Patchen Pass

In the 18th century, a trail across the pass formed part of the historic El Camino Real connecting Mission Santa Clara de Asís with Mission Santa Cruz, likely along a route followed earlier by Native Americans.^[4] Lakes near the summit made the place a popular fishing and swimming spot until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake caused them to dry up.^[2] In 1940, SR 17 replaced the Soquel San Jose Road through the pass;^[2] the old alignment still crosses the pass, a short distance to the east of SR 17, as the Old Santa Cruz Highway.^[5] A Southern Pacific passenger train line through the pass, from Los Gatos to Olympia, opened in 1880 but closed again after storms in early 1940 caused mudslides and washouts on the line.^[6]

The pass was historically called Cuesta de Los Gatos (Spanish for "Wildcat Ridge") by John C. Frémont, but the same name may refer more generally to that part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The pass itself was renamed to Patchen Pass in the 1970s by several local government bodies, at the instigation of local politician Albert B. Smith and over the objections of local historians. The name "Patchen" comes from the nearby ghost town of Patchen; in turn, the town of Patchen may have been named after a famous race horse, or possibly after the activity of sewing patches on clothes.^[1] Locally, the pass is more often referred to as "the Summit" than by either of its official names.^[1][2] Alternatively, taking the route over the pass is called going "over the hill".^[6][7]