Sherwin Summit is a mountain pass

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 on U.S. Highway 395.

It is located south of Tom's Place and Crowley Lake

Crowley Lake

Crowley Lake is a reservoir on the upper Owens River in southern Mono County, California in the United States. It was created in 1941 by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as storage for the Los Angeles Aqueduct and for flood control...

 in the eastern part of the Sierra Nevada range. South of the summit, the road starts on its long 2,400 foot (610 m) descent into the 4000 ft (1,219.2 m) high Owens Valley

Owens Valley

Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section...

. The Owens River

Owens River

The Owens River is a river in southeastern California in the United States, approximately long. It drains into and through the Owens Valley, an arid basin between the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and the western faces of the Inyo and White Mountains. The river terminates at Owens Lake, but...

 generally follows the road from this summit through the Owens Valley. Motorists who come from the south usually cross this summit in order to go to the high-altitude towns like Mammoth Lakes

Mammoth Lakes, California

-History:The European history of Mammoth Lakes started in 1877, when four prospectors staked a claim on Mineral Hill, south of the current town, along Old Mammoth Road. In 1878, the Mammoth Mining Company was organized to mine Mineral Hill, which caused a gold rush. By the end of 1878, 1500 people...

 to the northwest to escape the smothering summer heat in the deserts. The pass receives snowfall during the winter, although the region receives relatively little precipitation annually.