Sonora Pass

---

title: "Sonora Pass" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["landforms-of-mono-county,-california", "mountain-passes-of-the-sierra-nevada-(united-states)", "transportation-in-tuolumne-county,-california", "landforms-of-tuolumne-county,-california", "transportation-in-mono-county,-california"] description: "Mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada in California" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora_Pass" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada in California ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain pass"]

Field	Value
name	Sonora Pass
photo	Sonora Pass on California Route 108.jpg
map	California
map_caption	Location in California
map_relief	yes
elevation_ft	9,624
traversed
location	Mono / Tuolumne / Alpine counties, California, United States
range	Sierra Nevada
coordinates
::

| name = Sonora Pass | photo = Sonora Pass on California Route 108.jpg | photo_caption = | map = California | map_caption = Location in California | map_relief = yes | elevation_ft = 9,624 | elevation_ref = | traversed = | location = Mono / Tuolumne / Alpine counties, California, United States | range = Sierra Nevada | coordinates = | topo =

Sonora Pass (el. 9,624 ft. / 2,933 m.) is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada in California. It is the second-highest pass with a road in California and in the Sierra Nevada. It is 321 ft lower than Tioga Pass to the south. State Route 108 traverses the pass, as does the Pacific Crest Trail. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Sonora_Pass_Sign_Eastbound.JPG" caption="Pass sign, eastbound"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Sonora_pass_from_near_Wheeler_Peak.jpg" caption="Sonora pass with fresh snow as seen from near Wheeler Peak"] ::

Description

The pass connects the communities of Sonora to the west and Bridgeport to the east. Like Ebbetts Pass to the north and Tioga Pass to the south, the highway closes during winter, generally between November and May, due to snow accumulation.

The highway over the pass is extremely steep (exceeding 8% for most of the traverse, and up to 26% grades in some locations), narrow and winding between Kennedy Meadows on the west side and Leavitt Meadows on the east; unlike most Sierra Nevada road passes, the approach from the west is steep just like the eastern approach. The route is not recommended for vehicles or vehicle combinations that are unusually wide, heavy or long.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/20040626-1033-0476-SonoraPass-CA.jpg" caption="accessdate=2008-09-20}}"] ::

Adjacent to the Pass is a picnic/parking area, which serves as a day-use rest stop or a trailhead for hikes to nearby Sonora Peak, Wolf Creek Lake, and other spots north or south along the Pacific Crest Trail.

History

The first documented immigrant traverse of Sonora Pass appears to have been in the late summer of 1852 by a wagon train known as the Clark-Skidmore Company. Subsequently, merchant interests in the communities of Sonora and Columbia promoted the route to California-bound immigrants, not always with happy results when immigrants discovered how difficult it was. There are some references indicating the earliest immigrant crossing was in 1841 by the Bartleson-Bidwell Party, but the U.S. Forest Service indicates they crossed north of Sonora Pass in the Carson-Iceberg area.

With the discovery of deposits and development of silver and gold mining east of the Sierra Nevada in the beginning of the 1860s, merchant interests in the counties on both sides of the pass pushed for development of a road that would enable them to improve transportation and trade. Surveying for a road through Sonora Pass began in 1863 and the road was in use by 1865.

In the 1880s the California and Nevada Railroad and its predecessor, the California and Mount Diablo Railroad, proposed to run a narrow gauge railroad over Sonora Pass with a line running from Emeryville - Stockton and then connecting with the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in Utah. The railroad never built track beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Baker Highway Maintenance Station, on 108 to the west of the summit, kept the road open during the summer; it is closed in the winter, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In popular media

In 1935, MGM Art Director David Townsend was killed when the car he was riding in left the road at Sonora Pass. Lowell L. Ralph, Mrs. Lottie Mundello, and Miss Agnes McMullen survived after being thrown from the car. They were there scouting filming locations for the upcoming film Robin Hood of El Dorado (film).

In 1943, the location scenes for the mountainous hideout of the Republican Spanish guerilla band in For Whom the Bell Tolls were filmed here.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Sonora Pass has a warm-summer mediterranean continental climate, abbreviated "Dsb" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Sonora Pass was 90 F on July 18, 1988, while the coldest temperature recorded was -16 F on February 5, 1989.

