The 49er route from Los Angeles followed El Camino Viejo to San Fernando Mission then northward over the steep Fremont Pass, across the Santa Clarita Valley and up through the San Francisquito Canyon to San Francisquito Pass and north to Elizabeth Lake. From the lake the route was north through the foothills via Willow Springs Canyon, then northwest to Mud Spring where the road divided. From Mud Springs, El Camino Viejo turned west northwest to Cow Springs and west to Portezuela de Castac or Castac Pass (now Tejon Pass). Beyond Castac Pass, El Camino Viejo turned west up what became Cuddy Canyon and Cuddy Valley where it turned down the Arroyo San Emigdio to Rancho San Emidio one of the few settlements in the then trackless and unsettled southern San Joaquin Valley. Another route, not well known or used, diverted north from the old road at Castac Pass to follow La Cañada de las Uvas or Grapevine Canyon down into San Joaquin Valley.