Corral Hollow Pass, originally Portezuela de Buenos Ayres (Pass of Good Winds) is a low mountain pass in the
Diablo Range
The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...
southeast of
Livermore, in
Alameda County, California
Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Alam ...
. This pass, at an elevation of 1600 ft, was the point where
El Camino Viejo
El Camino Viejo a Los Ángeles ( en, the Old Road to Los Angeles), also known as El Camino Viejo and the Old Los Angeles Trail, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Spanish colonial Las Californias (1769–1822) and Mexican Alta Cal ...
crested the range, leaving the
Arroyo Seco watershed in the southeastern part of the
Livermore Valley
The Livermore Valley, historically known as the Valle de San José (Valley of San José), is a valley in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region. The city of Livermore is located in the valley.
Geography
The valley is bound ...
and dropping down a deep canyon into
Corral Hollow
Corral Hollow, formed by Corral Hollow Creek, is a canyon partially located in Alameda County, with parts in San Joaquin County, southwest of Tracy, California. Corral Hollow Creek, formerly El Arroyo de los Buenos Ayres (The Creek of the Goo ...
near the former mining town of
Tesla. The road then continued eastward along
Corral Hollow Creek
Corral Hollow Creek, originally El Arroyo de los Buenos Ayres (The Creek of the Good Winds), later Buenos Ayres Creek, is a stream and tributary of the San Joaquin River, flowing through Alameda County and San Joaquin County, Central California.
...
into the
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...
. Today County Hwy J2 (Tesla Road/Corral Hollow Road) follows this route. This is a popular alternate route to
Interstate 580 during rush hour.
The name Portezuela de Buenos Ayres appears on the Diseño del
Rancho Las Positas
Rancho Las Positas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Alameda County, California given in 1839 by governor Juan Alvarado to Robert Livermore and José Noriega. Las Positas means "little watering holes" in Spanish. The rancho included t ...
. Portezuela means "small door" in Spanish and in Mexico can mean "a pass between hills". By 1873, the name of the pass had changed and appeared on a California State Geological Survey map as Corral Hollow Pass.
[State Geological Survey Of California. J.D. Whitney, State Geologist. Map Of The Region Adjacent To The Bay Of San Francisco. 1873. The Coast, Rancho, Township and Section Lines from Materials furnished by the U.S. Coast Survey and the U.S. Surveyor General's Office, the Topography chiefly from Original Surveys by C.F. Hoffman ... Julius Bien, Lith., 1873.]
References
{{Reflist
External links
Composite: Map Of The Region Adjacent To The Bay Of San Francisco, 1873from www.davidrumsey.com accessed November 24, 2011. Shows name change to Corral Hollow Pass.
Mountain passes of California
Diablo Range
Livermore Valley
El Camino Viejo
History of Alameda County, California
Landforms of Alameda County, California