On our trip to the Lancaster area, we had to drive up the 14 Freeway. Usually we get off the freeway one exit before this spot and so we miss it.
Since we were in no hurry, I asked if I could pull off at the Vista View.
It has a fabulous view of Lake Palmdale and (of course) my first thought was "Water Post".
It ends up that from that vantage point, you see the lake, the California Aqueduct and one other thing...The San Andreas Fault.
If you look at the first photo you can see a cut in the hill off in the distance, where they put the 14 Freeway. In that cut is the fault line and so it is probably the most famous view of the San Andreas Fault.
The lake was formed back in 1924 as a water source for Palmdale and it uses the hill of the San Andreas Fault as its border.
Due to the way the mountains align, that area is extremely windy, as my Husband and I can attest.
BTW, in case you can't read it, the plaque says the following:
"One of the most outstanding geological feautures in California, extending for over 650 miles from Point Arena, North of San Francisco, to south of San Corconio Pass. Between twenty and thirty miles deep and more than a mile wide in some locations. The faulted sandstone and shale, contorted and sheared may be seen by looking northward from this point, where the Antelope Valley Freeway cuts through the upthrusted ridge to the north. This fault is responisble for two of the greatest earthquakes in California history. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1957 Fort Tejon earthquake. The giant shear was named in 1892 by the noted geologist, Andrew Lawson."
We had no plans to visit this Vista Point, but I am so glad we did. It was a worthy detour on our poppy tour.
I hope you enjoy.
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