- published: 05 May 2014
- views: 7880
Coordinates: 34°53′30.24″N 118°40′41.60″W / 34.8917333°N 118.678222°W / 34.8917333; -118.678222
The Tehachapi Mountains ( /təˈhætʃəpi/), regionally also called The Tehachapis, are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately 40 miles (64 km) in southern Kern County and northeastern Los Angeles County.
The Tehachapis form a geographic, watershed, habitat, and rain shadow divide separating the San Joaquin Valley to the northwest and the Mojave Desert to the southeast. The Tehachapis' crest varies in height from approximately 4,000–8,000 feet (1,200–2,400 m). They are southeast of Bakersfield and the Central Valley, and west of Mojave and the Antelope Valley. The range runs southwest to northeast (SW-NE) connecting the Southern Sierra Nevada range on their northeast with the San Emigdio Mountains on the west and Sierra Pelona Mountains on the southwest.
The Tehachapis are delineated from the San Emigdio Mountains by Tejon Pass at the range's western end. The dramatic incline of Interstate 5 from the San Joaquin Valley floor up to the pass, is regionally referred to as The Grapevine, after Grapevine Canyon which it follows between the northern slopes of the two mountain ranges. The canyon was named after native grapevines, the California grapevine (Vitis californica), found at springs on its slopes. The California State Water Project is to the east, with the California Aqueduct pumped by the Edmonston Pumping Plant over/through the Tehachapis to Castaic Lake reservoir.