Tejon Pass (elevation 4,183 ft/1,275 m) is a mountain pass at the southwest end of the Tehachapi Mountains in southern California in the United States. The pass is located on the boundary between Los Angeles and Kern counties, approximately 50 mi (80 km) northwest of the city of Los Angeles.
The pass was the former location of Fort Tejon, built in 1854. The site is preserved at Old Fort Tejon State Park. The pass currently provides the route of Interstate 5 connecting Los Angeles with the Central Valley to the north.
The first highway linking the valley with the Los Angeles Basin, the Ridge Route, wound its way through the pass as well. The Ridge Route was originally a part of U.S. Highway 99 and was bypassed by a safer, straighter route over Grapevine Hill (or simply "The Grapevine") that would become part of Interstate 5 upon its completion. Though a great deal of the Ridge Route was covered up by the new highway, parts of it are still driveable today with some parts dating back to the 1910s.
The Tehachapi Mountains are also crossed by Tehachapi Pass at the northeast end where they meet the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Fort Tejon was established in 1854 to suppress stock rustling, which was rampant, and to protect (and control) the Native Americans in the San Joaquin Valley.
The section of freeway from the Fort Tejon Rd. overcrossing to the San Joaquin Valley was the first segment built as I-5, being completed in 1960 with the current eight lanes.
The section between the Fort Tejon overcrossing and Grapevine was also the site of an experiment which was to have a great effect on California's freeways in later years, as it was one of the first applications of a concrete barrier.
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