Nearby Features
There are no major communities between Gilroy and Los Banos in the Central Valley.
Where Pacheco Pass Road switches to the two-lane highway west of the pass itself lies Casa de Fruta, an extensive trading post. Originally a site devoted to selling locally produced fruit and nuts to travelers, Casa de Fruta has expanded to include a delicatessen, truckstop, RV park, and other facilities. A rural locale named Bell Station is along the route.
On the eastern slope of the pass lies the San Luis Reservoir, which stores water for the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project. The San Luis Reservoir and O'Neill Forebay operate as a pumped storage hydroelectric plant. The roadway entrances to the San Luis Reservoir state recreational area and Pacheco State Park require caution entering or exiting because there are no stop signs or traffic lights and two lanes of heavy traffic in each direction.
There is a windfarm located at the top of the pass. The turbines can be seen from Dinosaur Point Road, which is used for street luge, and can approached fairly closely from the eastern side of Pacheco State Park. The wind farm is fairly small compared to the ones at Altamont, San Gorgonio and Tehachapi Passes.
The Pacheco Pass American Viticultural Area is nearby.
Read more about this topic: Pacheco Pass
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