |
| Sherman Pass Road | Sherman Pass | 9200 | Tulare | UNK |
What is your cut off line to divide California between North and South?
The counties this site covers are defined on this page – https://socalregion.com/introduction/ . Basically, north of Monterey, San Benito, Fresno, Inyo, and Kings County. It isn’t a direct line but made that way to more easily split the state for coverage.
I found some beautiful specimens of quartz on the mountainside by foot just East of Dawson’s Saddle’s Caltrans Maintenance / Sand Shed! There are some goregous rocks up there if you know where to look.
Just east of Vincent Gap, there are some decent actinolite specimens to be found and you can see what may have been the boundary between the Farallon and North American plates.