Editing Cajon Pass (section)

{{Short description|Mountain pass in Southern California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name = Cajon Pass
| other_name = [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Puerto del Cajón'', ''Paso del Cajón''
| photo = Cajon Pass, wide angle.jpg
| photo_caption = I-15 passing over Cajon Summit
| map               = USA California Southern##California
| map_caption       = Location in [[California]]
| map_relief        = yes
| elevation_ft = 3777
| elevation_ref = <ref name=ngs/>
| traversed = {{Jct|state=CA|SR|138}}<br/>{{Jct|state=CA|US|66}} (from 1926-1979)<!-- DO NOT CHANGE IT TO "1926-PRESENT". US 66 WAS TRUNCATED TO KINGMAN, ARIZONA IN 1979. --> <br/>{{Jct|state=CA|US|91}} ''(until 1974)''<br/>{{Jct|state=CA|US|395}} ''(until 1979)''<br/>[[Union Pacific Railroad]]/[[BNSF Railway]]/[[Amtrak]]<br/>{{Jct|state=CA|I|15}} ''(indirectly)''
| location = [[San Bernardino County, California]], [[United States]]
| range = [[San Bernardino Mountains]]/[[San Gabriel Mountains]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|34|19|33|N|117|25|42|W|type:pass_region:US-CA|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| topo = 
}}

'''Cajon Pass''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|h|oʊ|n}}; [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del Cajón'')<ref>[https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/en-espanol/noticias/california/articulo/2020-07-13/probabilidad-de-gran-terremoto-en-san-andres-aumento-por-temblores-de-ridgecrest-sugiere-estudio San Diego Union-Tribune en Español - La probabilidad de un gran terremoto en San Andrés aumentó por los temblores de Ridgecrest, sugiere un estudio]</ref><ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/espanol/sns-es-suben-temperaturas-mientras-incendio-se-acerca-a-lake-tahoe-20210830-mlcvzo7nbnflblbcumskzonb74-story.html Chicago Tribune - Suben temperaturas mientras incendio se acerca a lago Tahoe]</ref> is a [[mountain pass]] between the [[San Bernardino Mountains]] to the east and the [[San Gabriel Mountains]] to the west in [[Southern California]]. Created by the movements of the [[San Andreas Fault]], it has an elevation of {{convert|3,777|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name=ngs>{{cite ngs|id= EV2092 |designation= 703 26 B |accessdate= 3 August 2010}}</ref> Located in the [[Mojave Desert]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Itinerary |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/geology/publications/bul/613/sec24.htm |access-date=2010-11-28 |quote=''The slope, the southern edge of the [[Mohave Desert]], is a thick succession of sheets of gravel and sand extending far up the mountain sides and beyond the summit at Cajon (cah-hone') Pass''}}</ref> the pass is an important link from the [[San Bernardino Valley|Greater San Bernardino Area]] to the [[Victor Valley]], and northeast to [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]]. The Cajon Pass area is on the [[Pacific Crest Trail]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hikerfeed.com/pacific-crest-trail/towns | title=Pacific Crest Trail Towns - HikerFeed }}</ref>

Cajon Pass is at the head of [[Horsethief Canyon]], traversed by [[California State Route 138]] (SR 138) and railroad tracks owned by [[BNSF Railway]] and [[Union Pacific Railroad]]. Improvements in 1972 reduced the railroad's maximum elevation from about {{convert|3829|to|3777|ft|m}}<ref name=ngs/><ref name=ngs-ev2096>{{cite ngs|id= EV2096 |designation= Summit |accessdate= 3 August 2010}}</ref> while reducing curvature.
[[Interstate 15]] does not traverse Cajon Pass, but rather the nearby '''Cajon Summit''', {{coord|34|20|58|N|117|26|47|W|display=inline|type:mountain_source:GNIS|name=Cajon Summit}},{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} The entire area, Cajon Pass and Cajon Summit, is often referred to as Cajon Pass,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.summitpost.org/canyon/605337/Cajon-Pass-Cajon-Canyon.html |title= Cajon Pass/Cajon Canyon |publisher= Summitpost.org |access-date = 11 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Hall |first= Alice Aby |title= The Cajon Pass |year= 2009 |publisher= Arcadia Publishing |isbn= 978-0-7385-7075-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jUPlGM-qosgC&pg=PA7 |pages= 7–8}}</ref> but a distinction is made between Cajon Pass and Cajon Summit.<ref>{{cite web |title= Inventory of Lifelines in the Cajon Pass, California |publisher= [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] |year= 1991 |url= http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1746}}</ref>

[[File:Mormon Rocks-1.JPG|thumb|A freight train passing in front of Mormon Rocks]]

In 1851, a group of [[Mormon]] settlers led by [[Amasa M. Lyman]] and [[Charles C. Rich]] traveled through Cajon Pass in [[covered wagon]]s on their way from [[Salt Lake City]] to southern California. A prominent rock formation in the pass, where the [[Mormon Road]] and the railway merge (at {{coord|34.3184|-117.4920|display=inline}}, near Sullivan's Curve), is known as Mormon Rocks.

[[File:MORMON ROCKS San Andreas.jpg|thumb|Near the State Route 138 and Interstate 15 junction, the Mormon Rocks are evidence of the San Andreas fault beneath the surface]]