|location = Sonora Pass, California, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1983–present |single line = Yes |collapsed = Yes

|Jan record high F = 58 |Feb record high F = 60 |Mar record high F = 61 |Apr record high F = 71 |May record high F = 79 |Jun record high F = 84 |Jul record high F = 90 |Aug record high F = 85 |Sep record high F = 81 |Oct record high F = 75 |Nov record high F = 65 |Dec record high F = 56

|Jan avg record high F = 51.3 |Feb avg record high F = 50.7 |Mar avg record high F = 54.6 |Apr avg record high F = 60.3 |May avg record high F = 66.9 |Jun avg record high F = 75.4 |Jul avg record high F = 79.9 |Aug avg record high F = 77.8 |Sep avg record high F = 73.4 |Oct avg record high F = 66.9 |Nov avg record high F = 57.6 |Dec avg record high F = 50.1 |year avg record high F = 80.5

|Jan high F = 37.1 |Feb high F = 36.7 |Mar high F = 41.2 |Apr high F = 45.7 |May high F = 53.5 |Jun high F = 63.5 |Jul high F = 71.6 |Aug high F = 70.5 |Sep high F = 63.5 |Oct high F = 53.1 |Nov high F = 43.0 |Dec high F = 36.3 |year high F =

|Jan mean F = 28.3 |Feb mean F = 27.5 |Mar mean F = 31.0 |Apr mean F = 34.9 |May mean F = 42.4 |Jun mean F = 51.1 |Jul mean F = 58.7 |Aug mean F = 57.8 |Sep mean F = 51.5 |Oct mean F = 42.3 |Nov mean F = 33.7 |Dec mean F = 27.7 |year mean F =

|Jan low F = 19.5 |Feb low F = 18.2 |Mar low F = 20.9 |Apr low F = 24.1 |May low F = 31.2 |Jun low F = 38.5 |Jul low F = 45.7 |Aug low F = 45.0 |Sep low F = 39.6 |Oct low F = 31.5 |Nov low F = 24.3 |Dec low F = 19.1 |year low F =

|Jan avg record low F = 1.2 |Feb avg record low F = 1.8 |Mar avg record low F = 5.2 |Apr avg record low F = 8.6 |May avg record low F = 18.0 |Jun avg record low F = 25.5 |Jul avg record low F = 35.8 |Aug avg record low F = 35.9 |Sep avg record low F = 27.0 |Oct avg record low F = 16.4 |Nov avg record low F = 6.1 |Dec avg record low F = 1.0 |year avg record low F = -4.0

|Jan record low F = -14 |Feb record low F = -16 |Mar record low F = -5 |Apr record low F = -3 |May record low F = 5 |Jun record low F = 14 |Jul record low F = 23 |Aug record low F = 26 |Sep record low F = 19 |Oct record low F = 5 |Nov record low F = -4 |Dec record low F = -12

|precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation inch = 6.44 |Feb precipitation inch = 5.72 |Mar precipitation inch = 5.49 |Apr precipitation inch = 3.00 |May precipitation inch = 1.77 |Jun precipitation inch = 0.67 |Jul precipitation inch = 0.77 |Aug precipitation inch = 0.51 |Sep precipitation inch = 0.70 |Oct precipitation inch = 1.94 |Nov precipitation inch = 3.34 |Dec precipitation inch = 5.73 |year precipitation inch =

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in |Jan precipitation days = 10.3 |Feb precipitation days = 11.0 |Mar precipitation days = 12.0 |Apr precipitation days = 10.1 |May precipitation days = 6.7 |Jun precipitation days = 3.1 |Jul precipitation days = 2.3 |Aug precipitation days = 2.4 |Sep precipitation days = 3.2 |Oct precipitation days = 4.7 |Nov precipitation days = 8.0 |Dec precipitation days = 10.2

|Jan snow depth inch = 54.2 |Feb snow depth inch = 66.9 |Mar snow depth inch = 79.0 |Apr snow depth inch = 70.2 |May snow depth inch = 44.4 |Jun snow depth inch = 11.5 |Jul snow depth inch = 0.0 |Aug snow depth inch = 0.0 |Sep snow depth inch = 0.4 |Oct snow depth inch = 3.1 |Nov snow depth inch = 16.5 |Dec snow depth inch = 35.5 |year snow depth inch = 83.2

|source 1 = National Weather Service (snow depth 2006–2020) |url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=rev |publisher = National Weather Service |title = NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Reno |access-date = February 23, 2023

References

References

1. "Sonora Pass, CA". TopoQuest.com.
2. "Highways and Major Roads Through the Sierra Nevada". Sierra Nevada Photos.
3. "Highways and Major Roads Through the Sierra Nevada". Sierra Nevada Photos.
4. "Winter Driving Tips". Caltrans.
5. "Picture of advisory sign on State Route 108".
6. "Sonora Pass, CA". TopoQuest.com.
7. "Sonora Pass".
8. "Recreation Activities: Carson-Iceberg Wilderness". US Forest Service.
9. "Sonora Pass, Mono County, California.".
10. Farquhar, Francis Peloubet. (1965). "History of the Sierra Nevada". University of California Press.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::