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Beale's Cut

USA / California / Santa Clarita / Newhall Pass
 excavation, movie / film / TV location, mountain pass
Beale's Cut, also known as Fremont Pass. 27m deep cut was made by Gen. Edward Fitzgerald Beale in 1863. Prior to that, wagons had to be winched up and down the mountainside, and there was no other route connecting Los Angeles to the north.

The photo from within the Cut, and the detail of grafitti carved into the sandstone on the south side, show how extremely soft the rock is, which allowed laborers to excavate the cut using hand tools, no blasting neccessary. This also means that without maintenence, the Cut is rapidly eroding away. In a few more decades there will nothing left.

In the silent era and the golden age, it was a popular location for filming westerns, including John Ford's greatest film, Stagecoach starring John Wayne.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale's_Cut
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°20'42"N   118°30'29"W

Comments

  • guest (guest)
    For such an important part of LA history to be neglected like this and be literally fading away is a real tragedy.
  • sdmichael
    The landslides in the cut began in 1998 following the heavy rains. There was some local interest in shoring the cut but financing and land ownership problems prevented it from happening.
This article was last modified 10 years ago