Top of Grapevine Pass

This bronze is mostly an itinerary. It lists where Fages went in 1772, in order: Cajon Pass, the Mojave, Hughes Lake, Antelope Valley, Tejon Pass, Cañada de las Uvas, Buena Vista Lake. One of those names outlived the rest. Cañada de las Uvas is grapevine canyon, and the Grapevine is what drivers still call the climb out of the valley on Interstate 5. The register renders the Spanish as los Uvas. The bronze casts El Tejon Parlor as number 39 rather than 239.

What the plaque says

California Historical Landmark Don Pedro Fages In 1772 Don Pedro Fages, leaving the first written record of explorations in the south San Joaquin Valley, passed this site traveling from San Diego to San Luis Obispo via Cajon Pass, Mojave Desert, Hughes Lake, Antelope Valley, Tejon Pass, Canada de las Uvas (Grapevine Canyon), and Buena Vista Lake. Dedicated October 9, 1938 Bakersfield Parlor No 42 N.S.G.W. El Tejon Parlor No 39 N.D.G.W. Kern County Historical Society Kern County Chamber of Commerce Department of Natural Resources Reg. No 283 State of California

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• St. Francis Dam Disaster Site — 28 mi
  The dam failed just before midnight on March 12, 1928, and the flood ran fifty miles down the canyon to the sea.

More markers nearby

• Fort Tejón — 3.2 mi
• Sebastian Indian Reservation — 8.3 mi
• Rose Station — 8.3 mi
• Sinks of the Tejón — 18 mi