Prairie de fleurs sauvages au col de Sitgreaves - Photos

Sitgreaves Pass, at 3586 feet above sea level, is where the historic Beale's Wagon Road crossed the Black Mountains of Mohave County, Arizona, USA. When Edward Fitzgerald Beale built his wagon road over the pass, he named it John Howells Pass for one of the men in his expedition of October, 1857. Subsequently, the pass was named for Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves who led the 1851 Expedition Down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers. Years later the pass was used for the famous Route 66 between Los Angeles and Chicago. The narrow two lane highway is still in use today. In the early spring, the area around Sitgreaves Pass is dominated by wild California Poppies which fill the meadows with a dense carpet of orange.