Santa Susana Pass Stagecoach Road (Los Angeles, California)

 road, interesting place, historic landmark

Workers began blasting sandstone to form a rudimentary road in June 1860 under the watch of James P. Thomson, a noted early Californian settler. Heavy rainfall impeded their work, and the road was not completed until 1 April 1861. The first overland mail stage coach crossed the pass five days later, completing the San Francisco to Los Angeles trip in a record 72 hours. The stage road was used until 1895, when local citizens had the "new" Santa Susana Pass Road built to the north to bypass Devil's Slide altogether.

The eastern, downslope side of the pass was named The Devil's Slide. Various measures to keep the wagons from running out of control included: using a windlass to help their wagon safely descend, blindfolding their horses, using a system of steps cut into the sandstone, and augmenting the wagon's brakes with chains as using brakes alone was not enough to slow the descent. Another method used was to simply lock the rear wheels in place using chains or a wooden rod between the spokes.

www.parks.ca.gov/pages/980/files/sspshp%20historic%20re...