# Hecker Pass

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> Source revision: 1337791998
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{{short description|Mountain pass in California}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2026}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name = Hecker Pass
| photo = 
| photo_caption = 
| elevation = {{convert|1339|ft|m}}
| elevation_ref = <ref name="hilton">{{cite web|last=Hilton|first=Tom|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhilton/5675845271/|title=Panoche Road 06|date=30 April 2011|accessdate=2012-09-09}}</ref>
| traversed = {{jct|state=CA|CA|152}}
| location = Between [Santa Cruz County](/source/Santa_Cruz_County%2C_California) and [Santa Clara County](/source/Santa_Clara_County%2C_California).
| range = [Santa Cruz Mountains](/source/Santa_Cruz_Mountains)
| map = California
| map_caption = The pass lies west of [Gilroy](/source/Gilroy%2C_California) and northeast of [Watsonville](/source/Watsonville%2C_California).
| coordinates = {{coord|36|59|40|N|121|43|02|W|region:US-CA_type:pass|display=inline,title}}
| topo = 
}}

'''Hecker Pass''' is a low [mountain pass](/source/mountain_pass) across the [Santa Cruz Mountains](/source/Santa_Cruz_Mountains) of central [California](/source/California), connecting [Watsonville](/source/Watsonville%2C_California) on the [Pacific](/source/Pacific_Ocean) coast to [Gilroy](/source/Gilroy%2C_California) and the [Santa Clara Valley](/source/Santa_Clara_Valley).<ref>{{citation|title=The winding road west: parks and wineries line Hecker Pass Highway near Gilroy|journal=[Sunset](/source/Sunset_(magazine))|date=May 1, 2004|last=Taggart|first=Lisa|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-116484295}}.</ref> It is traversed by Hecker Pass Road, the western part of [California State Route 152](/source/California_State_Route_152), which continues east from Gilroy across [Pacheco Pass](/source/Pacheco_Pass) and into the [Central Valley](/source/Central_Valley_(California)). Mt. Madonna County Park lies to the north of the pass.<ref>{{citation|title=South Bay Trails: Outdoor Adventures in & Around Santa Clara Valley : From the Diablo Range to the Pacific Ocean|url=https://archive.org/details/southbaytrailsou0000rusm| first1=Jean|last1=Rusmore|first2=Frances|last2=Spangle|first3=Betsy|last3=Crowder|edition=3rd|publisher=Wilderness Press|year=2001|isbn=9780899976044|page=[https://archive.org/details/southbaytrailsou0000rusm/page/236/mode/2up 257]}}.</ref> The pass's elevation is {{convert|1339|ft|m|0}}.<ref>{{GNIS|225111}}.</ref>

[Santa Clara County](/source/Santa_Clara_County%2C_California) supervisor Henry Hecker, a nephew of [Friedrich Hecker](/source/Friedrich_Hecker), became the namesake of the pass on May 27, 1928, at the opening of the "[Yosemite](/source/Yosemite_National_Park)-to-the-Sea Highway" over it.<ref>{{citation|title=California Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary|first=Erwin Gustav|last=Gudde|publisher=University of California Press|year=1949|page=137|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-22djGNuhwC&pg=SL3-PA137}}.</ref><ref>{{citation|title=South Santa Clara County|series=Images of America: a history of American life in images and texts|first=Sam|last=Shueh|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2008|isbn=9780738558455|page=65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtyQxx6qXDEC&pg=PA65}}.</ref> In the 1930s, flooding on creeks near the highway caused the collapse of a bridge and the closing of the pass.<ref>{{citation|title=Gilroy|series=Images of America|first=Claudia|last=Salewske|year=2003|isbn=9781439614174|page=143|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgtodEGFkxIC&pg=PT143}}.</ref> In 1941, a [landslide](/source/landslide) closed the pass,<ref>{{citation|newspaper=San Jose News|date=April 10, 1941|title=Large slide on Hecker Pass Road|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LVoiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9KoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6423,4242338}}.</ref> and in 1947 and 1959, the pass was again closed because of landslides caused by [earthquake](/source/earthquake)s.<ref>{{citation|title=Historic Ground Failures in Northern California triggered by earthquakes|volume=993|series=Geological Survey professional papers|first1=T. Leslie|last1=Youd|authorlink=T. Leslie Youd|first2=Seena N.|last2=Hoose|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|year=1978|page=88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maI_AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA88}}.</ref>

The Hecker Strawberry, a [strawberry](/source/strawberry) variety introduced in 1979 in [Davis, California](/source/Davis%2C_California), is named after the pass.<ref>{{citation|title=Growing Fruit in the Upper Midwest|first=Don|last=Gordon|edition=3rd|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=1997|isbn=978-1452901060|page=178}}.</ref>

== See also ==
* [List of mountain passes in California](/source/List_of_mountain_passes_in_California)

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Category:Mountain passes of California
Category:Landforms of Santa Clara County, California
Category:Santa Cruz Mountains
Category:Transportation in Santa Clara County, California

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hecker Pass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecker_Pass) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecker_Pass?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.