Siskiyou Summit (also Siskiyou Mtn. Summit; also referred to as Siskiyou Pass) is a

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

(high point) on

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

(I-5) in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It is distinct from Siskiyou Pass, which is a nearby, historical

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

. Siskiyou Summit is situated in the

Siskiyou Mountains The Siskiyou Mountains are a coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and located in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for approximately from east of Crescent City, California, northea ...

, approximately north of the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

border. At , it is the highest point on Interstate 5. When the highway was rebuilt on its current alignment, road cutting lowered the elevation of the summit by .

Geography

The Siskiyou Mountains form the watershed boundary between the

Klamath Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups *Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon **Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon *Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States * ...

and Rogue Rivers and are also a rough natural separator between Oregon and California. The summit on Interstate 5 is about north of

Yreka, California Yreka ( ) is the county seat of Siskiyou County, California, United States, near the Shasta River; the city has an area of about , most of it land. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,807, reflecting a meager increase fr ...

, and east of the historical Siskiyou Pass, the most used mountain pass in the state. The

Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

crosses the highway here on the way to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Climate

The road over Siskiyou Summit is typically closed to traffic for many days during winter due to severe weather conditions. At times, it can be closed during winter even when the weather is fine. Regardless, weather data is important to those involved in transportation over the summit. Average monthly temperatures and rainfall are given in the table below. Snow generally falls during the months of November through April, typically peaking with four such days in December. The wind speed over the course of a year varies from an average of in May to episodes of . The average number of rainy days per month varies from 11 in December to only two in June, August and September.

History

The

Hudson’s Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

carved a route from Oregon to California during their hunt for furs and pelts following Native American trails. HBC developed the

Siskiyou Trail The Siskiyou Trail stretched from California's Central Valley to Oregon's Willamette Valley; modern-day Interstate 5 follows this pioneer path. Originally based on existing Native American foot trails winding their way through river valleys, t ...

in 1827, which included crossing Siskiyou Summit. In the 1830s, Ewing Young, using horses and mules, led hundreds of cattle over the Siskiyou Trail, necessitating its widening; this process, which took three months to complete, linked the

Shasta Valley Shasta or Shastan may refer to: Native American * Shasta Costa, a people group native to southwestern Oregon * Shasta language, extinct language of the Shasta people * Shasta people, a people group native to northern California and southern Ore ...

in California with the

Rogue Valley The Rogue Valley is a valley region in southwestern Oregon in the United States. Located along the middle Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River and its tributaries in Josephine County, Oregon, Josephine and Jackson County, Oregon, Jackson counties, t ...

in Oregon. Scientists and cartographers of the United States Exploring Expedition carried out studies along this trail in 1841, while miners of the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

traversed the trail to reach the gold fields. In the 1860s, the trail was widened so that stagecoaches could easily traverse it. The first telegraph line was added in 1864. Only in the 1960s did it become the modern highway now designated Interstate 5.
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Road

The summit "towering 4310 ft straight up and straight down with curves thrown in for variety", has enough space for parking two lanes of rigs on both flanks of the road. Since the gradient is about 6%, it is a preferred place for truckers to park, refuel, check the condition of their vehicles, and rest. The road down from the summit on the north side is steep and winding. During winter, reaching the summit can be a challenge due to snow and ice on the pavement. In 2008, after the

Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad The Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad is a Class II railroad operating between Northern California and Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was previously a mainline owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) between Eugene and Weed, Califor ...

rail link between

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the Me ...

and

Weed, California Weed is a city in Siskiyou County, California, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a total population of 2,862, down from 2,967 in 2010. There are several unincorporated communities adjacent to, or just outside, Weed proper, incl ...

was closed, the highway saw greater use by truckers to carry timber and finished products. In order to reduce reliance on this hazardous mountain road and to reduce the expense of highway transport, proposals were made to reopen the rail link. The rail line over the pass was reopened in 2015.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Mountain passes of Oregon Interstate 5 Landforms of Jackson County, Oregon North American 1000 m summits

Geography

Climate

History

Road

See also

References